Singer Oumou Sangaré has been treating us to wonderful videos for each new single from Mogoya, her first album in eight years. Following ‘Kamelemba’ and ‘Yere Faga’, the Malian diva has shared a video for new single ‘Fadjamou’, which translates to ‘family name’. Centred around the importance of family in Malian culture, the track’s theme is reflected on the video. Watch it below.
With recent festival appearances at Glastonbury and Citadel, Oumou’s upcoming dates will see her gracing stages at WOMAD and Shambala this summer and at Utrecht’s Le Guess Who? in November.
Tomorrow sees the long-awaited release of Cornelius’s new album Melow Waves, his first in eleven years. Keigo Oyamada, the maverick musician behind Cornelius, had already enticed us with the album’s opener, ‘あなたがいるなら[If You’re Here]’. Now he has let loose a new delightful single, ‘In A Dream’, for another taste of Mellow Waves just before it drops. The track comes with a video directed by Groovisions. Here it is.
Fresh off the back of releasing their excellent EP Shadow Expert, Palm hit the road today for a string of shows across the US until the end of the month. The Philadelphia’s four piece has also announced a UK/European tour in September, including a show in London at The Montague Arms on September 19th.
To celebrate, Palm have shared an amazing video for the EP’s title track, with the four members as avatars inhabiting a kaleidoscopic and surreal world. The video was directed by JP Mayer and you can watch it below.
We love the new video for ‘Century’, taken from Feist‘s recently released album Pleasure. The video was directed by Scott Cudmore, and just like the track, it also features Jarvis Cocker.
With two magnificent albums under her belt, the incredibly talented multi-instrumentalist and composer Poppy Ackroyd is ready to dazzle us again with a third full-length album arriving this Autumn. Preceding the album, Poppy has just released Sketches, a stunning mini-album featuring solo piano arrangements of some of her favourite tracks from previous records as well as from four new tracks off the upcoming album. Here’s what Poppy said about the recording of Sketches:
“I have loved creating this solo piano album. There are normally all these layers that I use to create a world of sound, that I love to build and sculpt, but there is something really special about communicating simply through the instrument alone. With other layers there is always something to hide behind, with only the piano you can just focus on your technique and expression, everything feels very audible and exposed and that is very exciting, especially in a live context.”
The beautiful and compelling ‘Time’ is one of the new tracks reworked into acoustic solo piano arrangements. Wrap your ears around it now.
This week saw the release of an utterly beautiful and magical album, The Quick of the Heart, from the wonderfully talented Quinta. The London based multi-instrumentalist and composer, known as one quarter of experimental arts collective Collectress, keeps herself busy with many other projects and collaborations. Having composed for dance, circus, theatre, TV and film, Quinta has also played and worked with some stellar artists, including Radiohead’s Philip Selway, Patrick Wolf, The Penguin Cafe and many more.
Like a treasure chest of songs, The Quick of the Heart is full of gems from start to finish. Quinta’s sensitivities and inventiveness know no boundaries, and we find her shining on every instrument on the record. Unlike her previous effort where strings and the musical saw were core instruments, on the new album the piano takes a central role. Quinta played and recorded different pianos and keyboards in varied places, including a pipe organ in Portland’s Old Church.
To get you enticed, listen to the radiant and enveloping album track ‘Astragal (The Most Wonderful)’. And straight after lend your ears over to ‘Blood’, a gentle and moving song offered with a video by Quinta, featuring some footage from her recent residency in China as part of the British Council and PRS’s Musicians in Residence programme.
Head over to Quinta’s bandcamp to order and hear The Quick of the Heart in its full glory.
Singer Oumou Sangaré has been treating us to wonderful videos for each new single from Mogoya, her first album in eight years. Following ‘Kamelemba’ and ‘Yere Faga’, the Malian diva has shared a video for new single ‘Fadjamou’, which translates to ‘family name’. Centred around the importance of family in Malian culture, the track’s theme is reflected on the video. Watch it below.
