TRACKS

Image: Charlie Layzell

CHARLIE LAYZELL FT. FIRESITES - HOW IT FEELS

Words: Jake Anderson

It’s important for an artist to evolve their sound. Which is a lot easier said than done - just ask Kid Cudi. However, it’s something that the North East’s Charlie Layzell has pulled off flawlessly.

If I had only listened to Layzell’s newest track, How It Feels, without prior knowledge of Layzell, I’d have assumed the Newcastle rapper was a grunge singer.

The rock instrumentation on How It Feels is different compared to Layzell’s usual lo-fi beats, bringing elements from hip-hop into the song’s structure, making it feel fresh and contemporary.

The vocals from Layzell and electronic artist Firesites complement each other like butter to toast, creating captivating atmosphere when partnered alongside the track’s charming guitar riffs, and there are surprises aplenty.

Released: 05.11.21 www.facebook.com/kingcharleslayzell

ROUNDHØUSE - CIRCLES

Words: Jay Moussa-Mann

ROUNDHØUSE, AKA Ian Thompson, releases the title track Circles from his upcoming album, Halcyon.

A nostalgic take on 90’s electronic house music, Circles refreshes the classic hypnotic club beat, allowing strangely electrifying ear candy to bubble up alongside the occasional hit from retro keys.

The track manages to paint a picture of the 90’s club scene while staying equally calm and peaceful. An understated, clever piece of work where rising sounds used early on reminiscent of a crowd chanting are mirrored by a real crowd towards the end of the track.

Created in his woodland recording studio set in the Scottish Borders, the Scottish producer hints at a world before Insta moments; a throwback to a time now seemingly lost. The beat changes and the club moves on.

Released: 05.11.21 www.roundhousehalcyon.com

Danica Dares

DANICA DARES - SIREN

Words: Lizzie Lovejoy

If Enya made a sci-fi soundtrack with Jean-Michel Jarre, you might end up with Danica Dares’ new single Siren.

Opening with a fast, synthetic sound, there is something 80’s about this composition. Harriet McBain’s ghostly vocals echo over the top, pulling you into the story and holding you captive with repetitive and eerie lyrics.

Danica Dares does a brilliant job of creating an atmosphere that is both haunting and yet somehow warmly inviting, ethereal and ominous.

Using tales of the mythical Siren, they are able to create parallels between feminine powers of the ancient world and the strength of women of today, particularly with the unexpected use of a monologue breakdown in the second half of the track. FFO of Gothic 80’s synth.

Released: 29.10.21 www.danicadares.bandcamp.com

PRESIDENT - WONDER

Words: Luke Waller

Since winning a national Battle of the Bands and thereby a deal with Island Records, culminating in the release of their 1987 debut party pop track European Summer, Middlesbrough band President have existed in numerous incarnations. But here they are, nearly 35 years later, with the release of a new song, Wonder, and a new album, Haight Street To Mirror Lake.

Wonder may seem something of a far cry from European Summer, with its folky, emotive sound, harmonised vocals and ascending grandeur throughout – featuring the slightest touch of a Simon and Garfunkel-esque sound. Yet similarities are still to be found with previous material; a high-tempo beat fades in as the song ramps up, and the anthemic quality remains, though backed by orchestral sounds rather than 80s synth.

Released: 12.11.21 www.linktr.ee/president_uk

SEBASTENELLI FEAT. CRAIG LYNCH - POUR IT UP

Words: Jay Moussa-Mann

Newcastle born artist Sebastenelli brings us a standout hip-hop single, Pour It Up. Distinct in its style and sound, the track blends R&B and rap to create an addictive hook.

Something about Pour It Up makes it very unique, from the surprising use of guitar riffs to syncopated beats, but mainly it’s Sebastenelli’s instantly memorable vocals, a beautiful voice that perfectly skims words like a pebble across water.

Silver delivery with a wonderfully satisfying verbal flow over a writhing beat and bass line, the track features Craig Lynch (New Jersey) who complements Sebastenelli’s weighted tones with an equally strong if slightly brighter vocal rap line.

This is the first single from Sebastenelli’s second EP released with Lindon Entertainment, due in December.

Released: 06.12.21 www.facebook.com/sebastenelli

KRISTOS KABIOTIS

KRISTOS KABIOTIS - HERE, AND THERE

Words: Hope Lynes

A sense of nostalgic longing overwhelms Kristos Kabiotis’ debut single, a nostalgia that is both melancholy and joyful. Rooted in memories of visiting family abroad, the lyrics tell an emotive story of spending time with and leaving loved ones that is full of fondness and pain.

The instrumentals feel foggy in their production, which creates a blurred soundscape that adds to the process of recalling memories. The instruments become blended with the vocals, resulting in beautiful layers of emotion; a softly atmospheric folk track which is reminiscent of Mazzy Star’s Fade Into You, the format works great for the message Kabiotis is putting across.

Kabiotis plays Sea Change, a charity-run venue in South Shields, on Saturday 20th November.

