Tag: new releases 2024

Grete shares her beautifully raw EP, ‘Grey’

Lithuania-born, Manchester-based artist GRETE has perfected her own brand of alt-pop – culminating in the fresh, unique and exciting 5 track EP that is ‘Grey’.

While the EP successfully executes a huge variety of musical styles and each song is entirely distinct and standalone, there are several themes that span across the tracklist, tying ‘Grey’ together and turning it into a cohesive, emotionally vulnerable story. Each song focuses on a different low point in Grete’s
past, conveyed through cuttingly honest lyrics and reinforced by moody, mesmerising and sometimes even manic instrumentation.

Grete’s debut single, ‘With u’ is a hybrid of many different popular styles including RnB, jazz and pop, akin to influences such as Yebba and Maro. The live instrumentation invokes a warm, emotional sensation and the dynamic vocals encapsulate the intended emotion perfectly. ‘With u’ is a heartfelt ballad in which Grete is comparing her current life to a previous time.

Second single, ‘How Long’ progresses into a darker, more twisted space. This is brought to life by dissonant chords, biting and distorted guitar leads and Grete’s soaring vocals. The track is punctuated with glitchy details and electronic sparkles, complimenting the instruments and contributing to the cosmic scale of the song.

Grete’s latest single, Cz u don’t’ is a forward thinking, experimental yet vulnerable track influenced by artists like Halsey and Hiatus Kaiyote. The song winds through various sections with a beat in 7 as the backdrop, culminating in a whole-band-polyrhythm to end. The protagonist of ‘Cz u don’t’ is searching for reasons to leave an unhealthy relationship.

Grete started singing when she was only three years old, beginning her performance career in small ensembles and bands. She was quickly spotted and invited to the biggest stages in the country, such as nationally broadcasted competitions, top level musical theatre productions, international concerts and contests, even reaching the finals of ‘The Voice’ Lithuania 2018. Gaining local fame opened many doors for function gigs and session work but that was not the career she truly wanted to pursue.

Grete chose to leave Lithuania and start fresh in the UK. Now she is studying pop music vocals in RNCM. Influenced by artists like Jazmine Sullivan, The Weeknd and Yebba, she began writing vocally colourful and harmonically intricate songs with strong messages and old R&B references.

Why not have a listen to Grete’s stunning EP below…

Must Listens: How Long, With u, colder Summer

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OUT TODAY: Katrin-Merili puts her blend of Nordic Nu-Soul on the map with ‘Hold My Body’.

Paris-based, Estonian soul artist KATRIN-MERILI announces her debut EP ‘Beautiful Things’ with her new single ‘Hold My Body’, which is out today (20th June). She captures the soulful energy of Yebba, Sade and Cleo Sol, weaving her vocal around a future-facing instrumental to create a distinctive brand of Nordic neo-soul.

‘Hold My Body’ reflects on a long distance relationship, and the power of love to surpass geographical boundaries. Katrin explores the sacrifices that are made when in love, and the hunger for connection and patience needed to see things through. Alt-RnB lyrical flows are balanced with bopping grooves, euphoric synths and a gospel-inflected harmonic flavour, capturing the butterflies in the stomach and thrill of falling in love. Katrin shares: “I started composing this song on a friend’s guitar that was left in my apartment. The chords stuck with me, and gave it so much warmth when I produced the first draft. It took on a life of its own when I played it with my live band, and became the song you can hear today.”

Slated for release in 30th August, ‘Beautiful Things’ is a project consisting of five intimate stories centred around femininity, identity, and mental health, touching upon Katrin’s experience of being split between two countries, and supporting her mother through her battle with breast cancer. Due to the deeply personal subject material, Katrin wanted to be as involved as possible across the project, creating her own visual world to accompany the music, she shares: “I decided to self-produce the EP independently to be able to follow through with my original vision and to make something really personal. I am fully present in all the aspects of the creation, from writing the lyrics to styling, MUA, self-portraits, artworks and collages. Every song is a personal piece of my life and an invite to join me on my journey of self-discovery.”

A rising name in the Parisian soul-jazz crossover scene, Katrin has spent the last eight years in the French capital collaborating and building a name for herself, supporting the likes of Roy Ayres at the revered New Morning jazz club. Her path in Paris led to her meeting co-producer Sacha Arnaud, who was able to help Katrin bring her musical vision to life alongside the vibrant presence of talented French musicians including Noé Berne (Nine Sparks Riot) and Remi Klein (Voyou).

Taken from the ‘Beautiful Things’ EP, set for release on Friday 30th August, ‘Hold My Body’ was
released today (20th June) across various music platforms. Why not have a listen below…

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Mike Body shares lyric video for latest track, ‘More Life’

A regular feature on the NEW LEASE MUSIC charts, christian rapper MIKE BODY brings along a thought-provoking message about today’s rap game via lyric video to his latest track, ‘More Life’.

Sporting an old-school vibe, ‘More Life’ reflects Mike body’s thoughts that hip-hop/rap should be a platform of encouragement and elevation.

‘More Life’ video follows Mike Body’s epic productions for tracks ‘For The Widows’ and ‘Who’s The Greatest’, which claimed the blog’s Music Video of the Week title for two consecutive weeks back in February.

