The Star Prairie Project have released their new single ‘Steady As She Goes’ which follows on from the success of their last single ‘Sophia’ which has amassed more than 110,000 streams on Spotify and reached #48 on the DRT Top 50 Adult Contemporary chart. The Star Prairie Project gets its name from the village of Star Prairie outside of Minneapolis and the AlanParsons Project. The Star Prairie Project is made up of Nolen R. Chew Jr. and Rick J. Vogelpohl. Their upcoming album ‘Panacea’ will see them teaming up with more vocalists and musicians as they create a truly collaborative and highly polished album.
‘Steady As She Goes’ is a warm upbeat Americana number as The Star Prairie Project create a smooth flowing track that is sweet and melodic. This charming ditty drifts effortlessly into the ears as the tender vocals and lush harmonies warm the cockles of your heart. With cruising guitar strums and mellow twangs along with soft keys and spongy beat its a velvety cosy track for easy listening.
About the track Nolen recalls “the lyrics to the song came unusually fast” with the main idea of the song being written in under 20 minutes! “Steady As She Goes’ brings the best of Americana with its infectious melody and rhythm. Teaming up with vocalist, session musician and producer Rudiger (All American Rejects, Foghat) who delivers the smooth top vocal line, ‘Steady As She Goes’ invites listeners with its slick instrumentation and lyrical story.”
Elisabeth Elektra has announced the release of her debut album ‘Mercurial’ release date 8th May along with her new single ‘Crystalline’ released today.”Crystalline” was written by Elisabeth Elektra, co-produced by Elisabeth Elektra and Lewis Gardiner (Ellie Goulding, Prides, Kloe) and features instrumental contributions from Julian Corrie (Franz Ferdinand) and Graeme Ronald (Remember Remember).Under her previous artist name Zyna Hel, Elektra worked with diverse collaborators including Ben Power of Fuck Buttons, Nurse With Wound’s Andrew Liles and This Mortal Coil’s John Fryer.
With lush mystical wisps on synths ‘Crystalline’ presents Elisabeth Elektra’s wonderfully weaved electronic pop with majestic refinement. With a bubbling rhythm and light twinkling on keys the track flows beautifully creating an oceanic feeling filled with glittering scintillation. The pristine vocals and sparkling melodies flood the track in cool ambiance as the track submerges you deep into the calming soothing and enchanting sounds of Elisabeth Elektra’s musicianship.
Our Worth A Listen Track This Week Comes From Honey Lung
Honey Lung have released their new single ‘Be My Friend’. Newly-signed to the cult indie label Big Scary Monsters (American Football, Martha, Orchards), ‘Be My Friend’ marks the first offering from the band this year as their plans begin to take shape, with a London headliner and several festival appearances already lined up over the coming months.The shoegazers have spent the last two years mastering the live circuit, combining JAWS and Basement tour supports with notable festival slots at the likes of SXSW, Reading & Leeds, Latitude and The Great Escape.
With guitars whirring through a scuzzy grunge backdrop ‘Be My Friend’ announces Honey Lung’s return with raw refined beauty. A sun kissed daydream melody melts effortlessly upon the effervescent backdrop with a shoegaze tonality while the sweet coos and deep gravel on vocals provide character and charm. The glistening melody on guitar weaves and coils zealously between the pummeling drums to create a clamorous fuzz-filled indie-rock foundation that is utterly thrilling. The band presents a tight and sun speckled track overflowing with rich, vibrant, blistering instrumentation. With the perfect bitter sweet ratio ‘Be My Friend’ is a triumphant return.
Discussing the ideas behind their new single, Batten explained: “Lyrically Be My Friend makes a joke of trying to impress someone you admire. We wanted it to be an ironic song that pokes fun at awkward social situations and the funny ways we act just to be liked or feel accepted”.
Chris Short has released his debut single ‘Your Smile’.Chris Short is a singer/songwriter from Dublin. Having only set out on his music performance journey in January 2017, Chris has had a meteoric rise on the circuit over the past two years. He was short listed in the top 10 for the DublinLive, Nathan Carter – Search for a Star. 2020 is looking bright for Chris Short, with a number of singles due for release in 2020 and a debut EP due early next year.
