Chalk Announce Debut EP, ‘Conditions’

With their UK debut fast approaching, as a part of The First Fifty acts selected for this year’s iconic The Great Escape festival, Belfast post-punk/electronic trio Chalk announce debut EP ‘Conditions’, set for release May 5th, and share brand new single ‘Asking’.

Intensifying their perilous ascent, ‘Asking’ continues the band’s arching cinematic themes. Basking in the hardstyle/electronic influences of Death Grips and delivered via a monotone, malicious vocals performance that has callbacks to the likes of The Murder Capital, ‘Asking’ builds its malevolent maelstrom on a bed of created sounds and distorted and buzzing acoustics. With frequent collaborator Chris Ryan (NewDad, Enola Gay, Just Mustard) once again on production duties, the alternative edge is shaped to a razor on the newest from Chalk.

Speaking ahead of its release, Ross Cullen of Chalk stated: “It’s a reaction to feelings of ours that look at the past and a longing for others who aren’t in your life anymore. How we grow as people and those we leave behind as a result. We wanted “Asking” to follow the recollection of someone whose memories are fading when trying to remember about someone in the past”.

Check out the single, ‘Asking’ below.

Finnish Rockers Judith Alice Release New Resolute EP & Music Video

Finnish rock band Judith Alice have released a new EP Resolute via Finnish record label Secret Entertainment.

Check out the video for ‘Person That I Hate’ below.

Guitarist June Stacy comments: 
“Writing and recording the EP was a little bit troublesome and slow because of the covid. We recorded the demos and then the EP versions of the songs little by little when ever we could. Then over a year ago when it was already mixed and mastered Izzy (our guitar player) decided to pursue other things in life and quit the band. We didn’t wanna release anything or shoot music videos before we found someone to replace him. So it took another half a year to find Vasco. But finally here it is: ’Resolute’. The EP that updates the sound of Judith Alice for 2023! Enjoy”.

Check out the EP via your preferred streaming service.

Eighty Ninety Release New Single For ‘Stay Alive’

Eighty Ninety have returned with “Stay Alive,” the new single from their forthcoming debut album. 

Following the album’s lead single, “2 Carat,” “Stay Alive” is a song that teems with raw, intense emotion. With no guard up, Abner delivers a refreshing account of his struggle with mental health. He adds, “‘Stay Alive is about how our struggles with mental health can affect our relationships and how the things we do to cope and the people we love — and who love us — can help to get us through life’s hardest moments. For my whole life, music has been one of the tools I turn to as a listener and a musician, but I’ve never directly addressed it in a song before.”

Finding himself at a low point, Abner sat down at the piano and “Stay Alive” unfurled from there. From there, the duo transformed the confessional ballad into an uplifting pop tune that promises better days ahead. 

“The song is a promise to be there for myself and an acknowledgement that the more grounded part of me knows that those feelings pass, and I’ll make it through to the other side,” says Abner. “My hope is that it can also be a loving reminder to anyone else going through a hard time — and a promise to our audience that through our music we are and will always try to be there to help provide comfort and joy to anyone who listens.”

The accompanying music video, co-directed by Abner and Olivia Kimmel, captures the melancholic air of the song. Abner elaborates: “Shooting in a dreamy, vintage, almost unreal feeling and isolated setting felt like the right metaphor for that state of mind – and saving the only real sunlight for the final shot was our way of showing that ultimately this is a winnable fight, and an optimistic song.”

Check out the video for ‘Stay Alive’ below.

Lilac Haze Releases New Music Video For Debut Singles, ‘The Ghost That I Once Know // Lilac Haze’

Bath-based dream pop artist Lilac Haze has released her debut double singles ‘The Ghost That I Once Knew // Lilac Haze’.

Lilac Haze is the project name for Bath-based songwriter Katrina Swift. Greatly influenced by bands of the ‘80s/’90s, Swift draws inspiration from The Cure, All About Eve, Eva Cassidy and Fleetwood Mac, combining atmospheric and ethereal textures with a sense of nostalgic romance.

Lilac Haze’s stunning debut double singles The Ghost That I Once Knew // Lilac Haze were produced by Calum Wotherspoon (Nightswimming) and mastered by Adam Ayan (Paul McCartney, Lana Del Ray, Carrie Underwood), with guitarist Sam Allan (Nightswimming) and drummer Torin Moore (Nightswimming) collaborating on the tracks to create the backdrop for Swift’s hypnotic vocals.

With a background performing across the U.S and Europe fronting ensembles and orchestras and classically trained with a high, gentle voice, Swift’s angelic, haunting vocals gently soar upon soft guitars, delicate strings and dramatic synths.

