Further Listening:

5. Whether By River Or By Road Abbey Blackwell Always Finds A Way

Best known for her bass playing with the likes of Alvvays, Haley Herynderickx and Cassandra Jenkins, Abbey Blackwell appeared on these pages in June last year when she shared the single Meet Me, which proceeded her debut album, My Maze. Following the release, Abbey decided, for her next move to do things a bit differently, putting together a band of collaborators who bring the variety of Abbey’s songwriting to fruition. With that album, Big Big Motion, set to arrive next month, this week Abbey shared her new single, River or a Road.

Written at the end of the Summer in 2022, River or a Road was crafted on a break between tours when Abbey found herself thinking about a man she’d met on tour, who would soon become a long-distance partner, “it was all a big ball of confusion and anticipation”. The track reflects on the way we influence others and they influence us, as Abbey explains, “when we are apart from our loved ones, we are only left with the words and images they’ve scattered around us. And they’re only left with what we have given them”. Musically, the track has a certain retro sheen, Abbey’s vocals taking on a certain Nico-like chime, atop the steady rhythmic call-and-response of the acoustic guitar strings, and occasional meanders of Eerie Wanda-like keyboards, the music mirroring the winding routes of the lyrics, “was it a river or a road, that will finally take me home, winding past those hills I’ve never known”. This is a song writ large with that strange happy-sad feeling of leaving a loved one behind, that sense of somewhere finally feeling like home, the pain and joy of having somewhere to go back to, and somewhere you don’t ever want to leave.

Big Big Motion is out September 13th. For more information on Abbey Blackwell visit https://www.abigailblackwell.com/.

4. Maybe Don’t Learn How To Swim From Magazines

A self-styled, “veteran art-rock/pop group”, How To Swim formed in Glasgow back at the turn of the millennium as a vehicle for the songwriting of frontman and filmmaker Gregor Barclay. The band have gone through various guises and line-ups and have of late hit something of a rich creative vein, with one album Bars ‘n’ Loners released back in March, and another, Greek Active, set to arrive next month. Ahead of Greek Active’s release, the band recently shared a brand new single, Magazines.

Described by the band as, “a hymn – of sorts – to print media”, Magazines combines the driving motorik-rhythms of their previous material with a glam-rock swagger Roxy Music would be proud of. Particularly lovely are the group backing vocals, as they chime in and out of unison, “I’m on the cover of magazines, keeping it up”, bringing to mind Belle & Sebastian’s more energetic numbers or the free-form shuffle of Moderate Rebels. There’s something delightfully straightforward about the track, it struts in, shakes its tale feather for just over three minutes and then it’s gone, a fabulous reminder that sometimes you don’t need to overthink it, you just need to write a great pop song, something How To Swim certainly know how to do.

Magazines is out now. For more information on How To Swim visit https://howtoswim.bandcamp.com/.

3. Oh, That’s Definitely Possibly A Hippo

A 6-piece indie pop outfit hailing from Manchester, Oh Hippo are something of a low-key supergroup, formed from members of a host of other bands. Having only released their debut single, Drunk In Town, in September last year, the band have already found a high-profile fan in 6Music’s Emily Pilbeam and shared stages with the likes of The Vaselines and The Umbrellas. With a date supporting Langkamer coming quickly on the horizon, this week the band shared their first material of the year, in the shape of their new single, Definitely Possibly, which is the first taster of their upcoming EP, Real Winners Quit.

An attempt, as songwriter Lydia Walker explains, “to write a really joyous indie-pop song that had some emotion to it“, Definitely Possibly is, “basically a love song to say that no matter where you’ve come from in your life or what you’ve experienced, you’re still The Best and can achieve anything you put your mind to. And if it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t really matter ‘cos life’s too short to stress about overloading yourself“. Set to a backing of tumbling guitars and delightfully wobbly Korg-lines, Lydia seems to flip the script on a pep talk, urging the recipient not to fear failure but to embrace it, “I know you often feel floored but know you’re overwhelmingly adored, so try every lock in your life”. The songs ends with a reminder that sometimes it’s okay to fail, perhaps it’s even better than succeeding, “if it’s shit just hit the bricks, ‘cos real winners quit so hit those bricks”. A love song that is a million miles from sappy, a joyous sounding indie-pop song that actually has something to say, Oh Hippo are, just like their animal namesakes, dangerously enjoyable.

