Fresh Juice 16th March 2026

Elles Bailey – Better Days

This rousing slice of modern Americana is taken from Elles latest album ‘Can’t Take My Story Away,’ an album that oozes a sense of catharsis and healing. It was written by her late friend, Matt Long, the singer, guitarist and songwriter for the award-winning band Catfish. Matt tragically passed away in October last year, 18 months after being diagnosed with bowel cancer. He and Bailey emerged onto the UK blues scene around the same time, crossing paths at festivals and on tour. “It felt like we were climbing this wild musical ladder together,” she said, “and then he got diagnosed with cancer.” During that time the whole community came together to help raise funds for his treatment. When he died, his parents showed her a song he’d written, ‘Better Days,’ which Elles gives the full on conviction the song deserves. As well as finding the tune on our latest ‘Fresh Juice’ Mixcloud show https://www.mixcloud.com/dannyneill714/fruit-tree-records-fresh-juice-2026-vol-2/ you can also grab yourself a physical copy of the album here: https://amzn.to/4brtznX

Howling Bells – Sweet Relief

When this band originally appeared on the scene with their self-titled debut in 2006, they had plenty of stiff competition for attention within the guitar pop world. This was, lest we forget, the time of ‘Landfill Indie,’ as wave upon wave of edgy, arch, angsty and sardonic four or five piece groups with second hand attitude filled the declining CD store racks with miles and miles of mostly uninspired, generic yelping produce. But Howling Bells always had a little something that pushed them above the general pack, a music that their singer Juanita calls a “kind of narcotic, bluesy, dreampop.” The band had a good initial run of nearly a decade before life and other projects took them quietly, although not permanently, out of view. Now they return with new music in 2026 and are clearly still as tight a unit as before, especially on ‘Sweet Relief’ which, in its own way, passionately resurrects all the energy and fire they first broke out with twenty years ago. This too features on the latest ‘Fresh Juice’ Mixcloud show https://www.mixcloud.com/dannyneill714/fruit-tree-records-fresh-juice-2026-vol-2/ and you can get a physical copy of the album here: https://amzn.to/4rx7FWo

Pokey LaFarge – Arkansas

I hope Pokey LaFarge enjoys the kind of national treasure status he deserves in the US because he certainly can make you long for a country that, in other ways these days, can come across like a place to avoid. He remains a prolific and dependably authentic purveyor of Americana roots music played with a style and swagger that has been time vortexed from around 100 years ago. His latest release is a six track EP on Boxer Boy Records entitled ‘Travelin’ With Poley LaFarge: Voice And Guitar Vol.1.’ As well as ‘Arkansas’ it also features intimate performances with his wife Addie Hamilton adding to the overall shift towards some more personally reflective sounds after 2024 album ‘Rhumba Country.’ You can get yourself a copy of the EP via this link: https://amzn.to/4bbjOeK

Josienne Clarke – Katie Cruel

Josienne is back on the road right now reviving her successful Sandy Denny show from 2025. It is that same Denny-like pure yearning in her voice that she brings to this bold re-interpretation of a traditional arrangement possibly best known, to me at least, via Karen Dalton’s recording. Playing to her strengths, Josienne takes an already heavy‑hearted song and drags it into even darker, more turbulent waters, drawing out every last drop of the lyrics’ harsh, irreconcilable truths. Not only that but she also honours the folk tradition of re-interpretation by writing some new verses of her own. Of the accompanying film, director Alec Bowman-Clarke says he “explores how time distorts our sense of self. We see the ‘young’ and ‘old’ Katie existing in the same physical spaces, separated by a veil of memory. This symmetry suggests that the song is not just a linear journey of decline, but a circular trap where the ghost of who she was constantly haunts the reality of who she has become.” You can get yourself a copy of the new ‘Katie Cruel’ single here: https://josienneclarke.bandcamp.com/

Melissa Aldana – La Sentencia

This easy and sumptuous, soulful jazz is the lead track from Melissa’s latest release on Blue Note Records entitled ‘Filin.’ The whole record is a study in the style of the records title; a romantic, harmonically rich Cuban song form that bridges bolero, trova, and jazz. Playing alongside pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, she shines with a simmering, minimalist intensity that pushes melody and subtle textures into the foreground. Aldana is a Chilean-born, Grammy-nominated tenor saxophonist known for her deep tone, introspective improvisation, and lineage‑driven approach to jazz. She grew up in a family of saxophonists, studied at Berklee, moved to New York, and has since become one of the most respected modern voices on the instrument. The album is available to buy here: https://amzn.to/40uwKpU

ESYA – Heaven

I am concluding this weeks ‘Fresh Juice’ feature with another stylistic jump, this time into some dense electronic shades built on percussive momentum that conjure bleak industrial landscapes of the mind. ESYA is a brand new musical direction for Savages bass player Ayse Hassan who has a debut album on the way in April called ‘Chasing Desire,’ out on AOK Records. It features appearances from Sharon Van Etten, Laura-Mary Carter, Jessy Lanza, Algiers’ Lee Tesche and more. This track is a rousing, uplifting and propulsive piece of dance-floor ready music but lyrically is rooted in anxiety and retreating from a difficult situation. Ahead of the albums release the title track is available here: https://amzn.to/3P9UMEe

