“This song is about only picking fights that you know you’ll win. It came about because
the heating wouldn’t come on once and I thought about when we bang things to make
hem work. The sense of victory you get when you feel like you’ve physically intimidated
an inanimate object into doing what you want is bizarre and pathetic and really
funny.”
TUTV: Getdown Services serve a new get up, jiggle and let your pelvis have some fun
tune. This witty duo master the needed tricks to activate your lazy ass and make it
wobble.
Band: KASABIAN Who: Celebrated vet rockers
from Leicester, UK.
Track: GREAT PRETENDER
Newest shared piece from their upcoming
9th full-length, called Act III. Out on July 17th.
TUTV: Simple dance tune, gratifying outcome. No rock swagger anymore (miss that badly). Vocalist/songwriter Pizzorno changed Kasabian‘s musical course after firing charismatic frontman Tom Meighan in 2020.
Gabriel: “Of all the songs that I’ve written for i/o and o\i this is probably the poppiest for me.
It takes me back to my schooldays, in some ways, because before there was Genesis we were effectively trying to be songwriters more than musicians. I think this song connects me back to some of those roots and the sort of thing that I was working on then and trying to master.”
TUTV: Gabriel does here what he already did on his previous album i/o, coming
up with electro-juiced compositions driven by funky beats and throbbing, rhythmical dynamics. No sledgehammers anymore.
Tom Meighan – Utrecht, The Netherlands, 2015 – Photo by Turn Up The Volume
British seasoned rockers KASABIAN – one of the best bands of the past 25 years in my book – have 9 albums on their résumé, with 2024’s LP Happenings as the newest one.
It was also the 2nd one without Tom Meighan, the original, charismatic frontman who
got fired in 2020 following personal problems.
But for this adrelanine shot we go back to 2012 with Tom Meighan in the middle at T In The Park Festival in Scotland in 2010, performing their live classic L.S.F.
TUTV: Jumpy. Bouncy. Zippy. Cacophonic overtones, frolic organ blitz, sinewy vocals and psychobilly guitars drenched in an Eastern frenzy, blast out of your stereo. If this is what the Apocalypse will sound like, I wanna be there. Trust me, so will you.
TUTV: Kasabian turned from dance-infused rockers into disco-popsters under the leadership of singer-songwriter Sergio Pizzorno. Lots of drum/bass action on this
new one. Shaky stuff.
Artist: LEO VINCENT Who: Brussels-based, failed goalkeeper-turned-painter-turned-cameraman-turned-musician. Some say it’s disco for night janitors. Some say it’s glam-rock for ravers.
Others haven’t found the time to listen yet because they have real jobs.
TUTV: Oh yeah, the vibes! Oh yeah, the beats! Oh yeah, the swagger! Shake your pelvis, bend your knees and jump up and down, left and right, forth and back. This is a workout tune for all you lazy bumps out there. Move! Now!
Band: MONT LOSER Who: A deformed creature born from the depths of a late-night Parisian haze, half kamikaze, half blood-drunk bat. ML invite you to dive headfirst into the void of a rock scene that always seems to rise from its ashes, when we sometimes wish it would stay dead.
Track: CONFESSIONAL
The title track from their upcoming
album, out on April 17th.
“It’s only reality tv confessionals — people alone in a booth, crying to
the camera, saying things they probably never meant to say out loud.”
TUTV: Psychotic guitars, chaotic screams, mindbending verve and headtwisting changes of speed combine for a roasting 5-minute rollercoaster. Be ready for a dizzying experience.
Angus Rogers (frontman): “Rock and roll music for the empty and stunning.
A song about contempt, appetite, impotence and self-preservation through
gyration. Enjoy superficially with your body and send the reeling mind on
to hell.”
TUTV: Wham Bam! Yeah Yeah! Go Go! Oh my Oh My! Razzle Dazzle!
This is the kind of adrenaline-pumping thrills I wait impatiently for
every single day.
Get up, stand up, and fight
for your right to show off.
“‘Although it’s a big, joyous dance track, it’s about hiding deep emotional pain and trauma and how hedonistic coping mechanisms, like drugs, alcohol, and womanizing, are just temporary distractions.”