Definitely Possibly is out now. For more information on Oh Hippo visit https://linktr.ee/ohhippo.

2. Who Even Is Karl Blau?

Hailing from The Anarcotes in Washington, Karl Blau, a decade back seemed like a lifetime fixture on the city’s small creative scene, he came up alongside artists like Phil Elverum and Laura Veirs and ran a worship group for the experimental sounds of Sun Ra. Then six years ago, he changed it all up, relocating himself and his family to Philadelphia, and embracing a different music scene, and without planning it, ending up two blocks away from the Arkestral Institute of Sun Ra. Some things change, some things stay the same. It was these little strokes of fortune that led to the creation of his new album, Vultures Of Love. First, he met Chris Covatta, who Karl saw refurbishing furniture on the street, and who just happened to be a guitarist, latterly Karl’s employer and the owner of an, “eight-track, half-inch tape machine that had been gathering dust there for years”. From they cleared some space, started a neighbourhood jam session and started recording. One day a drummer from Brooklyn, Dave Flaherty, known for his work with Cuddle Magic, appeared, spent five hours with Karl thrashing out some ideas that had been kicking around in Karl’s head, and five hours later, the skeleton of Vultures Of Love was complete. With the album set to arrive in October via Otherly Love, this week Karl shared the latest single from it, Who.

Described by Karl as a song that, “questions what comes after death”, Who seems to be on a roller-coaster journey from an existential crisis to a moment of peace and acceptance. Musically the track was born from an accident, as Karl explains, “I was still testing the machine and somehow didn’t string it up right so that the ghost drums you hear in the intro especially are Chris Covatta testing the drums just before Dave arrived“. Dave embraced it adding his own improvised “ghost drums”, and revelling in the creative freedom the strange lurching rhythms produced. From there Karl overlaid an array of skronky saxophones, pulsing bass and strutting guitar twangs, all creating an insecure, shifting base to his Bill Callahan-like vocal delivery. We often speak of artists arriving, yet for some artists like Karl Blau that doesn’t seem to quite fit, instead, he’s someone who knows the joy is in the journey. This is the next step down the road for his music, and long may he keep striding, keep seeking the new and thrilling sounds and keep leading us on this adventure wherever it takes us.

Vultures Of Love is out October 18th via Otherly Love. For more information on Karl Blau visit https://www.karlblau.com/.

1. Allegra Krieger Only Came For The Music

Hailing from Brooklyn, Allegra Krieger was something of a fixture on this site last summer around the release of her excellent album, I Keep My Feet On The Fragile Plain. Around the same time, multiple lithium batteries combusted in an e-bike shop in Chinatown, and Allegra awoke to a banging on her door and surprise evacuation, luckily despite being eight floors up, she made it out unscathed. That life-or-death turning point became the inspiration for her new album Art Of The Unseen Infinity Machine, a record about our place in the world, in all its banal, fragile wonder. With the album arriving next month, this week Allegra shared her new single, Came.

Came was recorded, like much Art Of The Unseen Infinity Machine, alongside a full band, and allows for a change of tone from the more gentle moments of Allegra’s back catalogue. Here the result is a track that has a more distinct clatter than previous work, yet is still delightfully spacious, the band crafting out space for Allegra’s vocal cut-through through whether it’s in the form of a whisper or a howl. Discussing the inspiration behind the song, Allegra suggests it, “is about depression and feeling stuck in destructive patterns…wanting to connect with something outside of yourself and giving in to that impulse”. The song ends with a fairly literal kick up the backside, “I want you to turn me down, turn me around, push me into freedom’s embrace”, Allegra wanting to rid herself of unhealthy comfort and embrace the possibilities, as her vocal becomes a full-bodied scream before becoming engulfed in guitar and drums. It’s an arresting, dazzling end to a song that marks out Art Of The Unseen Infinity Machine as one of the year’s most exciting new releases.

Art Of The Unseen Infinity Machine is out September 13th via Double Double Whammy. For more information on Allegra Krieger visit https://linktr.ee/allegrakrieger.

Header photo is Allegra Krieger by Kilian Krieger