TRACKS

Image: Anthony Pears

ANTHONY PEARS - WORLDWIDE EP

Words: Lizzie Lovejoy

If you’re ready to shed off the heavy air of winter, then take a listen to the experimental electronic EP Worldwide by Anthony Pears. Consisting of four bass-heavy dance tracks, you’ll not be able to resist moving to the beat.

Opening the EP, Amsterdam lets us know exactly what we’re in for. Anthony Pears gives us a different kind of dance music by mixing audio from very old TV programmes in with a classic pulsing bass beat. Continuing through the tracks, Bass Is Loud provides a darker and more intense soundscape, a pattern which continues throughout the release. Even if it’s just you vibing in your own kitchen, these songs will make you feel like you’re enjoying a late night with your friends in the club.

Released: 02.02.22 www.soundcloud.com/anthony_pears

FIONA LIQUID - THE NATION

Words: Adelle Sutheran

The Nation is a raw and frustrated account of current social injustices delivered satirically by eclectic artist Fiona Liquid, who sets the scene for this track.

Having been conceived in lockdown, in context it all makes sense: heavy punk undertones and influences (ironically perhaps) seep from the track through out – from the snippet of God Save The Queen blasted out by a stand-alone electric guitar at the beginning to the ferociousness of the words being spat at you. Immersed in disappointment and disillusion, the tone is harsh, scratchy, the beats dark and repetitive – there is no joy here. I wouldn’t play this at a party but it’s a biographical synopsis of the view of the world for this artist.

Released: 04.02.22 www.facebook.com/fionaliquid

HOLLY REES - ENGLISH BAY

Words: Lizzie Lovejoy

Holly Rees tells us a too familiar tale of uncertainty on her new track – not knowing where you stand with yourself, or love. With a grungy vocal quality, purposefully straining at just the right points, and a stripped-back instrumental, English Bay is the kind of track I would put on both while driving through the dark, and with the windows down in the summer.

For the first 30 second of the song, there are only her vocals and a guitar, the sounds offering up a vague feeling of early 2000’s nostalgia, as Rees fills the track with a mix of great storytelling and confessional lyrics. In spite of the intensive introspection, the song never becomes musically heavy. English Bay is a single that you could both cry along with or dance to.

Released: 04.02.22 www.hollyrees.co.uk

AXLS

AXLS - FAHRENHEIT 104

Words: Hope Lynes

There’s nothing but pure synth goodness in the new AXLS track. Fahrenheit 104 is an ode to 80’s danceability with a modern vocal twist. With a backing track that will sweep you off your feet into a groove like no other, and an extremely catchy vocal piece that harmonizes into the synth background. Lacing itself addictively into the listener, you can tell the sound was written with the purpose to dance.

With a soundscape of a modern The Human League and the pop vocals of Grimes, this electro piece caters for an audience looking for a fun audio escape. Energetic, funky and old school, Fahrenheit 104 is a classic in the making and showcases all the experimental band have to offer.

Released: 03.02.22 www.axlsmusic.com

MOTEL CARNATION - SWEET SEPARATION

Words: Steve Spithray

The blame for tropical indie lies squarely with Ibiza Rocks who turned the hedonistic Club Paradiso ethos into a bland off-the shelf pastoral version of itself and spawned a Years & Years in every town in the land. Luckily, Motel Carnation, who turn Temper Trap’s Sweet Disposition fully on its head by delving headlong into autonomy, decadence and rebirth on latest single Sweet Separation (see what I did there?), have no truck with dance music etiquette.

The Newcastle three-piece blend a classic Club Paradiso groove with a brooding tale of illicit hook-ups, social disconnections and burning the candle at both ends on Sweet Separation but, crucially, straight from the White Lies book of late-night indie which posits them firmly in the non-bland camp.

Released: 11.02.22 www.facebook.com/motelcarnation

JRM

JRM FEAT. KV$HNOODLE - GET IT RIGHT

Words: Michael O’Neill

The explosion of singular and innovative artists and producers emerging from the North East’s rap scene in the last few years has been profound, and Get It Right is a brilliant representation of the diverse and refreshing sounds that have emerged in that time.

Acoustic guitars, 808s and floating hi-hats provide a bedrock for Blyth-hailing JRM’s fantastically melodic, heart-on-sleeve approach to Northern rap, with a brilliant guest turn from Kv$hnoodle. It’s raw, packing a lot of emotion and talent into a breezy two-and-a-half minutes that demands repeated listens. The production fantastically serves the song, with the melodic backing vocals and the lo-fi atmosphere being a phenomenal fit to the heart-broken yearning within the lyrics. Essential.