‘Your Smile’ is a swoony romantic ditty as Chris Short uses melody and sweet songwriting to create a wholesome track with cosy undertones. The simplistic but beautiful approach of ‘Your Smile’ oozes a dream-like quality which compliments Chris’ velvety vocals excellently. With warm guitar twinkles and a spongy steady beat teamed with lush backing vocals and delicate melody this glowing rosy-cheeked track is a charming debut filled with passion, love and affection.
Chris Short will be releasing his debut single “Your Smile” in The Vintage Room at The Workman’s Club, 10 Wellington Quay, Temple Bar, Dublin o n 14th February . Chris will be joined on the night by the amazing Carol Faherty and the dynamic duo Novaton.
Bio : thanks. is Steve Pagano and Mario Borgatta. Combining psychedelic pop, cinematic vibes and electronically influenced beats and melodies, thanks. have succeeded in creating catchy indie pop with an edge. Pagano and Borgatta have seen previous success with numerous TV placements on major networks including MTV, ABC and Netflix, as well as having worked on records from world renown, critically acclaimed artists such as Muse, Death Cab For Cutie, Foster The People, Powers, Mallrat and many more. ‘Busy’ is set for release February 2020.
Track: Busy
Why We Like It: It’s a groovy slick anthem laced in swirling soundscapes and lush sun kissed vibes. With a pulsing funk flexed bass line that wrestles your mind into submission teamed with swagger dipped guitar jangles and a foot tapping catchy beat – this juicy infectious gem is a strut ready glossy delight. The smooth vocals caress the melty melody with panache and sweetness while the indie pop backbone keeps this vibrant number revolving around in your head all day. Utterly chic and oozing confidence ‘Busy’ is one effervescent cool track and swanky display from thanks.
Bio : Pondarosa are a five-piece based between Manchester and Liverpool.In their two years as a band, they have progressed from garden shed to headline act. Working with top promoters including This Feeling, Scruff of the Neck, DHP Family and SJM Concerts, the band have played to sellout crowds at Jimmy’s, The Star and Garter and Night People in support of hotly tipped bands from Manchester and beyond, such as Honeymoan, Shambolics, Cleargreen and Jekyll. Pondarosa’s first two singles, ‘Crystalline’ and ‘Sooner Or Later,’ have received radio play from local stations in the United Kingdom, and been played further afield courtesy of WDVR 89.7FM in New Jersey, USA and Valley FM 89.5 in Canberra, Australia.
Track: Bright Lights
Why We Like It: It’s a sparky indie track that skims buoyantly on a blistering backdrop of chiming jangly guitars, punchy drums and vibrant bass rumbles. The track travels at a blistering tempo as the band wallop out their catchy and instrumentally deft sound. With swirling guitars creating an ethereal bite the track is driven with intense adrenaline as the tight well layered sound makes Pondarosa stand out as ones to watch.
Bio : West Marsh, Grimsby Mint have enjoyed UK radio support from Radio 1 and playlisting on Radio X and have performed at all major UK festivals. In mid 2019 they started to realise their sound, an idiosyncratic fusion of indie melodies set to beefier instrumentation. Recently they have begun work with award-winning production team Sugar House and taken on management.
Track: Goodbye Beautiful
Why We Like It: Mint have created a frenzied assault on the senses.This briary punk slapped track stomps in lean mean and utterly ferocious as the dizzying swirl of guitars shrill and screech with unapologetic flamboyance and brazen valour. With sensual rampant bass lines, pulverising drums and screaming vocals- this groove-strutting, raw track, is utterly thrilling. There is no coyness about this band they storm in and batter your brain with their manic whirlwind sound that is catchy as hell and steaming from every brash note. With hues of glam rock glossing over the powerful punk backbone ‘Goodbye Beautiful’ is one heck of a track.
Bio: Dublin based singer/songwriter Fi has released her new single ‘Pathetic’.Fi has played many venues around the city including Whelans, The Grand Social, the Academy, and at several of Dublin’s classic sessions such as The Ruby Sessions, Nerano Sessions and Zodiac Sessions as well as performed in international venues including the iconic House of Blues in Chicago, Illinois.