Speaking about the inspiration behind the singles, Swift explains, “In December 2021, I wrote Ghost after a period of self-reflection during a time when I felt unsure and lost in my new surroundings. It’s a reflection of the loss of innocence as we mature… a farewell to your old self. Lilac Haze however is a song written for anyone who has been affected by loved ones lost to Alzheimer’s and Dementia.”

Check out the video for ‘The Ghost That I Once Knew // Lilac Haze’.

Piglet Shares New Single, ‘Building Site Outside’

South London based Irish songwriter and producer piglet (AKA Charlie Loane) follows up last year’s Blue Flowers debut seven songs EP with new single “building site outside”. The song was produced by piglet & Harvey Grant (Puma Blue) and mixed by Marta Sologni (Björk).
 
piglet’s music details his experiences of the trans experience, affirmations of self-identity, mental health, substance abuse, and friendship. “building site outside” follows 2022’s seven songs EP which includes giant anthems “it isnt fair” (which protests the injustices of British healthcare provision for trans people) and “to you tonight”.
 
“building site outside” offers another deeply personal exploration of the trans experience. It contrasts the prejudices present in a seemingly everyday exchange – Loane picking up a testosterone prescription from a pharmacy – with a beautiful, evocative acoustic-led backing.

“I wrote this song at the final hurdle of receiving a prescription for gender affirming hormones. I’d been through the bulk of the ridiculous assault course of nhs assessments, a process which took at least 3 years (which sounds like , and was , a long time , but by today’s standards would be considered a mad stroke of luck). Some highlights of this absurd process include obtaining a diagnosis of Gender Dysphoria (being trans is not an illness lol , but here we are) and being asked extremely invasive and irrelevant questions along with a hundred other things that I have no interest in revisiting. I wrote this song after going to my gp for my first testosterone injection , only to find that they hadn’t received the necessary documentation from the gender identity clinic , they told me to come back in 10 days in hopes that things would be sorted by then . This was by no means the biggest obstacle I had faced in accessing treatment , but for some reason it hit me particularly hard , so close yet so far or something like that.  Its quite a literal song which describes me walking to and from the GP surgery and how I was feeling throughout the verses , interspersed with the chorus which describes the interaction I had with the pharmacist a while later after receiving the prescription. We had always had a very nice relationship previously , I’d been in and out of the pharmacy every couple of weeks for the previous year and a half and we would always have a nice chat and a bit of a laugh. When I handed her the prescription for testosterone her attitude towards me changed completely , she no longer looked me in the eye or made small talk , instead staring straight through me as if I wasn’t there . Again , this is on the very lowest end of the scale in terms of the hostility trans people face in every day life , but sometimes the small things stick with you . They’re easier to address than the bigger things anyway , in my experience .  I’m very lucky to be able to say that I’ve been on hormones a good few years now and have been able to have surgery on my chest through the nhs too , for which I am eternally grateful . I can’t describe the immensely positive impact that these things have had on every day of my life since then.”

Check out ‘Building Site Outside’ below.

Picturesque Release New Single & Video For ‘Strange Habits’

Kentucky based post-hardcore quintet Picturesque have dropped their fiery new single & video “Strange Habits”, which will appear on their newly announced six track EP IYKYK  (‘if you know, you know’) due to be released on April 21st on Equal Vision Records. You can stream the song here and view the official music video here. This new single is a follow up to last month’s “Hopeless”, which marked the return of the band after a several year hiatus following their critically acclaimed sophomore LP Do You Feel O.K?. Born out of a post-hardcore scene that’s often characterized more by aggression than accessibility, the five-piece steadfastly refuse to be boxed or pigeonholed, and they’re set on embracing musical tropes not traditionally associated with heavy music.

“Strange Habits” is a reminder to fans old and new that the band is relentless in their exploration of the sonic landscape of alternative music. Angular guitars swirl around elements of pop, hip hop and electronic music, highlighting the bands highly creative approach to songwriting. Picturesque is a formidable instrumental unit,  but special attention must (and should) be given to lead singer and creative mastermind Kyle Hollis. Boasting one of the most dynamic voices in alternative music, his soaring vocals cascade through the track in a way that is altogether original. The official music video features Hollis set against a swirling cinematic backdrop that lends a compelling narrative to the song. You can watch it here. 

The band has this to say about their new single and what to expect this year:

“This song is a different approach for the band. We didn’t want to take it too seriously. We didn’t want it to be sad. We didn’t want it to be complicated. We just wanted to have a little fun and introduce you to our friend Kyle Hollis.” 

Check out the video for ‘Strange Habits’ below.

Finnish Melodic Heavy Rockers Frail Release New Video For ‘Come Back To Me’

Finnish rockers Frail have dropped their new album this spring. Their previous singles “Kiss Goodbye”, “Save a Life Tonight” and “Children of Depravity”have gathered loads of positive attention around the world. The songs have been played by radio stations and playlisted into various Spotify playlists. This fourth single “Come back to me” is the final preview to the upcoming album.

