Are You Mine?

20 BEST BALLADS OF 2024

Posted on by JL

ALL TOGETHER

TRACK BY TRACK

Band: THE MYSTERINES
Who: Impassioned powerhouse pop indies from
Liverpool fronted by ravishing voice Lia Metcalfe.

Track: SO LONG
From their 2nd LP
Afraid Of Tomorrows.

Haunting femme fatale tragedy.

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Artist: BILL RYDER-JONES
Who: Singer-songwriter who was co-founder
of Merseyside heroes The Coral.

Track: THIS CAN’T GO ON
Piece from his 6th solo LP
Lechyd Da.

Choral magnificence.

Instagram – Spotify
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Artist: NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS

Track: WILD GOD
Title song from their
18th full length.

Orchestral grandeur.

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Artist: T BONE BURNETT
Who: Legendary American songsmith and lauded producer who worked
with many greats (Elvis Costello, Robert Plant, John Mellencamp and many
more) and scored movie soundtracks all through his long career.

Track: WAITING FOR YOU
From his intimate and warm
longplayer The Other Side.

Goosebumps beauty.

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Band: FAT WHITE FAMILY
Who: Notorious UK squad, led by the charismatic
voice/songwriter/author Lias Saoudi.

Track: RELIGION FOR ONE
From their 4th and best LP
Forgiveness Is Yours.

Enigmatic tearjerker.

Instagram – Spotify
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Peter Murphy – photo by Jolene Siana / Boy George – photo by Dean Stockings

Artists: PETER MURPHY and BOY GEORGE
Bauhaus maestro and Culture Club voice/face.

LET THE FLOWERS GROW
The song was originally written by Boy George with its initial message being
“one of
personal acceptance about being gay. As the song developed, it took on a more expansive and universal scope with its lyrics extending beyond sexuality and embracing race, gender, creed and religion.”

Epic.

Boy George – Peter Murphy
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Artist: PETER PERRETT
Who: Former frontman of legendary British new
wavers The Only Ones (1976–1982, 2007–2017)

Track: FOUNTAIN OF YOU
Song from his 3rd solo album
The Cleansing.

Still a romantic at heart.

Instagram

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Band: HEARSING
Who: Long-time American
musical friends.

Track: SILICON PRAIRIE
Opener of the tandem’s 5-track
debut EP Pastoral.

“The song incorporates themes of longing and desperation I felt in my own
life at the time that found a home in anecdotes of the desert and its characters
experiencing these feelings for reasons far removed from my reality.”

Americana tristesse in motion.

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Press photo by 📸: Dean Chalkley

Artist: RICHARD HAWLEY
Who: British master of melancholia.

Track: HEAR THAT LONESOME WHISTLE BLOW
Reverie from his 10th LP In This City They Call You Love.

Fanciful idealisation.

Instagram
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Artists: THE GLASS HOURS
Who: American songwriters Brad Armstrong and Megan Barbera.
Their music blurs between Sunday afternoon country-folk and
the golden age of the 1970s.

Track: SAME OLD YOU
From their heartfelt
self-titled debut LP.

Bittersweet country magic.

Website – Instagram
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Artist: KAT KOAN
Who: Entrancing songstress
from Berlin.

Track: DREAM GIRL

Whispering nightclub sensuality.


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Artist: KIM DEAL

Track: ARE YOU MINE?
Song from her solo debut album
Nobody Loves You More.

Captivating love song for her mother.


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Band: THE BLACK KEYS

Track: ON THE GAME
Song from their 12th, bluesy dream pop,
longplayer Ohio Players. Stellar record.

Spellbinding.

Instagram
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Artist: OLIVER HOHLBRUGGER
Who: Norwegian songwriter.

Track: BLACK CANVAS.

“It’s about that someone you’ll never be with and that you allow to remain
inside you as a perfect unspoiled thing, yet still you measure and hold your
real relationship up against it. It’s a dream, an illusion, an unfair fantasy.
Nothing and therefore able to be perfect.”

Yearning amorousness.

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Band: THE SMILE
Who: Two radioheads – Thom Yorke and
Jonny Greenwood and drummer Tom Skinner.

Track: Instant Psalm
Highlight from their 3rd and
best full-length Cutouts.

Vintage Thom York blues.

Instagram
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Band: MGMT
Who: Psych-pop star duo
from Connecticut, US.

Track: PHRADIE’S SONG
Composition from their 5th LP
Loss Of Life.

Candlelight sensibility.


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Instagram
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Band: MONOSCOPES
Who: Italian psych-pop act.

Track: HEY ATLAS
Cut from their notable 2nd full
length Endcyclopedia.

Starry-eyed nostalgia.


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Instagram – Spotify
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Artist: JOHNNY CASH
The immortal country icon.

Track: HELLO OUT THERE
One of the 11 self-penned songs from 1993 that weren’t
released until now, on the new longplayer Songwriter.

Affecting as ever.

Instagram
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Artist: RINGO STARR
No pension for 85-year beatle.