Track: Pathetic
Why We Like It: It’s a passionate tune flooded in dark undertones as thick bubbling electronics wisp and boil behind the moving pop hued melody. With Fi’s powerful emotive vocals leading the track to its mighty and striking crescendo the song ferments and coils with a sticky gloopy beat creating a clammy atmosphere between the pulsing soundscapes. The track has an emotive and heartbreaking tone as Fi’s vocals deliver a strong yet moving performance.
Bio: Hailing from Kent’s Tunbridge Wells & Maidstone, The Gallerys exploded onto the UK music circuit in 2017 with their unique blend of 60s rock, Britpop and indie sounds which gained them immediate attention from BBC Introducing, Fred Perry Subculture & This Feeling.Having shared the stage with Louis Berry, Madness, The Sherlocks, Scouting For Girls, The Blinders, The King Blues, The Skints, Dr. Feelgood, Space, Alan McGee and embarking on UK tours with both The Rifles and The Bluetones, as well as going on two UK headline tours of their own, they are no stranger to huge crowds and quickly sell out their headline shows.
Track: You’re a Dreamer
Why We Like It: Emotionally tender – this delightful, sweetly melodic, indie pop number boasts The Gallerys vibrant sound at its best. With jangly guitars, buoyant drums and a clamorous yet honeyed wall of sound the band create a tender track that is bitter/sweet yet charming and catchy. Lyrically the song is about feeling helpless about a loved one who is lost in life and finding it difficult to get out of a mental rut of low ambition and self-sabotaging behaviours. The songs narrator can merely sit back and watch the loved one being a ‘dreamer’ for a better life. The band portray this theme through a melancholic soft melody, velvety vocals and punchy instrumentation filled with tones of hope and encouragement. A sublime new track from The Gallerys.
Indie singer/songwriter Mark Hegan has released his new single ‘Love, Wait for Me’. Hegan has garnered industry interest and plays from the likes of BBC Radio 1 (Introducing), BBC Radio 2 and Radio Ulster.
‘Love, Wait for Me’ is a sweet melodic number. Hegan creates a majestic and beautiful backdrop for his tender honest track. With wispy soundscapes of chiming guitars and ethereal twinklings the track builds becoming more dynamic and heart rushing. As the track progresses Hegan holds your heart in his hand allowing the instrumental backdrop blossom, becoming more hopeful and heartwarming. With a honeyed delicate melody caressed by Hegan’s passionate vocals and the earnest pulsing beat -this sincere and utterly emotive track drifts with elevating intensity and warmth.
About the track Hegan says : “ I intended to write ‘Love, Wait for Me’ about losing one’s sense of place in the world, which is a pretty common theme for me. However, as time passed, the song took on a slightly more specific direction I didn’t expect, and ended up being more about approaching adulthood and the challenges that poses to one’s identity. It’s probably the most brutally honest song I’ve ever written (getting older and gaining responsibility scares the shit out of me) and for that alone I’m deeply proud of it. The photo that features on the cover art was taken around the turn of the millennium on the North West coast of Ireland, and the man in the picture is my Dad. The photo made perfect sense to me in relation to the song; here was a man at the head of a large family taking an isolated moment on the beach, one of very few moments he would have for just himself and his thoughts. I’m beyond lucky to have an example such as my father, and I guess this song is one for him and me. When adult life and all its hardship comes knocking, how do you do justice to yourself and those you love? “
Sal the Musician has released his fourth single ‘Drown’. Sal released three singles in 2019 to great avail, with the tracks getting plenty of radio play and press buzz. He also spent the latter half of 2019 playing a number of support shows for touring artists including Australian alt-rock legends You Am I.
‘Drown’ shakes up Sal the Musician’s emotive songwriting as he displays helpless and confused emotions through rich crashing and striking musicianship. Lacing his honest lyrics in warm and dramatic brass elements Sal builds the track superbly into an explosive, tense crescendo. With a sweet isolating melody, punchy beat and striking chords on guitar, Sal attempts to create the clenching, suffocating and painful effect of observing a loved one going through an anxiety attack and feeling helpless in the face of it. The blazing turmoil created between the guitars and rhythm is masterful and echos the pain within the lyrics as Sal creates another gripping, hard hitting track. Sal is going on tour as support for “KUDOS” in February in support of the single. He will be playing shows in Cork, Limerick and Waterford .
