Land of Escape’ is the first single released by Irish-Dutch vocal group, MOON SISTERS. The song is about inter-connection on a deep level; people need people to talk to, to laugh with, to cry with, to miss, to love, to depend on and to support, without bias or judgement.
Moon Sisters express this as ‘a connection of hearts and minds’. The song is also about hope, which thrives on human connection – hope for wishes to come true, and for a dreamy escapeland: a better world! The song is inspired by the mutual bond that the three singers formed in a short time after meeting via the online social singing app ‘Smule’.
Moon Sisters are Julieanne Black Reel from Ireland, Eva Stultjens and Ilona Dekker from the Netherlands. Through song, the girls instantly connected and formed a beautiful bond, much like sisters. The girls were recognised on social media by a festival organiser in Ireland. He flew Ilona and Eva over to perform a full live concert with Julieanne at the Muckno Mania Festival (Castleblayney). This was the first time that the girls met and sang together physically. They received a standing ovation, and the concert was a magical experience for them. This was just the beginning of their musical journey! Have a listen to their stunning debut below…
LYDIA RENÉ‘s single, ‘Leaving’ is a deeply emotional account of what it feels like to leave a relationship in turmoil. The piano and strings, along with Lydia’s increasingly soaring vocals, create an atmosphere that draws the listener into a very intimate space of heartbreak.
A Jersey native (currently residing in Los Angeles), René was recently featured on BET.com as an artist on the verge and she’s been seen and heard on Apple TV + , Amazon Prime (Man In the High Castle Final Season 4.4 million views on Youtube), Disney + (Lady And the Tramp Trailer 7.9 million views on Youtube) and many more. Lydia René has also recently worked/collaborated with Ledisi, Lukas Graham, Bobby Brown, Mike Posner and many others.
London alt rock band SAD BOYS CLUB‘s latest single ‘Lumoflove’, is a powerful and vulnerable piece of their upcoming debut album Lullabies From The Lightning Tree, out 5th May via Modern Sky.
Radically changing up from their previous singles and back catalogue of music, ‘Lumoflove shows Sad Boys Club, and particularly lead singer Jacob Wheldon, at their darkest, but also most alluring. Paring sparse piano and murky production elements with bursts of vocal passion highlights the dichotomies of love and lust.
Dark, mysterious and brooding, Sad Boys Club are set to have their breakout year. The band’s upcoming debut album Lullabies From The Lightning Tree builds upon their previous string of EP releases that have seen them co-signed by the likes of Fred Macpherson, Matty Healy, Phoebe Bridgers and more.
Speaking on the album – Wheldon says: “It’s almost like a little bit of a coming of age record, it’s just 10 years later than it’s supposed to happen. It’s just for your late twenties and realising the ephemerality of all of that stuff, at this age we’ve all had relationships that haven’t worked out that we thought would last forever, we’ve all loved bands that we thought we were gonna love forever, we’ve all seen beauty in different ways.”
The story of Sad Boys Club is one of yearning, the feeling of reaching, but never quite touching. The constant ebb and flow of euphoric success and seemingly inescapable set-backs. Debut album Lullabies From The Lightning Tree not only marks a journey of four friends, but a generational rallying cry for self acceptance and love for those lost in the quagmire of their mid-to late twenties.
As Milan Kundera writes in his 1984 classic ‘The Unbearable Lightness Of Being’: “Anyone whose goal is ‘something higher’ must expect someday to suffer vertigo. What is vertigo? Fear of falling? No, Vertigo is something other than fear of falling. It is the voice of the emptiness below us which tempts and lures us, it is the desire to fall, against which, terrified, we defend ourselves.” Kundera’s comical scepticism of life is an ever present theme for Sad Boys Club on their debut outing.
Combining The Cure’s penchant for emotionally vulnerable rock anthems, The 1975’s lyrical aptitude and driving guitar based sound of Death Cab for Cutie, Sad Boys Club have cut their teeth on the live circuit for a number of years, supporting Spector, Swim Deep, Bombay Bicycle Club and The Slow Readers Club to name but a few. Their live shows are dynamic, dramatic, and with a wealth of new music to play for the first time, they’re set to be one the UK’s “must see” live shows from a break-out group.
For their previous releases, Sad Boys Club have garnered support from the likes of BBC Radio 1’s Jack Saunders, The Independent, CLASH Magazine, Dork Magazine, The Rodeo, Gigwise, The Line Of Best Fit, Whynow and more.
Sad Boys Club’s debut album Lullabies From The Lightning Tree is out 5th May via Modern Sky. New single ‘Lumoflove’ is out now. Sad Boys Club embark on tours of the UK and Europe in the spring. Have a listen to their stunning ballad below…
Ahead of the release of her deluxe album ‘CH III: The Come Up’, released yesterday (24th January), multifaceted Canadian powerhouse and visionary STORRY generated quite a buzz after linking up with Stormzy on the titular track of his album ‘This Is What I Mean’, lending her indelible vocal talents to the capstone of the British hip-hop scene.
