TRACKS

Image: MXYM

MXYM - WORTH REMEMBERING

Words: Kate Murphy

MXYM brings us a raucous, rapturous left-field delight with Worth Remembering. Like stadium rock, pop punk and 80s indie all running outdoors to deliver the finale in a musical, it’s BIG in every aspect: from its straight-to-the-heavens guitar solo to its deliciously grand vocal performance, it makes you feel fifty feet tall just to listen to it. It’s infectious to hear someone who completely knows and completely likes who they are, and the track is thrillingly alive from start to finish. You can’t help but smile at the twangy beginning and ELO-esque synth voice that follows the first chorus: this is confident, inspired cherry-picking from genres you can’t predict, a refusal to be contained in any one box, and a song you won’t be forgetting any time soon.

Released: 04.08.21 www.soundcloud.com/themxym

ELEPHANT MEMOIRS - BIODEGRADABLE

Words: Beverley Knight

Held in high esteem on the local scene for their notably roaring rock loaded with agile melodies, the new single Biodegradable from Gateshead’s Elephant Memoirs is true to form. The range in composition, especially in the solo lead voice, is exuded with ease and without ego; the band are here to do a job and they do it well. Sonically classed as loud or dense, the track is in no way brash, executed without a slap in the face but instead with the more stable construction of a plump wall of sound. Philosophical lyrics are heard and inhaled: “Kindest topless the meanest children when anybody else proceeds to be bitter.” Compact, confident and collected.

Released: 02.08.21 www.soundcloud.com/elephantmemoirs

Salsola

SALSOLA - THE SEEKERS

Words: Beverley Knight

For their fourth single release following Deconstruction last year, Salsola present The Seekers. The Teesside quartet busied themselves as best they could through the pandemic by performing livestreams for the Georgian Theatre and BBC Introducing, Art Mouse Promotions and Music Mayhem while recording this very track. The Seekers floats across the airwaves steadily, unclenched, like a surfer catching a wave; echoing guitar hooks find their way at the forefront as a plush voice lays out a melodious tune, evidencing the feminine tone as witnessed in peers and South London punks Goat Girl. An added breakdown and change of pace adds to the texture, bringing us to a close and a final stamp in their neat package of indie rock.

Released: 06.08.21 www.facebook.com/salsolamusic

JONATHAN HONOUR - GET AWAY

Words: Luke Waller

Jonathan Honour’s latest single, Get Away, takes on a classic singer-songwriter style of a man with his guitar singing out his sorrows. Far more stripped-back, his recent work – including this year’s album, Acoustic Together – marks a departure from his rockier earlier releases, such as 2018’s Experience. Get Away puts a battle between optimism and pessimism into sound, coupling up bright, bouncy chords, strummed with an exuberant enthusiasm with decidedly downbeat vocals – Honour’s voice has echoes of Thom Yorke’s, only with a sharper edge. All in all, this song will leave an emotionally tangled-up circle of hopefulness and hopelessness spiralling in your head; recommended for a soul-searching mood.

Released: 18.08.21 www.facebook.com/jonathanhonourmusic

Ceiling Demons feat. Zarahruth

CEILING DEMONS FEAT. ZARAHRUTH - SILVER BIRCH

Words: Luke Waller

Symbolism-heavy, utterly out there, and tinted by some kind of spiritual atmosphere – Ceiling Demons, the self-described “alternative art-rap band”, are back with their latest single Silver Birch. Serving as a prelude to their new album, Snakes & Ladders, due for release in September. From beginning to end, this song is a mystical journey with such contrasting parts in a three-minute track having been scarcely seen since the Beatles’ Happiness Is A Warm Gun. From Dan Demon’s rasping, gravelly vocals, through the will-o’-the-wisp choruses written and sung by guest vocalist Zarahruth, to when Chris Shaw’s guitar comes jangling in, foreshadowing the Clash-reminiscent final verse which is sung by the gruff voice of Psy Ceiling, Silver Birch is exciting, enticing and everything you’d never thought of before. Something really quite special.

Released: 06.08.21 www.ceilingdemons.bandcamp.com

WILD SPELKS - NINE BY SIXTEEN

Words: Kate Murphy

We’re welcomed through a beaded curtain of colour into poppy, punk rock paradise: as a sweet, hyped-up guitar kisses us lightly all over the face, the track drives forward with all of the melodic angst that makes this genre so escapist. While we might be used to hearing over-airbrushed production in big pop-tinged sounds like this, Jonathon Sabiston – the one-man band behind it all – has crafted something layered, intricate and very cleanly put-together, whilst maintaining a from-the-heart authenticity some artists can only dream of. With previous releases Turn It Around and Dreamer having already caught the attention of BBC Introducing Newcastle, Wild Spelks looks set to gain further traction with this latest smartly-produced, Red Bull-infused single.

