“Gradually” is the first song taken off Ben Watt’s upcoming solo album Fever Dream – the follow-up to 2014’s Hendra – which will be out on April 8 on Watt’s own label Unmade Road. “Gradually” has a ragged rock tone to it, quite a departure from the artist’s previous electronic endeavours or his sound with Everything But The Girl.
The song is “about what can happen to a long ongoing relationship over time; the gradual shifting sands; how love mutates, changes speed; how interior worlds can be obstructive,” Watt explains. “Gradually” comes with a video shot on the backstreets of Hackney and Islington by new young Welsh director, John Jeanes.
The Ben Watt Band feat. Bernard Butler will be on tour from April. For more info, check out his site or Facebook. Buy on
Foals shot a powerful video for the song “Give It All”, taken off their album What Went Down. The band once again teamed up with frequent collaborator Nabil to direct the video, which was shot in Paris and stars Jérémie Renier as a heartbroken man haunted by memories of his former lover, played by Caroline Fauvet.
Speaking about the song, singer Yannis Philippakis said: “That was one where it felt like stripping all the support and architecture of the band away and allowing it to be just a vocal and some chords. That song more than anything we’ve ever done has been lead by its vocal. It felt like the purest bit of songwriting we’d ever done.”
Holy Holy is a musical project that brings together singer/songwriter Timothy Carroll from Brisbane and former Dukes Of Windsor guitarist/composer Oscar Dawson from Melbourne. They initially crossed paths as volunteer English teachers in Southeast Asia and reconnected in 2011 while both leading transient lives in Europe. The pair then returned to Australia to record with producer Matt Redlich (Emma Louise, Ball Park Music). Their newest single “Sentimental & Monday” was premiered on 10th July and is taken off the album When The Storms Would Come – out in the EU on 29 Oct.
Holy Holy’s members bonded over Neil Young (and Crazy Horse), Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd and Dire Straits, as well as contemporary acts like Midlake, Band Of Horses and Grizzly Bear. And these myriad influences have fed into When The Storms Would Come.
Though they cherish “old, classic songwriting”, that nostalgia is juxtaposed with a modern aesthetic. Dawson holds that Holy Holy’s sound has evolved into something that’s amplified – their sonorous, sublime melodies augmented by “stronger, more powerful guitars and bigger vocals” and rhythmically-dense drumming.
Born in the remote Scottish Borders, Monogram is the brainchild of guitarist and producer Liam Rutherford. Imaginatively DIY and strikingly sincere, his music generously draws on big reverbed drums, classical piano, howling guitars, triumphant choir… all wrapped into one big drama. Following sparkling debut song “Romance”, here’s the new single “Anno” in all its big-drum-jangly-guitar’d glory.
This new tune is an epic post pop anthem Monogram crafted in an isolated little cabin in the Scottish countryside. Featuring lush guitar arrangements, almost tribal drums and powerful vocals, “Anno” is a swirling multi-layered song that that looks set to become the triumphant soundtrack to your long summer drives.
Tame Impala recently unleashed “Eventually”, the fourth (and last) single from their forthcoming new record, Currents. The song follows the epic “Let It Happen”, the confession-like “Cause I’m a Man” and the finger-snapping “Disciples”, all of which have been building the hype ahead of the album, which drops on July 17. Musically, this last taster is a well-crafted synth ballad mixing past, present and future sounds, all filtered through a thoroughly modern psychedelic haze.
As for the album, it will see band leader Kevin Parker again operating as a one man studio band and taking influence from contemporary hip hop production, fried 70s funk, edgy electronica, future pop and emotional 80s balladry. A genre-bending soundscape fueled by curiosity and an exhilarating new territory for Tame Impala.
Check out Tame Impala’s official website or Facebook for more info and tour dates. Pre-order the album now on
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