Galway alternative rock band Zeros & Ones have released their new single 15 to 1 (feat. Tiny Murder). The release of 15 to 1 will be accompanied with a music video and the band will play a series of live shows to support the launch.The song was recorded, produced, mixed and mastered by Roger Kelly at Galway Rehearsal Studio. Zeros & Ones have played countless shows around Ireland to date, highlights include two EP launches on the main stage of Galway’s famed Róisín Dubh and an appearance at Whelan’s annual Ones to Watch showcase to name a few.
‘15 to 1’ is a breezy shoegaze number as Zeros & Ones layer intricacies within a laid back fuzzy backdrop. With sweet twinklings on guitar and an energetic buoyant beat that becomes almost drowned in mellowed hazy melodies, the band create a wonderful prism of sun kissed indie pop.Zeros & Ones deeply immerse the track in an effortless soundscape as the guitars clang and rattle with a honeyed tonality building the joyously effervescent noise pop layering. The brilliant vocal interplay between David McDonagh and Tiny Murder creates a wonderful and delicate element to the track, as their voices coo against the guitar noise while complementing each other perfectly. ‘15 to 1’ is a sublime return from Zeros & Ones.
Having already played their first show of 2020 at Rockaway Beach Festival earlier this month, London three-piece Indian Queens have returned with their new single ‘Bubblewrap’. The single is taken from their forthcoming debut album ‘God Is A Woman’, due to be released on Cool Thing Records later this year.Consisting of sisters Jennifer (guitar/vocals) and Katherine (bass) O’Neill, along with lifelong friend Matthew Dudan-Bick on Drums, Indian Queens were born and raised in Hackney Wick and have been making music together since their school days. Last year the band were personally invited by Robert Smith to play the prestigious Meltdown festival alongside My Bloody Valentine, Nine Inch Nails and The Libertines.
‘Bubblewrap’ is an intoxicating pool of indie as Indian Queens lure and entice through hypnotic instrumentation and dark undertones. A sticky gooey beat creates a steady viscous foundation for the swirling prismatic electronics to wisp upon.The dark tones creep and crawl through the dreamy melody while soft harmonies and lulling vocals create a trance-like, soothing quality as the track lightens for its crescendo while accompanied by soaring ethereal strings. The band layer the song to create a pounding, yet, equally floaty track, brimming with suffocating claustrophobic electronics and sweet little bursts of relief.
Watch the hauntingly evocative video for ‘Bubblewrap’, directed by Andy Delaney below
Dublin three piece Stolen City are back with their new single ‘The Tower’.The release comes off the back of a whirlwind 2019 that not only saw the band sell out 3 nights at Academy 2, Drop Dead Twice and upstairs in Whelans, but also saw lead singer Sean, at the end of his birthday night out, share the stage with Lewis Capaldi in The Olympia to sing the scot’s hit ‘Bruises’ together. The new single was written as a letter by lead singer Sean to his girlfriend Amy to explain that no matter what she has, or will go through in life, that he will be there to help her through it.
‘The Tower’ is a beautifully crafted emotive pop rock track with heartfelt songwriting and powerful instrumentation. Stolen City build the track superbly creating a gripping and comforting number filled with passion. With ethereal biting guitar melodies venturing between soft laments and strident power chords it’s a strong and potent track. Radio ready and anthemic the band burst into a massive adrenaline inducing chorus that is sure to have a live audience swaying, embracing and fist punching the air to this emotionally mighty track. With punchy drums sturdy bass and dynamic vocals Stolen City present a genuine and tight track filled with oodles of passion and tenderness with their strong sturdy pop rock keeping the energy and kinetic intensity alive.
Stream ‘The Tower’ below
Author : Danu
Indie: (n) an obscure form of rock which you only learn about from someone slightly more hip than yourself.