TUTV: This is what amazing pop-ular music is all about. Big melody, big emotions, big orchestration. Euphorically sticky as first-class glue despite its dramatic ‘real life‘ story. Aftermath soul-searching can work cathartically.
Who: Irish post-punk whirlwind, led by charismatic
voice/songwriter/guitarist Karla Chubb.
Track: BETTER
Along with Something’s Gonna Happen, my top fav track
on their brand new, second LP, called All That Is Over.
TUTV: Every time I play this pure punk-rock gem, I feel way better.
It’s striking swagger, superb groove, passionate duet vocals, and
high-strung guitar play mesmerize.
Who: The moniker of Massachusetts‘ chilling singer-songwriter Izzy Hagerup. She released her debut album Through The Window
in 2023.
Track: SYSTEM
First new piece and title track from her
2nd LP, coming our way on October 3rd.
Hagerup: “When I wrote ‘System’ I was supposed to be present and alive
and gracious and happy. But somehow I couldn’t escape my own internal
fears and depression that can follow me wherever I go.”
TUTV: What a brilliant torch song. Weeping guitars come and go while Hagerup‘s heart-stopping vocals cause goosebumps. And what a fuming
finale.
TUTV: Its ominous mid-tempo dynamics, its distorted vocals, and its riff-psychotic razzmatazz resonate as if you are listening to the scary theme song of a horror movie.
At the 2.30 minute mark, all hell breaks loose.
From a whisper to a scream. From planet Earth
to Dante‘s Inferno.
Track: FOUR
One of the highlights from their
brill 2nd LP Never Exhale
TUTV: Ditz operate in a very dark place. Sonically, as well as lyrically.
In the middle Cal Francis barks at the moon, while dense drones
infiltrate your shocked ears. Inhale, exhale.
TUTV: This 4-piece grab you by the throat from the kick-off and never lose their firm grip, while vociferous vocalist Marie De Graeve‘s has a crushing impact on your petrified stereo. Liar is a titanic motherrocker that pulverizes the Richter scale in just 250 seconds. Queens Of The Stone Age, Deftones and Black Sabbath come to mind.
TUTV: OMG! What a riot-gun banger. These Irishmen create suffocating havoc with
a maddening mix of nasty racket that brings illegal-decibels-producing bands such as
NIN and Metz to my cooking mind.
TUTV: Ecstasy. Elation. Euphoria. Exhilaration. This electro smack makes
you bounce and jump on your pogo-stick. They punch you in the teeth
without asking, while having fervent fun.
Who: Belgian noise rock trio whose sound draws influences from bands such
as Black Midi, Tool, Battles, and Swans, blending dissonance with a strong sense
of identity.
Track: NANDOR
Piece from their ace
3rd album Trois.
TUTV: What the fuck! From the very kick-off, chainsaw guitars do your
brain in. Electric chair electricity throughout. No way to escape. Neurotic
vocals complete this blitzkrieg assault.
Band: DOWN THE LEES Who: The post-rock noise project of seasoned Canadian
singer/songwriter/guitarist Laura Lee Schultz. DTL released
3 notable albums, so far.
Track: MIDI DORIC
First single. A song that deals with the
isolation and depression of the pandemic.
TUTV: A characteristic DTL thunderstorm, cranked up by blustery bass lines,
monstrous guitar riffs, Herculean drumming, Schultz‘s sky-scraping vocals and
a volcanic finale. One of the best noizz rock bands around.
TUTV: It’s a sublime, crystalline pop nugget, with its hypnotizing guitar riff,
the non-stop drum beat and the intertwined, spellbinding vocals of Win Butler
and his spouse, Régine Chassagne.
Band: KASABIAN Who: British star rockers from Leicester. One of the best bands
of the past 25 years on record and on stage, in my book.
Track:HIPPIE SUNSHINE.
Lead single from their forthcoming
9th LP. Details TBA.
TUTV: Expect a mega vitalizing, disco-charged haymaker.
Since co-founder/songwriter/frontman Serge Pizzorno pulls
all the band’s strings, he provides dynamite tunes you can
throw 24-hour parties with.