Released: 20.08.21 www.wildspelks.co.uk

ALBERT SMITH - KILLER WHALE

Words: James Hattersley

Transmitting from the bottom of the Tyne River, Albert Smith (AKA Steven Gordon) spins a luscious, lo-fi chamber folk ballad which offers an escapism from being anything but yourself. A moreish finger-picked guitar builds the foundations of the track, while Smith’s vocals double up, providing a high and low – gelling together in unity – as if Simon and Garfunkel were one. The lo-fi style of production gives the allure of sitting in a room with the man himself as the creaks of the chair add an honesty and authenticity. Killer Whale carries such a whimsical air that it would be impossible to find yourself not humming it late into the evening as you slip into a dream. Probably about whales.

Released: 16.08.21 www.soundcloud.com/musicofalbert

TEENASEE FEAT. IGG - WU WEI (BREATHE)

Words: James Hattersley

The best way to describe Wu Wei (Breathe) is found in the journey of a river. It starts from humble beginnings with a babbling brook of world-inspired percussion before birthing into the main body of the melody – tenderly struck acoustic guitar and the echoing twangs of plucked and drawn out strings that add a heavenly aura. Underneath the river, you have the bedrock; North East rapper Igg lends his skills to bring a density and richness to the affair. Teenasee’s beautiful and vibrant vocals plot the direction of the river – ever meandering, and adds an overall majesty. Whilst adding variations and melodic flair along the way, the river eventually ends in the ocean – dispersing into the ether and wider consciousness.

Released: 02.08.21 www.soundcloud.com/teenaseemusic

Scott Wilson

SCOTT WILSON - HOME

Words: Beverley Knight

Making sense of a situation through music is what Darlington singer-songwriter Scott Wilson opted for in his debut single Home. After years of learning his craft through gigging around the region, he fine-tuned his sound, extracting the influence of Steven Wilson and Tash Sultana. Relief, pain, heartache and the spectrum of emotions that inevitably come to the surface were tapped into for the gentle, folk outpouring; a beat-free tune with strummed loops ensure that the words are the focus here. Scott’s lulling, echoed voice sadly addresses the situation: “I don’t love you tonight, but you’ll always feel like home,” acting as an example of a heart exposed, avoiding the enormity, but still wanting the best for who’s lost.

Released: 13.08.21 www.facebook.com/scottwilsontunes

ELIZABETH LIDDLE - LONELY

Words: Kate Murphy

Elizabeth Liddle’s voice joins her piano with a womanly swagger and steers this track in a different direction to what you might have expected. The R ‘n’ B notes which drift and dip through this impressive debut caught me off guard every time, like a pleasurable finish on a drink I was already enjoying. She brings you right up to the piano in the masterful way artists like Adele can, telling you her life stories like it’s just the two of you in the room, in a voice that’s both crisp and rich, glinting like your best gold jewellery or the honey-coloured tipple you can afford on payday. Already sounding like she has been doing this for a decade, this is one singer-songwriter to watch out for.

Released: 27.08.21 www.facebook.com/eelizabethmusic

FIONA LIQUID - DO YOU REMEMBER?

Words: Luke Waller

“Glam drag post-pop dumbness”, says Fiona Liquid, about her new single, Do You Remember? The artist excels at observational-style lyrics, delivered in a monologue, of half a conversation which recounts stories of surreal nights on the town and describing how the onset of old age seems to be arriving decades too early. Perhaps to create this atmosphere of chaos and dread, the resounding synths and thundering bass rumble onwards, as if in a robotic march, getting louder as the song develops, the stories the narrator tells becoming more serious. Nostalgic but twisted, steeped in angst and self-deprecating humour, and propelled forwards by a heavy dance rhythm, Fiona Liquid’s Do You Remember? is a strong entry into an already exciting genre.

Released: 30.07.21 www.facebook.com/fionaliquid

WITNESS PROTECTION PROGRAMME LONG WEEKEND: TOWARDS THE AGE OF LEISURE EP

Words: James Hattersley

Noisy post-punk troubadours Witness Protection Programme are set to release their highly anticipated EP Long Weekend: Towards The Age Of Leisure this month, and it’s clear that the band have used the global pandemic to their advantage – honing their unique sound in the silence of the world. Kicking off the EP is the single Buying Mood, a relentless frenetic frenzy of anti-capitalism; 900 changes up the sonic style, bringing a more controlled melodic approach with jangly delayed guitars; the aptly titled Shitstorm flips the release on its head into a stride through a murky mire of pummelling rhythm, and the title track ends the EP with an anthemic journey through the trials of a non directional lockdown. One to listen out for.

Released: 15.08.21 www.facebook.com/wpprogramme