Chrystal Für shares second single ‘I’ll Rise At Dawn Once More’ featuring Echo Collective

26 March 2021

Last month Chrystal Für carried us on an immersive and hauntingly beautiful journey with ‘Requiem’, the first single lifted from his upcoming album Elusion. Christopher Vibberts, the composer, multi-instrumentalist and producer behind Chrystal Für, is enticing us again with a compelling new single from the album called ‘I’ll Rise At Dawn Once More’. Standing again as a powerful testament to the range of emotions encapsulated in the album, ‘I’ll Rise At Dawn Once More’ is a collaboration with Brussels based ensemble Echo Collective. Margaret Hermant and Neil Leiter of Echo Collective ellaborate on the creation of the track:

“We had the pleasure to work with Chris Vibberts during the first lockdown. Because of restrictions, we were unable to work in the same room, which would have been our normal process. This really forced us to work as if the piece was our own. Together with sound engineer Fabien Leseure, we focused on bringing as many acoustic sounds as possible into this beautiful soundscape. Margaret Hermant played violin and harp, and Neil Leiter played viola and bass viola. Through extended techniques we recreated many of Chris’s sounds on our own instruments in order to give the piece as much human depth as possible. We could not be more pleased with how our two musical languages worked together.”

Clocking in at nearly 11-minutes, ‘I’ll Rise At Dawn Once More’ “is a stirring string tribute to emerging from turbulence into the elation of a new day”, as the press release describes. It starts out with an eerie and melancholic tone gently shifting to serenity and bliss. Let it envelop you.

Elusion is out on May 28th through What Are We Records.

Snapped Ankles announce third album, Forest Of Your Problems, and share lead single ‘Rhythm Is Our Business’

24 March 2021

Two years on from releasing the feast of awesomeness that was, and is, Stunning Luxury, Snapped Ankles are back with their third album. Entitled Forest Of Your Problems, the album is set for release on July 2nd through The Leaf Label, who note in their press release:

“Snapped Ankles return to the forest, but it’s not as they left it. Trees planted in neat rows. A well-ordered monoculture with access roads and heavy machinery. The smell of greenwashed money in the air. There’s no sign of the ancient woodland they emerged from on debut album, Come Play The Trees. And it’s far cry from the gentrified East London they found themselves hawking on Stunning Luxury. All is not well in the face of progress. Welcome to the Forest Of Your Problems.”

Regular collaborator Danalogue of The Comet Is Coming is again on mixing duties on Forest Of Your Problems. And when it comes to formats, we’re spoiled for choice, with four different vinyl editions available, aligned with the newly formed factions of “the famously close-knit woodwose community”, The Business Imp, The Cornucopian, The Nemophile and The Protester.

The absolute banger that is ‘Rhythm Is Our Business’ serves a killer lead single and it begs for dancing. The single comes with a video directed by Daisy Dickinson.

Snapped Ankles have announced a UK and EU tour in October and November, and you can check all their stops and other info here.

Molly Lewis signs to Jagjaguwar and shares new single ‘Oceanic Feeling’

23 March 2021

Molly Lewis, a master whistler and self-described “human theremin”, has just signed to Jagjaguwar. Alongside the news, Lewis is releasing today ‘Oceanic Feeling’, her first single for the label. On the track, and the press release describes, she “invites you on a lovely walk across the flotsam-sprinkled sands in the rum-pumping vein of Les Baxter”. ‘Oceanic Feeling’ features guest Leon Michels on sax and is offered with a video directed by Drew Bienemann and Molly Lewis. Take a look.

Kid Millions and Jan St. Werner announce debut collaborative album Imperium Droop

19 March 2021

We love drummer extraordinaire and all-round genius multi-instrumentalist and composer John Colpitts aka Kid Millions (Man Forever, Oneida) and we love electronic veteran musician and producer Jan St. Werner, a sound innovator known for a plethora of solo compositions and collaborative projects and as one half of German avant-garde electronic duo Mouse On Mars. So we couldn’t be more excited to learn of a collaboration between Kid Millions and Jan St. Werner, who have just announced Imperium Droop, their debut album as a duo. Described as “continuation of an ongoing musical dialogue between the two musicians”, the album picks up from where Millions and Werner left off in 2016 when Werner invited Millions to perform an interpretation of his Felder album in a series of curated live dates. A unique concert took place at Oneida’s practice space with just one person in the audience – songwriter Helado Negro. Millions and Werner planned to follow that concert with an ongoing series of recorded collaborations between them and ended up building an archive of recorded material that led to Imperium Droop.

Featuring guests contributions from Mats Gustafsson, Andrew Barker, and Richard Hoffman, the album is also described as “an incomparable work of gripping and intrepid sonic fluctuations”.

We’ll have to wait until June 25th for Imperium Droop to be out through Thrill Jockey but we can already get an exhilarating first taste from it with closing track ‘Sorrows and Compensations’. Here it is.

Buffet Lunch set to release debut album The Power of Rocks in May

18 March 2021

Photo: Owen Godbert

Scottish band Buffet Lunch have have unveiled the details surrounding their debut album, The Power of Rocks. The quartet of Perry O’Bray (Vocals/Keys/Guitar), Neil Robinson (Bass), John Muir (Lead Guitar) and Luke Moran (Drums) have been active for a few years, firm on their “their mission to craft satisfyingly imperfect pop songs filled with imagery and humour”. The album is anchored by broad and personal themes, as the press release describes, “from irritation with out of touch politicians, to love letters to seaside living, to even the frailty and confusion of old age.”

The Power Of Rocks comes out on May 7th through Upset The Rhythm and the band have already teased it with two quirky, playful and addictive singles, ‘Pebbledash’ and ‘Red Apple Happiness’. Both tracks are offered with a video accompaniment, ‘Pebbledash’ was created by the band’s own Perry O’Bray and the latter was made by Iain McCall.