Who: One of the most adventurous/inventive/original post-punk & dub artists/performers
ever. He was a founding member of genre-bending new wave group The Pop Group and released lots of solo and collaborative records. Unfortunately, he passed away 2 years ago,
only 62.
Track: MEMORY OF YOU
Single from Stewart‘s solo album The Fateful Symmetry,
which was completed early 2023, not long before his passing.
TUTV: Haunting, synth-symphonic and bang-tastic,
with Mark‘s characteristically energetic voice on top.
First single from their forthcoming 4th full-length, their
first in 4 years, slated for release in September 2026.
TUTV: Holy Coves are back, and they don’t waste time. It’s full steam ahead from
the get-go. Eager guitars and sinewy drumming inject this sweltering steamroller with
a flaming briskness that causes a kinetic reverberation, while Marsden emotive vocals accentuate the song’s sad sentiments.
Who: 2-piece from Birmingham (UK) – Euan Woodman (drums/vocals) and Tom Rhodes (bass/vocals) – born in late 2023 over a shared love of noise, literature and late night shebeens. They write music about love and hate. They’re good for your soul.
TUTV: Warning. This insanely groovy punk blast will bulldoze all over your shocked speakers. Expect a superheated funky firestorm that attacks the Richter scale with a shattering impact. A manically jagged jackhammer it is. Trust me, you’ll think you like them, VERY MUCH, while you bang your head into your fridge’s door.
Who: A collective with members scattered across the UK and the Netherlands.
This group, now comprising seven members, has its roots in a trio that expanded
over the past four years.
New track: WET LEATHER
Piece from their sophomore
LP Total Technik.
TUTV: Kraut-rock and roll with an intoxicating force. A wall-of-guitar-pyrotechnics rollercoaster. An overpowering tempest of rambunctious riffs. Voltaic psychedelia
at its spine-chilling best, bombarding your ears the way you like it.
Who: The musical project of singer-songwriter-poet Jamie Cameron. Hailing from
the Scottish Borders, the music blends lo-fi beats, synths and guitars with spoken word lyrics in which he discusses subjects ranging from politics and premonitions to self help culture, and a modern society obsessed with economic thinking.
TUTV: This rattling rap ‘n’ punk roll crackerjack swings forth and back, left
and right and Jamie Cameron’s full of vim and vigour word-flow activates all
of your insatiable limbs before he relaxes towards the synthy end. Kinetic throb.
Hands up for the coach.
TUTV: A nasty bass riff motorizes this rollicking psych jam that seems to go on
like forever, and when the powerhouse chorus kicks in, your ears are instantly
overwhelmed. Life Is Joy is one of those riff-crazy haymakers that stick after just
Who: Mysterious trio with an inimitable take on
humanity’s downward spiral into a dysfunctional
entropic existence. They unleashed their punk-groovy
debut EP Like You last year.
TUTV: This arresting, melancholic song is heart-rending. Its bluesy guitar
radiance, its bass-beat-heavy cadence, and despondent vocals get under
your skin. Its melodic catchiness has irresistible written all over it.
TUTV: A razzle-dazzle steamroller that gets under your skin faster
than you can say “this is bloody superb”. Its insane, mind-bending
course doubles your serotonin production on the spot.
Who: Must hear/see indies from Brighton (where everybody is in a band).
They cruise from folk to punk, using, besides traditional instruments (guitar,
bass and drums) also cello, flute, violin and other classical gear.
TUTV: These young wolves bulldoze their way through the daily
bullshit we have to endure with a knife between their teeth. Sippy Cup
is a bruising, full of vim and vigor, uppercut hitting where it hurts.
Band: KASABIAN Who: British star rockers from Leicester. One of the best bands
of the past 25 years on record and on stage, in my book.
Track:HIPPIE SUNSHINE.
Lead single from their forthcoming
9th LP. Details TBA.
TUTV: Expect a mega vitalizing, disco-charged haymaker.
Since co-founder/songwriter/frontman Serge Pizzorno pulls
all the band’s strings he provides dynamite tunes you can
throw 24-hour parties with.