Now here’s your chance to check out ‘More Life’ below…

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Experience the magnetic charm of ‘Familiar,’ T-Missin’s latest Afro-pop single

Get ready to be swept off your feet by the latest release, from T-MISSIN – a masterful blend of melodic, swanky, and seasoned Afro-pop, produced by CERTIBEATS and engineered by Nostra. ‘Familiar’ is an intoxicating experience as T-Missin takes on the role of a sweet talker whose tantalising words are hard to resist.

“This song means a lot to me because it brings me back to a different time. The line ‘if you really love me you won’t care about the lies’ is something I really said to a girl,” T-Missin explains. His love interest, equally alluring with her luscious physique, shares a chemistry with him that’s magnetic. “I was addicted to getting into trouble, and when I wrote this song, I was in big, big trouble. I made amends by buttering her up with smooth words, and the experience inspired me to write it down.”

With ‘Familiar,’ T-Missin aims to create an experience that leaves listeners feeling free, mesmerised, and happy. He envisions his audience embracing the track’s cheekiness and living in the moment. This song is a celebration of spontaneity and charm, inviting everyone to lose themselves in the moment.

In 2018, T-Missin released his first song, ‘2 Girls On My Line,’ produced by Lekka Beats, on Spotify. The track blew up, currently sitting at over 100K streams, and boosted his confidence. That same year, T-Missin appeared on C-Montana’s mixtape ‘Rich & Paranoid,’ lending his vocals to ‘Millionaire.’

In the following years, T-Missin released standout singles such as ‘Ami,’ ‘Spider-Man,’ and ‘Drip Don’t Lie,’ which have collectively accumulated 65K streams to date.

Check out the official music video directed by Sky KJ and THE WÆV below…

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Niko B unleashes debut album ‘dog eat dog food world’

Hailing from Milton Keynes, NIKO B‘s much-anticipated debut album ‘dog eat dog food world’, is fuelled entirely by raw creative vision and a powerful DIY spirit. The debut is a deep diving journey into the topsy-turvy tangles of modern life and deconstructing the concept of trying to adult in the 21st century – made almost entirely with beats from rising bedroom YouTube beatmakers.

Laid over 12 tracks, the album is Niko’s most far-reaching release to date, hitting hard with acute, introspective, relatable observations on small-town life that resonate with all – balancing end times gloom with absurdist wit. The release galvanises Niko’s role as a Gen-Z Mike Skinner; real, authentic, warm and honest.

Opening the album is ‘trespass coat’ featuring the South-London bedroom-pop artist dexter in the newsagent. First previewing some of the bars in his now notorious Victory Lap cypher going toe to toe with the likes of Central Cee and Dave last year, the single arrived earlier this year to acclaim from The Face, ACCLAIM, Spotify (Our Generation Cover), Hypebeast UK, NME, Hunger, NOTION, Wonderland, DMY and more. The cheeky ‘i’ve smoked weed 9 times and have had one good experience’ meets a shimmering minimal production with confessional lyricism.

New single ‘ur a bundle of joy !’ is a kaleidoscope of moody nostalgia, with funky guitar licks and sun-drenched vocals weaving between Niko’s bold wordplay. Niko breezily offers to turn pilot in the playful, blissed-out ‘boarded the plane’. Splicing percussive kick drums with cheeky synths, the chunky production makes ‘boarded the plane’ the perfect bop for summer. The hazy ‘tom did’ meets stipped-back breakbeats with low key fight talk. The lo-fi ‘miniclip’ was produced by Kwollem and features bars from rising rapper Kirbs, meeting relaxed alternative rap with Niko’s trademark eclectic references – from retired Welsh footballer Craig Bellamy to TV comedian Alan Carr and the throwback PC gaming website Miniclip.

The dreamlike brassy, jazz-infused, ‘it’s not litter if you bin it’ landed earlier this year to support from Zane Lowe on Beats 1, CLASH, DMY, VIPER, Hypebeast UK and more. The ethereal ‘i’m just a pretty face’ gives way to the atmospheric ‘dagenham to barking’ featuring a melange of obscure observations including the contents of lofts, former footballer and Soccer AM host Jimmy Bullard, and the price of a second hand VW Golf.

The jazzy ‘what counts as fine?’ features the bold claim that Niko could “beat Usain Bolt in a pair of Hunters”. ‘forteen days’ blends sugary synths with snappy bars on baby showers, Hobbycraft, crisps and pints. Rounding out the album is ‘who’s in designer’, splicing chopped up vox pop news clips with Niko’s honeyed vocals and groovy, layered instrumentation. It’s the perfect unexpectedly sweet note to round out the debut.

Destined for a playlist, speakers and stage near you imminently, ‘dog eat dog food world’ simultaneously takes things back to Niko’s roots but also zooms out to reveal a much wider picture of who he is and what makes him tick. It’s happy music, reflections of what it’s like to be a British teenager with each cut coming with a barbed tale of high, lows, lols and woes.

Exploding into the UK pop cultural psyche in 2019 with his viral single ‘Mary Berry’, Niko B racked up millions of streams overnight. Since then the songsmith, rapper and creative auteur has continued to delight fans with releases that showcase his acerbic lyricism, releasing unexpected creative visuals, growing his clothing brand Crowd into a cult favourite and more. Niko’s fearless approach to his art has been lauded by the likes of British Vogue, The New York Times, Hypebeast, POPEYE Magazine and DAZED who featured him in this year’s DAZED 100.

Have a listen to ‘dog eat dog food world below…

Must Listens: ur a bundle of joy, tom did, who’s in designer

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