Unveiling the second single from her forthcoming new album, London via Melbourne based artist CLOVES delivers an unnerving insight in to social anxiety as she tackles panic and the out of body experience that often goes with it. “Sicko is my best way of painting the tunnel vision, panic scramble of social anxiety,” CLOVES explains. “It’s like a living, breathing second personality in your brain. One which makes you question everything you do and say in social situations, worried that others don’t like you for it. It's exhausting, not only keeping you from enjoying the present but also fucks with your relationships”. Take a watch of the accompanying video below.
Having immensely impressed with their recent single's SOS and Lonely People, Scotland-based duo HYYTS have today unveiled their brand new track ‘Bad Tattoo’. Everyone has a past and Adam and Sam Hunter know this all too well as they document a tale of past regret and reflection across another scintillating backdrop of pulsating electronics. Discussing the single, Adam says “I’d been drinking this highly caffeinated vodka drink that comes in pint cans up in Glasgow called Dragon Soop. I had like three cans of it and it is mental stuff it sent me into mad fever dreams all night. And while steaming I’d given myself a really bad tattoo on the back of my leg which I was kind of regretting but while tossing and turning and thinking about it I dreamed up the whole song! It’s all about scars, whether they’re self-inflicted or otherwise, and the pride they should stand for from getting through a situation and having the marks to prove it. So the idea was to use tattoos as a metaphor of how something painful can leave a positive impression and how being proud of your painful experiences is a beautiful thing.” Sam adds, “For the video we flash between different classic date spots; an Italian restaurant (our landlords place we used to live beside), a bowling alley and (our favourite) cinema. It kind of ended up looking like we were dating each other which is some self-made-super-hot-fandom-kink-sh*t, but we wanted to travel through different memories of a past relationship, as I’m tattooing Adam throughout all the spots to suggest the emotional scars from it all. We’re happy, we’re sad, and everything in between, just like the real thing. We did an actual tattoo and it’s a lovely little doggy”. Take a watch for yourselves below.
"Sometimes I sit and reminisce about the good old days I miss. About the days I spent with all my friends. In fact, I've come to realise those were the best days of our lives". It's funny, that you never really think you'll grow up until it's all too late and you realise you've already transitioned. Friends drift away and life becomes all work and no play. Touching a nerve with almost anyone that that has ever grown up in a city with not much else to do but smoke and drink, much like myself, Louis Dunford hits the nail on the head with his latest single, When We Were Hooligans. Taken from his debut project The Morland EP, which is out now, the track tells the story of life as we once knew it, without a care in the world. Speaking about his EP he goes on to say “This EP is a collection of songs that navigate through the best and worst days of my youth. They are stories from those teenage years, where I first experienced real friendship and brotherhood, my first experiences with drink and drugs and my first experience with death, the toll it takes and the struggles that follow.”“When I hear people talk about ‘the good old days” I always imagine they're referring to the prime of their lives, but when me and my mates reminisce, these are the good old days we mean. Those brief, innocent years, before everything changed, that we imagined we’d hold onto for a little longer. I hope that I’ve captured those days in these songs.” Take a listen/watch for yourselves below.
Ahead of the arrival of their new EP of the same name, due 11th February, Leeds-based outfit Talkboy make their very welcomed return today with an upbeat new effort entitled Wrapped In Blue. Following on from their recent singles ‘Stupid Luck’ and ‘Sky Is Falling’, the band's joyous nuances come to a fruitful cumulation through catchy choruses and an exploding melody section. Detailing the track’s origins, guitarist Tim Malkin explained: “I feel like it’s the most arrogant thing ever to use the song title in the description, but when I wrote this it really did feel like everything was wrapped in blue. It’s about coming to the realisation there is so much more to get excited about than this blue exterior you’ve been looking at for ages; you just have to be selfless enough to take some time to look closer at stuff other than yourself. The moral of the story is keep the people you care about as close as you can, they’re your ticket out of whatever it is”. Take a listen for yourselves below.
Electronic pop duo Valley Boy have recently unveiled their glistening new single Sad Girl. Filled with swelling harmonies and sickly sweet melodies, the track digs deep in to ear worm territory as the pair prepare for the release of their upcoming debut EP. "This song began after receiving my second 'we should never talk again' text from someone I had started seeing," explains songwriter James. "Change can be scary, and I think she and I were both very aware that we would be taking a big step were we to begin dating. That would mean saying goodbye to the safety of the known, even if what we both knew was isolation, disappointment, and a pessimist’s view of life and love. The devil you know vs. the devil you don’t, right?". Take a listen for yourselves below.
Set to kick off the year in the only stylish way they know how, Oxford's BE GOOD unveil their brand new EP entitled 'Everything's Alright In The Evening'. Having long developed a niche for creating silk smooth alt-pop, rich in provocative undertones and a burning desire, the four-piece find themselves right at home in their new effort. From the warming synth pad textures and grand pop sensibilities on Young Strangers, to the darkened pulsating tones on Dark Glasses, everything about this release has been produced to an exquisite level. Take Cathy's love-lorn lyrics and twinkling keys for example, setting a despondent mood as singer Ash Cooke attempts to pull apart his mind's inner-workings. Where last year's big hit Sickie knocks you to the floor with its sultry melodies and reflective depiction, the EP's penultimate track Torch Song tones things back with its soft ushered vocals and scintillating crescendo. Rounding things up with Pink Sky (Can I Tell You Something?), the band's latest release delivers heartache and delicate soul in the biggest of measures. This is disconnected pop for the ones that can't sleep in the blackened twilight hours. Deluge yourselves below.
To coincide with the release the band have shared an official video to lead single Young Strangers, directed by Joe Vozza, perfectly encapsulating the push/pull of longing and loneliness. Take a watch for yourselves below. Speaking about the clip the band had the following to say: "Joe is an amazing multimedia instrumentalist with an incredible eye—he has that rare talent of enhancing the aesthetic world of the artists he works with. We connected behind the vision of creating a dream-like, cinematic version of British suburbia in the video, referencing Spielberg and teen movies. We wanted it to almost feel like a trailer of a film or TV show—evocative of interlacing stories and characters without necessarily focusing on a linear narrative".
Encapsulating how we all feel on the inside, George Moir returns with his vibrant, catchy-as-hell new single Empty. Built upon a buoyant instrumental of bubbly keys and flamboyant melodies, the track's happy-go-lucky charm masks the inner-breakdown of life as he tells the tale of struggling to get by. About the new track, George says: “‘Empty’ is kind of a sister track to my last single ‘Flowers’. I wrote it the same week – we had one day left at the studio before I had to go home. I was drained and spent the whole year up to that point working a full time job alongside making music. Eventually I had to quit the job and the money was starting to run out and I was completely burnt out. We’d been trying to write stuff all day and nothing was really very good, but I went back to the studio on my own, sat down at a Rhodes piano and out came the song. It was like it was just waiting there for me. It was a huge relief to not have to brute force anything, and it summed up the whole frustrated feeling for me! I was absolutely knackered and absolutely broke, and it was a real relief to stop holding it together for a minute and just get it out into a song.” Take a listen for yourselves below.
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever unveil their new video for 'The Only One', taken from their their internationally acclaimed second album of 2020, Sideways To New Italy. Directed by Mike Ridley, the video for fan-favourite 'The Only One' follows the beloved character of Pie Man as he wanders the streets of the Northern-Melbourne suburbs.