TUTV: These young Irishmen punch left and right with puisssant post-punk panacherie.
Hit here, hit there, hit everywhere. Best thing about Erasure is, you can bounce like a ping pong ball to it. If its bang-up drive doesn’t make you go bonkers, I recommend to check your shrink. Pronto.
Band: SPRINTS Who: Irish post-punk whirlwind, led by charismatic
voice/songwriter/guitarist Karla Chubb.
Track: BETTER
Along with Something’s Gonna Happen, my top fav track
on their brand new, second LP, called All That Is Over.
TUTV: Every time I play this pure punk-rock gem, I feel way better. Fact. No, it doesn’t
have that by now known Sprints quiet/Loud/quiet progression. It’s Better‘s striking swagger, superb groove, excited duet vocals, and infectious guitar play that make this one of the best cracking tunes they ever wrote. Hallelujah!
TUTV: This ferocious wham bam uppercut doubles your adrenaline production instantly. Loud, nasty, brutal and red-hot are the keywords. Roasting post-punk at its fieriest best. Titanic stroke. Hells bells!
The single comes with a video filled with live and tour footage, captured in the last
couple of months as the band is constantly on the road since the release of ‘Cursed‘.
Band: LOBSTERBOMB Who: Glamorous indie quartet from Berlin. They released
their pithy party debut album Look Out in 2023. You can
stream it here.
Track: OVERSTIMULATED
Title track from their brand-new debut LP.
Discover the album here.
TUTV: Lobsterbomb‘s passionate punk razzmatazz works like a nuclear magnet.
Their vigorous vivacity is infectious and Nico Rosch‘s piquant vocals perk up your
troubled mood. Move your furniture and start a solo mosphit.
Nijmegen, The Netherlands, 2024 – Photo by Turn Up The Volume
Band: LAMBRINI GIRLS Who: Brighton‘s high-speed punk train duo who trippled their fanbase this year with
their boiling debut longplayer Who Let The Dogs Out and their spectacular shows.
TUTV: Feel the funky bravado vibes. Move to the bootylicious groove,
surrounded by torching guitars. Swing yourself around the booming
beats. Hear the sensual vocals. Pump up the Pins jam. Welcome back.
Artists: PRINCESS UGLY Who:J. Christopher-Rome and Christopher Moncrieffe – from Portland, OR
who are influenced by goth, post-punk, darkwave, and adjacent genres.
So far, the tandem has released two albums.
“Even as the things we perceive as negative can sometimes light our way with an unsettling brilliance, we look away. Tear it all up. Everyone is looking for their out.”
TUTV: Hypnotic beats. Limbs activating eurhythmics. Pounding bass drones.
The darkwave EBM duo strikes again with a nightclub killer. The Out has a 2025
doom and gloom vibe. The future isn’t predictable anymore. Let’s ignore its
demons for 200 seconds and dance. NOW.
Artist: BEDROOM JUNE Who: Singer-songwriter from Hamburg, Germany who transforms personal fractures into delicate electronic pop songs that oscillate between vulnerability, alienation, and a quiet longing for closeness.
Track: DISTRACTED BY YOU
Piece from her New EP. It tells of inner vulnerability, the search for
connection, and small moments of clarity—all wrapped up in a warm,
electronic indie pop sound.
TUTV: Propelled by enrapturous bass reverberations, luminous synths and sultry vocals, this jagged jam takes you on a whirling ride. Trust me, you will be attracted, not distracted by this swift thrill. Startling stuff.
Artist: ROSIE STUART Who: Restless Belgian singer-songwriter who writes raw songs
in stark contrasts: 100 percent black and white, with no room
for gray.
Track: VEGAN
Debut single from her
upcoming debut EP.
“Rosie reveals her most vulnerable side, though an impenetrable wall shields her deepest longings. She carries an intense energy, is uncomfortably honest, and constantly balances between bravado and self-sabotage.”
TUTV: This exorcistic cry out gives you the creeps. Tension and danger in the air all
the way, fueled by Stuart‘s agitated vocals. No birds and bees here. Vegan resonates
like a wandering soul screaming in the darkness, hoping to get saved. Goosebumps.
