New York
PREMIERE: MuMu strips back ‘Brooklyn Tonight’ for first offering of 2022
She closed 2021 with the original version of this song and we’ve gotta say, the rework is just as good, if not better. If MuMu – the New York-based Madeline Rhodes – is new to you, listen to this and then go seek out her other stuff immediately. A sultry acoustic spin on the track …
PREMIERE: New Yorkers Catcher come out swinging with ‘Behind a Bleeding Heart’; debut album follows next month
We’re just going to say it: the debut album from New York sextet Catcher is an absolute scorcher. Fans of Protomartyr, Preoccupations and the more muscular proponents of the current post-punk wave should take note: it’s out Friday February 18th. The Fat of a Broken Heart has been teased by several singles, but the lead …
Track: Barrie is vulnerable, reckless perfection on new single ‘Quarry’: Album ‘Barbara’ out 25 March on Winspear
American songwriter and producer, Barrie, has shared her latest single Quarry with the announcement of new album Barbara, due out on 25 March. The strength of ‘Quarry’ is in its softness – Barrie’s romantic, delicate vocals match the pace of pulsating drums, synths and bass. A veritable showcase of the artist’s fearless new sound, the …
PREMIERE: Nicotine Dolls cause a ruckus on storming new single ‘Upset the Neighbours’
Goodness, this song is fun. If you’ve had New York quartet Nicotine Dolls on your radar before now, you’re probably familiar with their debut EP – Sex, Addiction, & Everyone Else was released in February, and we thought that would be it from them this year, but they’re closing out 2021 with a cracking new …
News: The magnificent Bambara announce new EP ‘Love On My Mind’, new dates for US/EU tour and release the dramatic and gothic ‘Mythic Love’
Bambara‘s album ‘Stray’, released before the before the world went mad early last year was described by me as being an epic release – deeply satisfying, cathartic to audiences who can embed themselves in the wild stories being told – a stark evocation of a time and place – wrapped in twanging guitars and rumbling …
Track: The dreamy and ethereal Barrie returns with more sublime synth pop in track ‘Frankie’ and announces US and European tour
I really shouldn’t dwell on the past so much but Barrie‘s single ‘Tal Uno’, reviewed by me here back in 2018 remains one of the most outstanding and perfect slices of pure pop heaven I’ve heard over my years of writing for Backseat Mafia. Subsequent releases displayed the same acute ear for melody, laden with …
EP Premiere: Fair Visions – Modern Kids
We’ve got a midweek treat for you on the site today, in the form of New Yorker Ryan Work’s new EP. As Fair Visions, he released his debut EP A Way Out last August, and its follow-up displays impressive growth over little more than a year. Anyone who’s on board with contemporaries Nation of Language …
EP: Jhariah releases the evocative and dynamic genre-defying ‘A Beginners Guide To Faking Your Own Death’
Every so often I find myself bored with my current rotation of music and before I know it I am falling down a rabbit hole on streaming platforms trying to find something new to hold my attention. When “Needed A Change of Pace” first dropped on my desk, I remember feeling physically excited to hear …
See: koleżanka takes empathetic flight with the lush, modular indie of ‘In A Meeting’
KRISTINA MOORE it is who guises as koleżanka for her particular lusciously free, electronica- and folksily informed guitar music; and the New York-via-deepest Arizona songstress will surely be tempting her into your world via the conduit of her debut album, set for release at the end of July. Combining elements of retrotronica, a lo-fi modular …
EP Review: Yaya Bey chronicles heartbreak and self-reflection on ‘The Things I Can’t Take With Me’- out today
An impactful, cradle-to-grave reflection of self, Yaya Bey’s new EP The Things I Can’t Take With Me came together unexpectedly. Bey was set to record her next album when she found herself in the midst of a broken relationship, after which the original project changed direction. Its title refers to her journey of self-reflection, where …