The prowess that has defined STORRY’s irresistible artistry to date is given a pedestal on the track, with her operatic vocals perfectly complementing the grandiose that has catapulted Stormzy to the top of the charts in the past half decade. Her angelic vibrato pierces through an instrumental that sounds like a march up a mountain, complimenting the sense of urgency that Stormzy exudes as he refuses to descend from the summit.
The album’s release is accompanied by a premiere video spotlighting STORRY alongside a star-studded cast of collaborators such as P2J, Sampha and Jacob Collier, attaching her face to the posterboard of prodigies and mainstays who base themselves in and around London. The Toronto native will also be named on the LP’s list of creative contributors.
Speaking on her role on the project, STORRY details: “I had met and worked with P2J on several tracks before – previously writing and recording together – including singing operatic vocals on Burna Boy’s Grammy Award Winning ‘Alarm Clock’. When I first moved to London, P2J called me back in for some more of that operatic sauce. Though hot sauce isn’t the main part of the meal – it definitely adds that extra kick. So, I’m excited to play a part in this collaborative record. There are so many amazing artists on this new album. What I love about Stormzy – besides his obvious musical talent – is his kindness and care for inclusivity and equity. You can see that with his collaborators and team. I too am working to build an inclusive safe space in the industry that I never felt I had – especially for womxn, POC and queer folx. I’ve met a lot of my idols and they would often disappoint me as humans. I’m happy to say that Stormzy holds to his name and that is something I stand by.”
With this feature, STORRY is receiving a huge kickstart in light of the arrival of her forthcoming deluxe album , a brutally honest and unapologetic effort that equates the misogynistic devaluement of the sex industry to that of the music world. The tracklist amounts to an adamant call for the respect of women in all facets, emphasising the strength of their resolve against oppression through presenting stories withheld by herself and other women in order to display the people that they are rather than the flesh that surrounds their bones. The concept album was written, produced and funded in its entirety per her own accord and earned a 2021 JUNO Award nomination alongside Alanis Morrissette and Celine Dion.
STORRY elaborates on the album: “CH III: The Come Up is a record about a woman trying to leave the sex-industry – which she was coerced into – and get into the music industry, only to realise that both are equally misogynistic and problematic. She grapples with her relationship with her mother, family, romantic relationships, money and her career. That woman is me.”
Whether working out of Toronto or London, STORRY lets the candidness of her craft speak for itself. Refusing to confine herself to a box, she hops in and out of niches from hip hop and reggae to opera and musical theatre, all coming together to hold female empowerment to a bright light with a gritty and enigmatic presence that cannot be shunned.
STORRY’s deluxe version of ‘CH III: The Come Up’ was released yesterday (24th January). Have a listen to this stunning collection below…
Must Listens: Bow Down, I Don’t Wanna Get High, Suburban Bitches, A Lost Find, Wanna Get High (Junia-T Remix)
Ohio-born and based Alt-Pop duo HOOKED LIKE HELEN has unveiled a rather stunning version of Tori Amos song ‘Winter’, released last Friday (6th January) via Stipp Manor Music,
The single is deeply melodic and despite Nikki’s hauntingly powerful vocals, ‘the track ‘Winter’ possesses an elegant warmth, which allows one to engage with the compelling production.
Nikki and Jon tell us about the inspiration behind their cover of ‘Winter’ (Tori Amos Cover): “When our friend/fitness instructor asked us to play “Winter” by the incomparable Tori Amos, within minutes of dissecting the first few bars of the song we quite frankly fell in love with it. We realised that it needed to become a more significant part of our musical journey and we decided to record a full-length cover of “Winter” for release to the world”.
Nikki adds, “Winter is about a girl’s relationship with a father figure who believes in her and sees greatness in her that she might not see in herself. Ironically, I did not have anyone in my life who fit that role for me as I was growing up, but I think this might be the very reason the song resonates with me on such a visceral level. Music allows us to escape, to imagine, to build castles in our minds. When I sing and play “Winter”, I am (for 4 minutes and 30 seconds) one of those girls with a dad who loves her”.
Hooked Like Helen is husband-and-wife duo Nikki and Jonathan Stipp, whose sound embodies a unique vein of alternative music; dark lyrical themes of unresolved trauma and existential pondering providing a refreshingly authentic perspective crafted from their home studio in the woods outside Cleveland. Their combined musical influences include artists such as Queen, Michael Jackson, Twenty One Pilots, Green Day, Tori Amos, Mariah Carey, Nirvana, and Prince whilst Nikki’s powerful vocals bring to mind artists such as Kate Bush and Ellie Goulding.
New Lease Music 