Artist: ASSASUN Who: Berlin-based dark-techno-wave artist Alexander Donat (Vlimmer, Fir Cone Children, WHOLE)
“Sound-wise, you could imagine Assasun operates somewhere between irate Clipping, a parallel timeline of early Nine Inch Nails, and Sleaford Mods on a havocked, misanthropic hotel lobby techno party. In short: dense, raw, uncompromising.”
TUTV: I don’t how many hours Berlin has in a day, but I think it’s definitely more than in other countries as Alexander Donat‘s musical production with his 3 different projects is off the charts. Anyway, this dark-techno-wave stomper from his new LP is one to play out loud, while going berserk on a trampoline.
Band: LADYTRON Who: British electro pop act, still with three of their original members, since 1999. Restarting now and then, they recorded/released 7 LPs so far withTime’s Arrow
from 2023 as the most recent one.
TUTV: It’s a new single shared without any further info,
but sources whisper that a new album is coming in the
near future.
Anyway, I Believe In You is an undisputable dancefloor thrill. Pounding percussion, bouncy and breezy synths, airy vocals, and a galvanic beat combine for a light-hearted pop gem.
Newest single from his 6th full-length, baptized Sunlight In The Shadows ready for release
on October 17th.
He wrote all songs with blues rock tandem The Black Keys.
TUTV: Kane is a retro rocker/popper at heart. And he’s very good at it.
Here he offers some of Marc Bolan‘s T.Rex glam rock grooviness. Hot love,
indeed.
Band: LOVINA FALLS Who: The dark dream-pop project of Boston-based singer-songwriter,
multi-instrumentalist, and producer Valerie Forgione. In 2023, they released
their debut album, Calculating The Angle Of Our Descent.
TUTV: The band swing your ears between a bewitching torch reverie
and a power pop melody. The process repeats itself a couple of times,
around Forgione‘s seductive voice. Riveting. Am I the only one who thinks
that Chris Isaak is on guitar here and there on the slow part? Well, that’s
what my ears tell me.
Who: Dublin-based singer-songwriter writing lush indie-pop songs that
simultaneously bathe in the faded light of heartbreak while pulling you
on to the dancefloor.
“Billy tackles enduring a vicious break up, wading through the emotional
carnage that accompanies it and coming out the other side.”
TUTV: With his chirpy high-pitched voice, his jazzy swagger, and his songwriting
prowess, Fritzgerald takes you back to the 60s/70s for some Motown soul excitement. Sexual healing ambiance.
Artists: peach|melba Who: Queer femme indie duo,
half Brighton and half Los Angeles.
Track: HAVE A LATTE
Their 4th of the year, more to come
every six weeks of the year.
pIm: “It’s a raucous anti-genocide anthem recorded and mixed by us and features our trademark duo vocals, oscillating between unsettling quiet and raucous chaos set to a Severance-costumed video, but filmed in a swimming pool, naturally.”
TUTV: This new drone sounds like a vintage, raw bass/drum pounding
uppercut from the late Steve Albini’s band Shellac. No arty-farty production,
nor special effects for these two punkettes. What you hear is what you get.
Have A Latte has a poignant, garage punk edge as if it were recorded in, eh,
a garage without tuning up the instruments. In the end, it’s the real, honest
sonic deal that matters.
Band: DOPAMINE FIX Who: Fresh Irish indie duo who’s manifesto says a lot about them: “With a nod to the Dadaists, we create Post Punk, Experimental and
Electronica which aims to unnerve, to disturb and to question.”
“The song erves as a record of how dysfunctional and broken our world is. This single is a soundtrack for the alienated and the awake, those treading water in a dystopia they never asked to enter.”
TUTV: Ominous tension hangs all over this feverish and foreboding psych jam incited
by angstful guitars. A sign of the times. Welcome To The Sharktank isn’t a song about the birds and the bees, it’s about today, about 2025 and the uncertain future. Anxious vocals amplify the inauspiciousness in the air and get out of control in the end. Scary reality as
we know it.