Track: TIME ON MY HANDS
Starr goes country again. New LP
Look Up out early next year.

Little drummer boy.

Instagram
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Band: THE VEILS
Who: New Zealand‘s guitar-pop veterans
centered around singer/songwriter Finn Andrews .

Track: THE LADDER
From new, upcoming 6th LP Asphodels
that will arrive on January 24th.

Endearing moments.

Linktree – Spotify

TURN UP THE VOLUME’s JUKEBOX 2024 – 10 New Tracks Added Every Week

Posted on by JL

Every week 10 new rad tracks added

In order to not miss a beat Turn Up The Volume scans the musical
horizon daily (doing it for years now, actually) to stay in touch with
all new things sonically great and shares the results on a weekly
basis.

FULL JUKEBOX (so far)


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The 10 new ones added this week

TRACK-BY-TRACK

Band: FRANZ FERDINAND

Track: NIGHT OR DAY
Taster from their upcoming, 6th LP, titled
The Human Fear and slated for release on
10 January 2025.

FF still sounds like FF.

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Band: MEKONS
Who: British post-punk oldtimers
still alive and kicking.

Track: YOU’RE NOT SINGING ANYMORE

A catchy as hell vibe reminiscent
of The Clash and The Pogues.
Swirling stuff.


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Instagram – Spotify
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Band: BLACKTOP OVERDRIVE EXPERIENCE
Who: Charged-up trio from Sicily, Italy
formed in 2014. So far they released
2 albums.

Track: DONE WITH YOU

This is what your ears will experience when stoner rock,
grunge and blues come together in one sucker-punch.

Linktree – Spotify
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Band: SLOW READERS CLUB
Who: Who: Alt-pop rockers
from Manchester, UK.

Track: ANIMALS
Taster from their 7th album, titled Out Of A Dream.
Slated for launch on 14 March 2025.

“‘Animals’ is us doing full on euphoric guitar pop, full of energy and drama.
It’s a celebration of intense, all-consuming primal love. Infatuation as a magic spell.
It’s about a longing for togetherness and sanctuary, as an escape from the bleak
reality of the outside world.”

Afire and ablaze power pop bliss.

Linktree – Spotify
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Artist: GHOST ON TV
Who: Musical project started by Boston multi-instrumentalist
and songwriter Paul DePasquale during the pandemic. He released
two records in late 2020.

Track: DAILY LAWS
First shared piece of upcoming, new album
‘Mister Silence’, ready to roll out, early next year.

“‘Daily Laws’ is about the art of negotiation with yourself and others. We always need to make sacrifices in life when dealing with other people, but it’s important to make negotiations with yourself. Know when to be kind and compassionate and know when to be unapologetic when being or doing what is best for yourself.”

A bass-booming trip-hop trip
that hypnotizes and mesmerizes.
Feverish vocals. Intriguing tune.


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Linktree – Spotify
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Band: PANHEAD SHARPS
Who: Indies from Dunfermline, Scotland.

Track: WHEN YOU ARE FALLING
A song that speaks to those moments of struggle and resilience.
With haunting lyrics like “When you are falling, I will be there when
you hit the ground” It’s a beautiful reminder that we’re not alone
in our toughest times.

Empathetic emotions bottled up in a bass-pushing
mid-tempo grungy blues-rock burst stoked with
fanatical guitars and compulsive vocals.


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Linktree – Spotify
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Photo by Charlie Barclay Harris

Band: COURTING
Who: Post-punk act
from Liverpool.

Track: PAUSE AT YOU
First preview from ‘Lust for Life, Or: ‘How To Thread The Needle And Come
Out The Other Side To Tell The Story’ (yep, that’s the full title), their 3rd LP, out
14th of March.

“‘Pause At You’ is a culmination of everything we’ve been working on over the last
few years. An observation on night time paranoia mixed about with night out ecstasy.
Light outing, floor filling, tie undressing, rock.”

Hefty, robust, electrical.

Instagram – Spotify
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Band: WYLDERNESS
Who: Welsh shoegazers from Cardiff
with 2 full-lengths under their belt.

Track: BIG IDEA
First taster from their forthcoming new EP
entitled ‘Safe Mode‘ which will be released
in 2025.

Starry-eyed guitar sparks set the glistening tone
for this sonically colored rainbow, all the way
through. Woolgathering vocals and attractive
melodiousness.


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Linktree – Spotify
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Band: DRIPPING TREES
Who: Belgian slowcore outfit.

Track: BALANCE IS GONE
The title track from their brand-new
bewitching debut album. Stream it here.

Dim the lights, sit down, relax and let the moody and bluesy vibes
at work here take over your stream of thoughts. Echoes of the late
Jeff Buckley will massage your ears.


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Linktree – Spotify
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New album artwork

Artist: KIM DEAL
Former Pixie bassist
and Breeders voice.

Track: ARE YOU MINE?
Highlight from her brand-new debut
solo LP Nobody Love You More.

Like dust sprinkled by the sandman/woman.
Romantic ballad with country-feel. Lovely.


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