Fragile and melancholic “Come Back to Me” is based on strong vocal melodies and metallic heavy guitar riffs. Musically you may hear echoes from early 2000’s post grunge sounds as well as a hint of the melancholic sound familiar to Finnish love metal giant HIM.

Vocalist Tarmo Kellomäki backgrounds the song: “Come Back to Me’s lyrics can be understood in many different ways. It may be a story of a lost love or some great loss. For me personally, it’s an internal voice telling me about a lost direction of life or about a source of life that is about to dry out. When you get older, it’s easy to get stuck on regretting the choices you have made in life. Have I achieved thethings that I wanted? Have I permanently lost something that I should have been holding on to?”

The music video has been written and directed by film maker Toni Rutanen. Many people are playing their roles even if the reality behind the role is a totally worn out human being. The video also generated a discussion inside the band about what are the themes that the band wants to stand for. The director and the band eventually agreed to lift up the struggle that is familiar to many ordinary people while living their ordinary life.

Director Toni Rutanen comments on the video “I wanted to lift up the hard side of modern human life. When you think that you’ve achieved the things that you wanted to. But there is a price for that. People get exhausted and relationships break down. And it’s not easy to talk about it even with your best friends. People should learn how to talk (and to listen) also about difficult issues. This is something that we all could learn more.”

Check out the video for “Come Back To Me’ below.

Foxhaunt Release New Track ‘Room To Grow’ Alongside Nostalgic Video

York-based alt-rock band FOXHAUNT have released new track ‘Room To Grow’ alongside a nostalgic music video.

“The theme of this song is all about how you were remembered by those you have lost and that their perception of you now would be so different. This stems from wanting to make the ones you care for feel proud and ruing the day that you let them down. Lyrically this is the most emotive song on the EP and we wanted to create one which people can relate to,” says vocalist Ollie Swift of the new release.

He adds, “The accompanying video is a compilation of our FOXHAUNT journey from where we started to where we are now. ‘Room To Grow’ is a really personal song to us and we wanted a video which reflected that. We’re by no means settling for where we are, but it’s important to reflect and appreciate what we have achieved through hard work and dedication.”

‘Room To Grow’ features on the band’s upcoming 4-track EP ‘Division Culture’, out 7th April, the follow up to their critically acclaimed 2022 ‘Mindset‘ EP. The new tracks were written and recorded over three months with Robin Adams (Architects, Blood Youth) in Leeds. “We wanted to write something about our take on social influences and how opinions, issues, and behaviours divide the world. I think especially off the back of the pandemic we felt like it made us reflect even more about how we act as human beings and the way we treat one another,” says Ollie. 

Check out the video for ‘Room To Grow’ below.

Imperial Tide Reveal Video For ‘Off The Leash’

IMPERIAL TIDE have shared the video for their crackling-with-intensity new single “Off the Leash.” 

The video is meant to grab your attention — and keep it — minus any BS or artifice. “We wanted to make a music video that the audience could immediately identify who we were as a band,” says Hill about the visual. “No glitz or glamour — just raw, black and white, and in your face. We made the point to film this video entirely by ourselves, with no filter between us and the fans.”

Regarding the deeper meaning behind the song, Hill continues, “‘Off the Leash’ is about cutting off those around you with disingenuous motives. We build a support system through life and sometimes those we surround ourselves with don’t have the drive or intentions to match. The lyric ‘All Bark, No Bite’ explains how some people just want to talk about what they want…but we’re here to take action ‘with nothing left to lose.'”

“Off the Leash” follows last year’s “Slip.”  An unholy union of crunchy riffs, booming bass, and breakdowns, Imperial Tide champion an independent mindset in all aspects of their music. The group has built itself from the ground up. They screen-print their moniker on their own t-shirts, hang it on the banisters they build from scratch, and conceptualize it in visual metaphors they film themselves.  

Check out ‘Off The Leash’ below.

Neolia Release Music Video For ‘Carried Away’

Get ready to immerse yourself in a world of dynamic soundscapes and intricate musicianship as Israeli progressive metal band Neolia drops their anticipated debut self-titled album. Brace yourself for a genre-bending journey that will leave you begging for more. In advance of this release, they have a new music video out for the track “Carried Away”, which gives an up-close look at the band playing live and continues the story of the fictional character Alex who the album is about. They share the story conveyed in the single:

“This is a bitter, sweet memory, a sharp twist to a childhood memory from age 7. Being barely woken up, after fainting out repeatedly and passing out from rat poison fumes that were sprayed throughout the house, Alex was experiencing hallucinations while being unconscious and imagining being at the same location where he found his mother dead while nature around him came to life in the form of a nightmare. But even within this horror show, while feeling scared, cold, and alone he managed to take control and put up a fight.”

Check out ‘Carried Away’ below.