TUTV: The tireless Moore treats us with a cover of a song by The Velvet Underground. Not a really famous one. It dates
back to 1968, but did come out much later, on a VU
compilation from 1985.
It’s a fooling around, riff-rotating VU ripper
spiced with Lou Reed‘s characteristic vocality.
Artists: BRIAN ENO and BEATIE WOLFE. Who: The ambient sound wizard and the Anglo-American songstress.
They met for the first time in 2022 at the SXSW festival. The beginning of
a fertile musical collaboration.
Last June, they have released 2 dream-pop-wave LPs,
at the same time, titled Luminal and Lateral.
And a third one, named Liminal is waiting in
the pipeline to be released on October 10th.
Track: PART OF US
A piece from that upcoming
3rd longplayer.
Atmospheric, enchanting, and magnific
vocals by Wolfe. Heaven in motion.
British star rockers KASABIAN, one of the best bands of the past 25 years
on record and on stage, in my book, unleashed their 8th longplayer, baptized Happenings last year and they’re gearing up for their 9th next year. Details TBA.
But first, the brand new lead single, called HIPPIE SUNSHINE.
Serge Pizzorno (bandleader/singer/songwriter) talked to NME about the song:
“I was watching an Adam Curtis documentary about hyper-individuals and I was thinking
about escapism and how we are lost in this place where escape seems to be the only answer.
It feels like a shame that we aren’t finding something to bring us all together and connect us. That’s where that title comes from.
“I’m very proud of the Lou Reed/Elton John section. The DNA of the band is about that. I’ve always loved a little surprise. From a proper glam stomp to a gear change like that is really exciting. On the third or fourth listen you can’t wait for that bit to happen.”
British star rockers KASABIAN, one of the best bands of the past 25 years
on record and on stage, in my book, unleashed their 8th longplayer, baptized Happenings last year and they’re gearing up for their 9th next year. Details TBA.
But first, the brand new lead single, called HIPPIE SUNSHINE.
Jump! Jump! Jump.
Along with the news and the single came the announcement
of a huge concert next summer in Finsbury Park, London.
Band: KASABIAN Who: The glorious rockers from Leicester, UK.
Original singer Tom Meighan left the group and
guitarist/songwriter Sergio Pizzorno took
the microphone over.
Band: KASABIAN Who: Veteran rockers from Leicester, UK.
One of the best bands of the past 25 years,
on record and on stage, in my book.
Album: HAPPENINGS
Their 8th one, also their
8th number one in the UK.
TUTV: Since former frontman Tom Meighan left the group in 2020, Kasabian‘s wild drugs-fueled hedonistic days are over. Well, sort of. Yes, all 10 songs are disco-dance spiced stompers, but not the Taylor Swift way. Many decibels and pyrotechnics are still involved like on Call, How Far Will You Go, and Hello of It.
Half of the tracks are tailor-made for big festivals, stadiums, and other mammoth happenings where fans want to forget the daily rat race for a while. As Serge puts
it : “Art, for me, is relaxation – I panic when I’m not doing it.”.
Band: EX-HYENA (Boston, MA) Who: The musical project of Bo Barringer and Reuben Bettsak that started in 2020, surfacing through the haze of a global pandemic and illuminated by the city’s darkest corners.
Press info: A Kiss of the Mind skillfully captures the trademark Ex-Hyena combination of dark electronic, post-punk attitude mixed with the moody aura of the underground ‘80s
and a future-noir vision. But the record finds the project exploring a wider sonic landscape, with sprinkles of synth-pop, shoegaze, industrial, psychedelic, soul, trip-hop, Britpop, and more filtered through the Ex-Hyena sound lens, where heavy beats and razorsharp synths cascade through a hall of mirrors underneath a dual vocal melody attack.
Bettsak: “These songs are a bit longer and more expansive than the previous songs. There
was a bit more experimentation, and throwing lots of styles into the fold. I think we operate better when we don’t set any strict rules on genres, etc. We let the music, and songs guide us.”
TUTV: Once again Ex-Heyna take you on an EBM journey through the Apocalyptic war
times we live in. Surely, you can dance, move and groove to their new trippy pieces of orchestral manoeuvres in the dark, but the shadowy tone and timbre of this new record resonate like a fitting soundtrack for the ongoing disturbing turmoil we experience.
