The Weeping Willows are Australia’s finest exponents of the stripped-down duo format. One guitar, two superb harmony-rich voices and a talent for both their own songwriting and the interpretation of other’s songs. They’ve just announced the release of a brand new EP called Southern Gothic, which is out this Friday (June 4th), and it finds … Continue reading
This new single from Ghost Prom is a wonderfully unassuming slice of country folk that rides some sweet melodies and harmonies over a shuffling backbeat and loosely strummed guitars. There isn’t much info on the Hurley, New York band but their Bandcamp page does state that “two kids from a missing milk carton never got … Continue reading
Who woulda thought rejection could sound like so much fun. That’s what Los Angeles duo The Deltaz have done on this slice of 70s style country funk. Check that bass-line and try not nod along as a smile slowly spreads across your face. ‘I’ve Been Rejected’ was inspired by a night of drinking and line … Continue reading
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
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
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
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
Oh man I love this track. It stopped me dead in my tracks when I first heard it. All the elements are perfect – the pacing and tempo, the grit and twang in Mac Greer‘s voice, the country tropes of heartache and pain, the simplicity and repetition of the lyrics, the way the electric guitar enters … Continue reading
I love the way this track lazily bounces along, draped in jangly cosmic twang and has this wonderfully swelling, spiralling feel, like it could spin on and out forever. It features the warmly melodic lead vocal of Netta Dor, who says of the song… “I love that final chorus. Where everyone becomes entangled with each … Continue reading
