:: Warriors of The Dystotheque – Lost In Your Silence EP (Fly Beat Music)
DERRY/Coventry/Tolouse/NYC combo Warriors of The Dystotheque are back and teasing their forthcoming album with a new EP which, according to WoD's Irish contingent Jonny Mac, offers listeners "an uptempo broken beat, Cinematic Orchestra sorta vibe".
The opening and title track, Lost In Your Silence is a collaboration with Lydia Kaye of Kalahara, who adds her smouldering vocals to a woozy groover produced by Howie B, making this the second time the Scottish legend has worked with WoTD following last year's funky Black Minds Matter charity tune, No Borders.
Lydia sez: "I was thrilled to team up the Warriors for their new release and had an instant affinity with this track. I was inspired by the jazz tipped style, reminiscent of the music I grew up with, it's the kind of music I always wanted to make.
"Now having worked on this track with the Warriors, we're gonna do a few more for the forthcoming album, which I'm super excited about."
Next up is the even more laid-back tune An Island Affair Ft Abby Oliveira, a post-club kind of thing which combines 7 Daughters' vocalist Abby's nostalgia-laden spoken word spiel about good times gone with a string-tinged downtempo groove.
Abby explains: "The music for this track transported me to another place and time, in that mysterious way that good music does – to an island paradise, sunshine, heat, beats resonating under bare feet, friends laughing, burnt scarlet and dancing on the beach. The kind of days we live for.
"This track is an invitation to every listener to kick back, close your eyes, indulge those sweet memories, and remember that you will dance on the island again."
Sign me up, and bring me a large pina colada served in a pineapple while you're at it.
The EP also features a couple of remixes, the title track nicely re-imagined in a more dancefloor-friendly percussion-heavy manner by Derry's own Cartin, while Cafe del Mar regular Ken Fan brings out a fuggy, trip-hoppy flavour in An Island Affair.
WoTD even throw in instrumental versions of both tunes, in case you fancy sampling them, using as score for your new independent film or just indulging in a spot of karaoke.
Grab it now from Warriorsofthedystotheque.bandcamp.com.
:: Invaderband – Handcuffed Man Shoots Himself (single, Tectona Grandis)
ANOTHER great group with a north west affiliation, Derry-based Invaderband have another new tune for us, taken from their upcoming second album Peter Gabriel.
The brilliantly titled Handcuffed Man Shoots Himself is a slinky, synth-swathed garage pop number with a topical 'anyone can be the next victim' style lyrical theme ripped right from the headlines, as frontman Adam Leonard explains:
"The song title is taken directly from a headline I saw. Always a good starting point for a song," he says.
"A 21-year-old guy called Chavis Carter was arrested, handcuffed and placed in the back of police patrol car. This was in Arkansas a few years ago. He was searched twice for a weapon and none was found.
"When the dashcam was (conveniently) switched off, the detainee somehow managed to obtain a gun and fatally shoot himself in the head, all whilst cuffed with his hands behind his back... or so the police officers claimed. Disturbing stuff."
Lest you be in any doubt about whether or not Leonard and co accept the official line in that story, the cover art for the single uses an image of George Floyd's murderer Derek Chauvin, the uniformed perpetrator of a more recent tragedy which the Invaderband man describes as "the same kind of story, a 'one-off incident' which just keeps happening again and again and again".
In other words, if you don't buy the new Invaderband single when it 'drops' on July 9, you're basically admitting that you support police brutality – not a good look for 2021.
:: Neil Brogan – Magnolia Day (single, self-released)
EX-SEA Pinks man Neil Brogan released his cracking lockdown-inspired/created/constrained album of demos Weird Year barely six months ago, but already the Belfast singer/songwriter is preparing to share another full length collection of songs with the world in the form of Magnolia Day.
It's not out until next week, but he's just released the title track as a single in order to whet appetites. Inspired by lockdown gardening and the positive, calming influence that outdoor greenery in general can have on the mind, Magnolia Day the song is a pretty confection of eminently whistle-able melodies delivered via layered acoustic guitars and Brogan's easy-on-the-ear baritone.
It's pretty representative of the sound and feel of the record as a whole, which is very much imbued with the kind of cautious optimism tinged with moments of mild dread we've all been experiencing over the past few months – including a great, tongue-in-cheek, none-more-2021 tune titled Not Until We're Vaccinated.
Listen to Magnolia Day now and get the album pre-ordered at Neilbrogan.bandcamp.com/album/magnolia-day – full album review coming soonest.
:: Mob Wife – Petri Dish (single, self-released)
ONWARDS to this week's noisiest new tune which comes from Belfast post-hardcore literate punk rock trio Mob Wife.
Described as "a meditation on panic and of moral compass in the face of impending doom", Petri Dish is definitely another tune for our times, delivering a concentrated yet dynamic dose of pandemic-era angst exorcised in just under three minutes of deftly bludgeoned guitar, bass and drums.
It's the first single from their upcoming debut album (feels like I've been writing that sentence a lot lately – a Good Thing), a deliberate move which Mob Wife bass-wrangler and producer extraordinaire Carl Small describes thus:
"We wanted the first single off the album to be a good representation of what's to come, but still have that sound that people would know us for. Best to familiarize the audience before we start hitting them with the Mellotron."
Grab it now at Mobwife.bandcamp.com.
:: Conchúr White – Dreamers EP (Fantastic Plastic)
FORMER Silences man Conchúr White has now established himself as a solo artist: his latest release is the Dreamers EP, an eclectic four song affair which finds the capable Co Armagh troubadour shifting gears between dreamy country-tinged psychedelia (Vocation Vacation), introspective acoustic folk (Go Easy), radio-friendly pop rock (Dreamers) and epic slow dance balladry (Killing Us).
My pick of the bunch is opening track Vocation Vacation, which finds Conchúr taking aim at social media culture with lyrics like "the world's on its knees, but I've got a plan / I'm gonna post Orwell over Instagram" while conjuring a pleasing organ-tinged late night dive bar vibe that hits a sweet spot somewhere between The Coral and Edwyn Collins.
It's worth checking out for that song alone, so find it and Conchúr on Spotify now.
:: Let's Do An Art
FINALLY for this week, news on a new music/art-related project aimed at kids from independent musician and Girls Twiddling Knobs podcast host Isobel Anderson.
Let's Do An Art is a weekly online art education project from Isobel and her fellow Hastings-based artist Miguel Martin, who's originally from Belfast. Developed during lockdown and later commissioned by The MAC in Belfast as a four-part series, each weekly episode will introduce children to the fun, playful and colourful world of host Miguel and his oddly familiar looking sidekick, Teddy Bear Friend.
"When I was a kid, I loved watching Art Attack but this is the art show I wish I'd had growing up," enthuses Miguel.
Isobel adds, "The ethos of the show is to encourage children to find creativity all around them, in the everyday. That's a life skill that will always keep you sane."
New episodes go out every Thursday at 4pm until July 15 at themaclive.com/watch-listen