Released: 27.01.22 www.linktr.ee/jrmne

JAMES LEONARD HEWITSON - STABLE

Words: Michael O’Neill

Arriving hot on the heels of last year’s fantastic Commercial Vibe EP, the latest release from Hartlepool’s finest is another profound evolution of his singular sound which explores the “low key madness of emotional unavailability, in the hope to make it all a little less frightening”.

The subject matter is brilliantly served by the unpredictable and thrilling left-turns that the song takes, with a taut and tense synth arpeggio and a breezy motorik drumbeat being the only constants in the gloriously shape-shifting arrangement which builds up to a noisy cacophony. All in all, it’s a welcome addition to a songbook that merges infectious hooks, relentlessly entertaining experimentation and a fantastic command of the craft. An essential listen.

Released: 18.02.22 www.jamesleonardhewitson.com

MARQELECTRONICA - I THOUGHT I KNEW IT ALL

Words: Michael O’Neill

On a bed of bubbling synths, palm-muted guitars and insistent piano I Thought I Knew It All explores “anger and regret for losing something good” with a hauntingly evocative vocal that sounds like the result of feeding a dozen classic soul ballads and Pretty Hate Machine into an AI generator. It’s marvellous and refreshing in its approach, with the distorted, raw vocal performance being a brilliant counterpoint to the rich, atmospheric production.

On paper it sounds like a jarring aesthetic mismatch, but in practice it makes for a compelling, singular and emotionally stirring experience, with the tense and uncertain arrangement being a perfect analogue to the heart-on-sleeve lyrics which are delivered in a bruised and raw soulful croon.

Released: 04.02.22 www.marqelectronica.com

SARAH LEILAH - BROKEN GLASS

Words: Steve Spithray

If you break a glass and put it back together, can you ever fully repair the cracks? Sunderland’s Sarah Leilah (an alumni of We Make Culture’s Young Musicians Project) presents her debut single, Broken Glass. The plaintive piano ballad reflects on a past event that leaves our titular shards stored in a jar on a shelf.

Lyrical couplets like, “stars are burning out, light fades away”, and “we have our future, but the past is done”, lay down a romantic juxtaposition where the broken memory stored in the jar suggests a keenness to revisit in the future. A nice place to be. While the track is basic and forlorn there is enough in the delivery and lyrical content for us to keep a watchful eye on the talented youngster.

Released: 01.02.22 www.sarahleilah.co.uk

Eve Simpson

EVE SIMPSON - I CAN SEE A FACE

Words: Hope Lynes

Eve Simpson is taking the ‘new year, new me’ motto to the next level. Admirably wiping her back catalogue for a fresh start, the singer-songwriter’s new track shows a rich maturity to her work. I Can See A Face speaks of a longing for escapism, from what we don’t know, but it seems as though Simpson is breaking free.

With a beautifully melodic tone, and vocals which are sad and humbling, her silky notes lace together a wonderful and well-produced folky track. The vocals reign throughout, delicate and layered to harmonised perfection, to create a loving atmosphere which leaves the listener feeling full. I Can See A Face heralds a mature and refreshing new start for the local artist, which I for one will be looking forward to seeing develop.

Released: 18.02.22 www.facebook.com/evesimpsonmusic

WILLIAM DENTON WILDE - PARADISE LOST ON LEITH/DEBATABLE LANDS

Words: Tom Astley

Paradise Lost On Leith owes its inspiration to the sunshine of everyone’s favourite Hibee twins (with maybe a bit of John Milton thrown in as well). However, William Denton Wilde’s track veers off on a much different route than the windswept close-harmony country of the Proclaimers.

Concrete and angular synths, machines and a vague menace stalk a track which offers shades of Kraftwerk and Joy Division. Co-A-side Debatable Lands is a fiercely political look at the factions and fighting that have made the last five years so fun! A scuzzy, somnambulant, distorted history from Twitter mobs and rivers of blood, to witch finders on the windswept moors. Together, they make an unnerving soundscape evoking the dirtier, unexamined lay-bys of modern Britain.

Released: 28.02.22 www.williamdentonwilde.bandcamp.com

FAST BLOOD - PULLING TEETH

Words: Tom Astley

Fast Blood present a dose of powerful, heartfelt pop punk on their new track. On first listen, Pulling Teeth sounds brash and confident, Abi Barlow’s vocals are belted in a strident Geordie lilt, the barrage of guitars unrelenting and defiant. But there’s a depth to Fast Blood’s work that other pop punk bands don’t reach; confessional, intimate lyrics which unfold to the listener like a love-letter gone wrong between an ‘I’ and a ‘You’ that really shouldn’t be a ‘We’.

The guitars strike that delicate balance of melodic clarity and overdriven power expertly. Digging into my personal mixtape stash, Fast Blood remind me of Ovingham’s finest China Drum, especially in the frenetic double time drum climax to the track.

Released: 28.01.22 www.fastblood.bandcamp.com