Released: 19.11.21 www.kristoskabiotis.co.uk

TINO JOHNSON - LIVE AT FACTORY ROAD EP

Words: Luke Waller

Live at Factory Road, a five-track EP by Newcastle electric blues duo Tino Johnson was recorded live at Sound Inc studios in Blaydon, and is filled from head to toe with dirty, grungy blues riffs. Backed by the thunder and swing of drum lines throughout, and fronted by biting vocals, tracks such as Blues (As The Devil Intended) and the up-tempo rocker Nochevieja, provide a place for Tino Johnson’s inspirations of old-school blues, hard rock and psychedelia to intermingle, catalysed by the sullied sound of slide guitar.

Whilst Portrait In Black, the penultimate song, has more than a whiff of stoner metal about it, other parts of the EP are far bluesier, with a soupçon of faux naïf guitar lines à la White Stripes.

Released: 05.11.21 www.facebook.com/tinojohnsonband

E-MENCE - I WON’T BE HERE TOO LONG EP

Words: Michael O’Neill

Fresh from a run of ten singles, I Won’t Be Here Too Long is a sprawling four-track collection from the enigmatic solo artist, whose singular brand of trap-hop takes the conventions of heart-on-sleeve melodic emo and marries it to 808-heavy, slipped beats. The artist considers the EP to be a song cycle regarding their own personal battles with their mental health, and this is writ large in the frank and uncompromising lyricism and the expressive beats which favour minor-key guitar arpeggios and pensive melancholic piano, alongside the harsh waves of percussion and synth bass.

It’s an incredibly raw, enthralling, earnest and fresh statement from a singular artist who is unafraid to express themselves without compromise and without fear of being misunderstood.

Released: 08.11.21 www.e-mence.bandcamp.com

Don Coyote

DON COYOTE - PUT DOWN THE PHONE

Words: Evie Lake

Friend fatigue is a commonality that characterises our social lives; relationships can turn sour, toxic, and unsalvageable. Enter: Put Down The Phone, Don Coyote’s latest single and celebration of the relief you can feel once you have hung up on such people.

The sunny electric guitar and active bassline establish a familiar and bright indie rock tune – their feelings become ours, and we can bop along to them together. After working through emotive and introspective verses and choruses, the culmination of the song breaks down into a joyous repetition of “I don’t like you anymore’ and “put down the fucking phone”: a release of positivity and relief. Life is already better, and there is a flurry of echoing backing vocals to affirm.

Released: 18.11.21 www.d0ncoyote.bandcamp.com

MATTHEW JAMESON - TRACK 1

Words: Michael O’Neill

This enthralling taster of the Sunderland-based electronic musician Matthew Jameson’s upcoming Mercy of Memory LP is a swelling sea of sound, with oscillating pads and twisting melodies weaving in and out of one another over the span of a sprawling eleven minutes. Upon a bedrock of ambient hiss, Jameson carefully crafts a soundscape of white noise, modal leads and melodic phrases which gradually wash over each other to create a vivid abstract portrait of sound, before collapsing into a Disintegration Loops-esque coda in which they all gradually dissolve and deteriorate into distorted dust.

Throughout the duration of the track, Jameson’s deft command of tension and release coalesce to form an engrossing and refreshing experience in electronic sound.

Released: 19.11.21 www.matthewjameson.bandcamp.com

WAX HEART SODALITY - I WOULD LIKE YOUR FACE

Words: Kate Murphy

The fourth single from Wax Heart Sodality is another atmospheric, self-assured and moody piece of aural cinema. It’s wonderfully self-contained and perfectly preserved, as if they’ve been kept inside a jar for the last year, with plenty to give to you if you just open the lid.

With a pop and a twist they’re into the air, filling it like thick, creamy smoke. They’re a portal to another world, with ghostly harmonies and dark lead vocals that drift low along the ground like Joy Division before them. Once they’re out of that jar, they’re never going back in: the track ramps up to a kind of steel worker paradise, all sparks and cries, and guitars like slow-motion chainsaws. Go and get swallowed up in it.

Released: 12.11.21 www.facebook.com/waxheartsodality

FOLLOW - HOME BEYOND THE RIVER

Words: Kate Murphy

This is a caring tribute to James Crozer, a reclusive, benevolent chemist who worked in Victorian Newcastle, and Joe Barton’s debut solo release follows in Crozer’s footsteps, with all of its proceeds going to The People’s Kitchen.

Of the very few possessions he was found to have in his cottage when he died in 1888, some were musical boxes, and this humble and thoughtful instrument leads the piece. It is a near six-minute walk through somewhere quietly colourful and completely peaceful, joined by lamenting strings. The strings slowly break away at the end of the piece to leave that simple, rotating twinkle on its own, a gentle flicker of light, like the flames of the candles that lit the never-shuttered windows in Crozer’s Clayton Street chemists.

Released: 15.11.21 www.facebook.com/plasticpalace1