I think in many ways we’d all like to erase 2020 and start again, but still with the release of the many great albums that came out this year. I’m guessing, like me, most of you found solace, escape, distraction and comfort in listening to music – new and old – to get you through …
Lists! We have a couple for you as usual as we wind down at the end of another year. I won’t rabbit on about the trials and tribulations of 2020, the good news was that the music still came down the pipeline with the same amount of quality and reward. We’ll have our overall list …
Ruby Gilbert recently released her new single ‘No Vacancy’, a song that nestles beautifully between dreamy country and a more soulful, vintage Americana sound with electric slide guitar and trumpet. Noir aesthetics of bruised romance and helplessness run through the song. “’No Vacancy’ is about the early stages of a romance and the inevitability of … Continue reading
Following the highly successful launch of her new album This Way Or Some Other, Katie Brianna and Stanley Records have released the video clip for the new single ‘Running Disaster’ which is released digitally tomorrow (May 7th). It’s a song that perfectly combines Brianna’s effortless way with a sublime melody and the way she complements … Continue reading
I’ve been a fan of John Murry since I saw him play here in Sydney and was taken by his wonderful 2013 album The Graceless Age. He’s certainly had his trials and tribulations and he ended up living in Ireland where he’s continued to work at his craft and periodically release new material. Now, in … Continue reading
Fans of James Ellis & The Jealous Guys, Charley Crockett, Dale Watson and Michael Carpenter & The Banks Brothers will dig the top-notch playing and honky tonk sound on this new Cory Grinder & The Playboy Scouts single from their forthcoming new LP Honky Tonkin’ Beauty Supreme available June 11th 2021. Cory and the band … Continue reading
On the back of a lonesome harmonica comes the voice of QLD artist Sue Ray. It’s a warm and rich voice she possesses too, melodically draped as it is across the minimal country sound – a great mix of noir and campfire in its atmosphere and intimacy. ‘All The Lonely Ones’ was co-written with Sean … Continue reading
Natalie Henry returns with a brand new single that touts some of life’s essentials… ‘Weed, Wine and Women’. With a sweet and sassy, honky-tonk saloon swing the song hits one hell of a great 70s country vibe. It’s a tongue- in-cheek song that possesses a standard of songwriting that the likes of Nikki Lane, Jaime … Continue reading
In our continued appreciation for the amazing ambient country that has been reaching our ears over the last couple of years, here’s a beautiful instrumental track from The Howard Hughes Suite. Like Suss, Daniel Lanois, Eli Winter, Chuck Johnson and William Tyler, The Howard Hughes Suite (a solo project for a guitarist from the South … Continue reading
Sydney songwriter Sam Newton continues his run of impressive singles in 2021 with ‘Burning Bridges’. The soulful Americana track has a classic Ryan Adams feel in the music, with gentle organ notes ringing out amid the delicate yet ornate percussion of Reuben Alexander and the sweetly balanced backing vocals by Rebecca Ursino. Newton knows how … Continue reading
This is one of those great songs that rolls along effortlessly, blending country, folk and ragged college rock sounds. You can hear Wilco cosying up with Pavement and a cosmic Americana vibe as the perfectly jangly/dirty guitars swing and sway on a warm bed of distortion. There’s also a power pop element, particularly in the … Continue reading
Things are getting shadowy and noir with this dark and moody single from the LA-based artists CHILLEMI. There’s a very cool ghostly shimmer and a gothic twang to the song and given that stylised sound, it makes sense that there’s a Twin Peaks connection with the video clip starring Giselle DaMier, best known for her … Continue reading
I’m a big fan of Tommy Alexander‘s Waves album of last year. He’s followed that up with a new double A side release called Light & Drama. Here’s the ‘Drama’ side of things, a very cool and lazy drawl of a song that shuffles along on the back of Alexander’s unassuming yet infectious vocal melody. Continue reading
‘Seven Hundred Second Chances’ is the brand new single from Lawrence, Kansas Americana band The Roseline. It comes form their forthcoming new LP and follows the release of their 2020 album Good/Grief which we’ve previously written about. Here they get even more widescreen with a Ryan Adams melodicism and sway in the verses before electric … Continue reading
I dig the way this track dances so lightly across the speakers. There’s a baroque folk feel, a touch of the pop nous of Harry Nilsson and a freak folk freedom going on. The Nielsen Family Band know their way around a charming and clever melody on ‘Fragile Flowers’, it sits on a solid backbeat … Continue reading
‘I’m Made’ is a brand new track from Stone Jack Jones and featuring the vocals of Adia Victoria. Dense, desolate, driving psych country folk and blues sounds are the order of the day here. It reminds me a lot of New Zealand band The Renderers who trade in a similar form of gothic psych country. … Continue reading
Wildie are a Swedish quartet who, from the sound of this track ‘Old Man’, excel at writing and performing country flavoured West Coast sounds with a classic pop streak. There’s Wilco, Ron Sexsmith, a dash of early Midlake and above all some lush, melodic 70’s style songwriting that sounds effortless. The song comes from their … Continue reading
