Indie track
TRACK: Pictish Trail – ‘Dream Wall’: hushed loveliness from the dream state
JOHNNY LYNCH who, besides running the dependably excellent Lost Map Records (which, being based, for most of us, up there on the Hebridean island of Eigg, isn’t lost from the map but rather merely quite close to the edge of it) fashions hushed musical atmospheres wearing his Pictish Trail hat, has got a new EP …
NEWS: Drag City announce new signing AND imprint – hear E.R. Jurken’s ‘Colonels Of The Morning’
DRAG CITY have been so moved by the psychedelic whimsies of new signing E.R. Jurken that they’ve decided the only right thing to do is to is set up a boutique imprint just for him to lead; so a double smashing of the champagne bottle upon the hull, then, as this quirksome talent premieres the …
TRACK: Sara Wolff – ‘Bad Thoughts Compilation’ – welcome to Sara’s homespun folk-pop world
SHE LEFT the big, big vistas of her native Bergen, Norway, and relocated to Liverpool in order to study; found she really liked it by the Mersey, decided to stick around, and soon found that songs were flowing. It’s been quite the journey from university to rising alt.folk talent for Sara Wolff, whose duvet-day summation …
TRACK: Douglas – ‘Cigarettes’: euphoric, blurry synthpop futurism
AMY DOUGLAS WHITE is a Los Angelino by adoption, by way of Madrid, where she was raised the child of American parents. She’s got form in the music biz, serving for three years behind the keyboard in LA’s suitably trippy West Indian Girl and contributing background vocals to M83’s seminal single, “Midnight City”. She’s stepped …
TRACK: The Notwist feat. Juana Molina – ‘Al Sur’: returning with exploratory pop chops intact
SEVEN years is too long, to paraphrase the northern soul classic; yep. that’s how long it’s been since we’ve heard from Bavaria’s always delightfully off-kilter The Notwist. Since they dropped their last album for It’s been seven years since The Notwist’s last studio album, Close To The Glass, for City Slang in 2014, the always …
TRACK: Allison Lorenzen feat. Midwife – ‘VALE’: dark Denver fuzz atmospheres
EXACTLY half of Denver’s percussive synth outfit School Dance, Allison Lorenzen has refined the art of bringing vocal colour and life to stripped back tunes; an aesthetic we can now experience in full as she steps into a more analogue world for her debut outing under her own name, in which project she’s enlisted Midwife, …
Bleach Lab announce EP for March – hear the blissful glide of ‘Old Ways’
FORMED up in the wooded hills of Buckinghamshire, since relocated south of the Thames, Bleach Lab have an appreciation of the good things; think the Cocteau Twins, think Mazzy Star, think glimmer and shimmer, languid vocals spreading loving and lovelorn vocals over guitar chime. All the good things. Despite 2020 sending a viral tornado through …
TRACK: Graywave – ‘Before’: shoegaze nocturne teases for EP
JUST before Christmas, Backseat Mafia had the absolute privilege of premiering “Like Heaven”, a brilliant surge of dream pop haze and melody from Graywave, the musical project of the West Midlands’ Jess Webberley. We’ll let you into a little secret: she’s a bit ace. Jess is shaping for the release of Graywave’s debut EP, Planetary …
Home Counties – ‘Modern Yuppies’: angular punk-funk takes on the consumerist dream
HOME COUNTIES who, despite the name, are a five-piece happy to gaze askance at all the weird doings of modernity from the safety of Bristol, release their third, three-minute dose of angular commentary, “Modern Yuppies”, today. Us humble folks at Backseat Mafia feel embracing their particular wonky vision of the truth is a necessary step. …
TRACK: Neighbourhood Watch – ‘Focus Up’: Toronto quintet telling indie-rock tales of growing up
NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH are a young five-piece outta Toronto with a really simple mission: they love making music about growing up. Clear, concise and ready in your ‘hood with melody and storytelling. Singer-guitarist Tristan Surman – who’s joined in the Neigbourhood Watch, keeping an eye on your endz, by pianist Tyler Moretti, bassist Thom Elgie, lead …