Bella Spinks has been drip feeding some beautiful songs into the internet for a few years now, with the occasional live appearances providing a tantalising glimpse of her talent. Now at last we have a proper release of four great songs via her debut EP, fittingly entitled ‘Debut’. A little bit of theatre, a little bit Kate Bush, a little bit of balladry, and an awful lot of soul. But mainly just great song-writing, music-playing and rich-warm-vocals.
Go listen here:
Here’s a blog post I started writing back in SEPTEMBER. I’ve been terrible about writing blog posts, but at least the excuse of a five month old baby is a pretty good one. Normally I’d write a paragraph to go with each track, letting you know about release dates and launch parties, but in the interests of actually getting this posted, here without any introduction is some of the (now not so) new music that we heard around six weeks ago. To everyone who’s sent us tracks since, watch this space. Hopefully the next update won’t take as long!
High Tyde – Do What You Want
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Nik Barrell’s new EP ‘Growing Peaches in Oxfordshire’ is a joyful affair.
Whereas most singer-songwriters tend to put their head down and head for the hills of despondency, Nik Barrell has taken the opposite approach and written five songs full of positivity and happiness. In the hands of a less skillful songwriter they could become cloying but it’s a tribute to Nik’s skills that these songs are not that.
The opener ‘Growing Peaches in Oxfordshire’ has a sunny laid back feeling, like some of the best jazz-inspired Louisiana songs, and was perhaps influenced by the fact the songs were written while Nik was on the road in America. Another song, the bright and breezy ‘New Orleans’, makes clear Nik’s tribute to the classic American songsmiths. ‘It’s Your Choice’ is a song about fixing the problems of the world, asking the listener to ‘be the change you want to be… be the one who understands… and do it right’ all over a foot-tapping gypsy-esque rhythm.
Our favourite song is the last one on the EP ‘People Are Good’ which is a refreshing contrast to the negativity that it’s easy to subscribe to if you watch too much of the news (“you’ll get the idea, that there are no good people round here” as the song says). But Nik sings that he’s travelled the world and found that people are fundamentally good. It’s a lovely feeling, and a refreshing one in this cynical age. You can hear the song at the top of this review.
Nik has a beautiful warm and romantic voice, which makes for repeated listening. He is ably supported on the EP by James Fiddes Smith whose excellent backing vocals add additional warmth and whose mandolin gives extra depth to the accompaniment. There’s also Tim Cotterell’s violin and Mark Strain’s bass, which contribute to the richness of Nik’s gentle guitar playing.
Support Nik Barrell in making more music and purchase the CD here
(Photograph of Nik Barrell by Mike Rowbottom)
As we posted about yesterday, Phantom Runners have just kicked off their tour which we were surprised to find were their first headline dates. We also mentioned that these were their first gigs with their new line up, including new female vocalist Liv, whose contribution alongside a lot more synths has given the band a much more rounded pop sound. We were there with our camera and got a few shots of the band and of Curxes who supported. Click on the pics to view large:
This gallery contains 7 photos.
On Sunday night, the Self Help Group played the launch of their excellent new album Dead Stars to a packed Komedia studio bar. Brighton Music Blog were there to enjoy the experience, including the debut of new co-singer Ashley, a very … Continue reading
This week, Phantom Runners head out on an eleven date tour of the UK. They kicked things off at the weekend with a low key date in Worthing and are heading to The Hope & Ruin tonight. There’s another local date the weekend after next at Sticky Mikes before they properly head out on the road taking in London, Bournemouth, Southampton, Hastings and Dartford (as well as another Brighton date at Bleach on 26th November).
The band are rejuvenated having had a bit of a line up change recently, and support at tonight’s gig comes from Curxes, who we haven’t caught since their appearance at The Great Escape six months ago, so we’re looking forward to tonight.
I was told it would get easier, but evenings seem to be getting more difficult for now, and rightly so, a small baby is taking priority over blogging. We haven’t given up, and I’m grateful for Jon posting about the Self Help Group over the weekend.
Maybe it’s time to go back to posting about individual releases rather than trying to find the time to write about everything we hear about. We’ve got a post like that brewing, but I’ll need a bit more time to finish that up. To keep things ticking over, here’s news about IYES new EP, entitled Part Two. If you hadn’t worked it out yet, it’s the follow up to this summer’s Part One EP.
Lessons is syncopated pop with an unexpected piano solo midway through. Gone starts minimal and moody until steel drums and layered vocals build up. You might have heard the futuristic r’n’b of Toys before when a demo version appeared on the band’s soundcloud page last year. The EP finishes off with Beautiful Mess – classic eyes with Josh and Melis trading vocals atop their trademark arpeggiated synth sounds.
Part two is out now on Spotify, iTunes and all the usual places.
Brighton Music Blog favourites the Self Help Group interview have just released the first video from their forthcoming 2nd album ‘Dead Stars’, the follow-up to their astounding 2013 debut ‘Not Waving But Drowning’. This new song is a bit of a beaut, titled Luigi’s Waltz, a rambling country swooning waltz with the band’s trademark heavenly vocals and a video featuring children in masks, which in Internetland is second only to cats in vases.
Dead Stars is out on November 6th on Union Music but you’ll be able to hear it live in Brighton at the official launch party on October 25th at the Komedia – if it’s anything like their first album’s launch it’s going to be a cracker and we can’t wait.
A relatively quiet week for new music this week, but here’s what we’ve got to share. First up is the new GAPS All Me, All You remix EP, which the first music we’ve embedded from Spotify, so hopefully this will work. There’s remixes from Maya Jane Coles and Alex Arnout of two tracks from their album In, Around The Moments, as well as the original versions, and you can also buy the EP on iTunes here.
Black Honey‘s new single is called Corrine. It’s getting a physical release in a month’s time on 23rd October on Foxfive records, and the band are heading out on tour for most of October, finishing things up with a hometown gig at the Hope & Ruin on 5th November. Continue reading
Here’s our first update in a little while. The usual excuses don’t apply – we were on holiday instead. Whatever the excuse though there’s still over a week’s worth of new music to catch up on.
Our first track is a new free download from Alex Banks. It’s called All Over and it features fellow Brightonians Alphabets Heaven. Here’s the video for it, you can download the track via Alex’s website.
Brighton Music Blog 