Expect a versatile mix of ambient vibes, wayward dynamics à la Aphex Twin, and early Human League eurhythmics all served with a twilight vocality. No rest for the wicked. We also need dance music in grim times. Enter A Kiss Of The Mind.
The late great country icon JOHNNY CASH recorded
an LP’s worth of self-penned songs in 1993 that weren’t
released until now.
TUTV: It’s always an aural pleasure to hear Cash‘s heart-and-soul warming Americana voice. Whether it’s a romantic ballad, a jaunty country tune or a
(rare) rocker his vocals/phrasing both stir and calm down my mind.
All 11 songs at play here are definitely no leftovers from some studio sessions.
Each track charms and endears. Imagine sitting on a swing chair on a cosy porch surrounded by green trees and a soft sun, with a bottle of red wine at hand and
the masterly Songwriter Johnny Cash as your musical friend.
Band: LOSSLINE Who: Manchester-based singer/songwriter tandem, Jack and Adam,
who look around, inside and outside, every day and write songs about
it, mostly sad songs.
“Our third album came about through us changing the way we write. Lots of the songs
were written as instrumentals and then the vocals were thought about afterwards. We
still write as a duo but we’re in the same room less and less.
In terms of themes it draws a lot from our day to day experiences. Feeling like we’re getting
a bit old to be going out. Finding the daily grind to be wearing us down. The joys and difficulties of having children. We drew a lot of inspiration from the work of Bill Ryder Jones who uses melody and time changes beautifully to create really strong emotional songs.”
TUTV: These two Manchester songwriters make you reach for your favorite drink,
make you dim the lights, make you go and sit down in your lazy chair, and make
you relax to melancholic, day-and-night-dreams with sepia-colored candlelight
vocals, but this time it happens a bit less than before. Mind you, they do not
start to rock out like mad.
On Again they resonate like weirdo Mark Oliver Everett and his band Eels and on
standout pearls I Can’t See Pass Monday, Heavy Rain and Sticking Point they cause goosebumps with affecting choir-like orchestrations, inspired as they say by intimate songsmith Bill Ryder-Jones, co-founder of Liverpool‘s romantic musers The Coral.
Listen to his heavy-hearted gem This Can’t Go On and you’ll know what they and
I mean. And as I mentioned before famous crooners The National and the softest
moments of The War On Drugs are floating around here and there too on this
splendid Lossline album 3.
Artists: POEJI Who: German drummer Simon Popp and jazz-loving, Mongolia-born singer/musician Enji. Both were/are involved in several solo, as well as collaborative projects.
The first result of their collaboration. Nant is music without borders or constraints, translated in various languages, such as the Slovenian word for ‘sing’ or the rough Japanese translation to ‘poetry’, whilst the album title is an old Welsh word for a stream or a valley. Parts of Enji’s vocals on the record are sung in her native Mongolian, whilst Simon Popp explores melody via various tuned percussion from around the world. They have created a truly universal album, pulling inspiration from German avant-garde, dub, downtempo and musique concrete.
Popp: “Nant is our shared exploration, merging our diverse backgrounds into an unconventional yet distinctive soundscape. It’s a deeply personal journey through
unique, atmospheric sounds that unite our individual worlds.”
Enji: “If this record takes you to places where you encounter “a quiet inner speech,” “unexpected messages,” or thoughts of “nothing to say, let the music speak,” then perhaps that’s precisely what we’ve been aiming for.”
TUTV: I never heard of both artists before, but I’m thrilled that I discovered them recently.
The fruit of their first musical partnership is special, nothing to do with the modern-day mainstream music.
Two things came to mind while listening to Nant for the first time. The title of Simon
and Garfunkel‘s majestic 1965 hit Sound Of Silence and the superb, romantic 2003
movie Lost In Translation.
Meditation, relaxation, peacefulness, atmospheric inventiveness and mind-massage
are the keywords here. Nant is an ideal sonic companion for soothing evenings, far
away from the busy reality we experience every single day.