New Release Reviews

Various – Little Bangers From Richard Hawley’s Jukebox Volume 2

Another superb compilation from Ace Records, who over the past five decades have deep dived into multiple crates of rare and wonderful fifties and sixties bounty so extensively it is a wonder they can still put sets out of this high standard. One ingenious way of keeping the releases fresh and interesting in 2026 is the personally curated collections by a genuine connoisseur record collector, of which the vintage rockabilly styled Richard Hawley is one of the best. It all comes down to whether the headline name has a good ear and, having previously shown his credentials with volume one, you can be reassured our host is a safe bet. No surprise really, that kind of faithful mid-century sound only comes from someone with a real, heartfelt appreciation of the originals. And to give the project even more a stamp of authenticity, it is clear from Richard’s detailed accompanying anecdotes to each track that these really were 45s he listened to on his jukebox. There is even one track (‘Man From Nowhere’ by Jet Harris) that was only available on a compilation album so Richard went to the trouble of getting one copy pressed on seven inch so it could be fed into the record machine.

What I do love about this collection and Richard’s personable text is how relatable it all feels to those who crate dug around charity shops, record fairs, and boot sales all their lives. Hawley reminisces about being on tour in the US during the nineties and coming across boxes of singles selling for next to nothing in the most unlikely of places, like the forecourt of a garage. But wherever he was finding his hidden treasure, the thrill of the hunt and the joy in the payoff is pretty universal. That buzz of finding something interesting looking, on a funky unknown record label or with a curious title, taking a punt on it then getting back home and lowering the needle for the first time to discover a B-side with garage-rock gold or a freakbeat frenzy is among the highest highs you can attain as a music lover. Or thinking you have one thing that turns out to be something entirely different but equally sensational; this happened to Richard as he quite reasonably expected The Surf Riders ‘I’m Out’ to be a Dick Dale style waverider only to get a boppin’ hillbilly lament about a man with a violent girlfriend.

A theme of music beloved of Richard Hawley does not necessarily limit us to one genre or era but nevertheless, he has managed to compile a journey in sound that makes sense from start to finish. Certain tracks offer a compelling case for the rich, overlooked creativity of the post rock ’n’ roll, pre‑Beatles years. People like Chet Atkins, Duane Eddy and Link Wray all have a plentiful supply of three-minute gold dust sprinkled in their catalogues, but we are also taken down far less explored corridors too. A little-known singer called Frank Minion comes on like a New Orleans street seller in 1958, and the listener is also enlightened to the unexpected garage band vibe heard in an Elvis Presley track from 1962. The structure of the album sees it front loaded with six instrumental tunes as our narrator rightly points out how massive music without words was in the early sixties, observing that it “makes your brain think and respond in a very different way.” For me, the greatest revelations were in some garage and psych golden rarities uncovered on his travels. The Blue Rondos ‘Baby I Go For You’ is an out-and-out nugget, as is the rocking horse obscure ‘Gotta Find A New Love’ by The Yo Yo’s on the Goldwax label from 1966. And you are extremely unlikely to find one of only fifty copies pressed of Sunshine Theatre’s ‘Mountain’ from 1971, a record that defies categorization, so you might as well experience it here, as part of a dizzying 28 track re-enactment of a night round Richard Hawley’s house, listening to his most treasured audio discoveries.

Danny Neill

Order a copy of this deeply enjoyable CD here: https://amzn.to/4ruR45k

New Release Reviews

Squeeze – Trixies

A question that is often asked of the great songwriters is, why do they write the most in enduring material in their early years? Whilst there can be much to enjoy and explore in the mature, later offerings of a legend, how is it that Paul McCartney cannot write another ‘Eleanor Rigby’ today, or Bob Dylan compose another ‘Like A Rolling Stone’? My guess is that those blessed with the gift of musical composition, especially song-based writers, have a lot of quite low hanging fruit in their head during those early years that they are uninhibited about taking and using, especially as they learn the finer points of their craft. Often these unrefined ideas have power in their melodic directness and neophyte vigour that inevitably gets chipped away at as the years advance. A writer in their fifth decade, as ridiculous as it sounds, almost knows too much by then. If McCartney were to dream up a song like ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ today, maybe he would back away from it, not trusting its clarity or over-evolve it to the point where the purity of the idea is lost? I say all this because the new Squeeze album ‘Trixies,’ built, as ever, around the songs of Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook, possesses a youthful simplicity in spades. But there is a slightly unusual reason for that.

It may feel like a contradiction to use a word like ‘simplicity’ when describing an album that is closer to a concept piece than any band emerging in the punk years would dare to admit at the time. It is a thirteen-track collection of stories all set in a fictional night club called ‘Trixies.’ Many of the classic concept‑album tropes are at least nodded to, if not fully embraced: scene‑setters, breakaway vignettes, and recurring motifs, all shaped to fit the colourful club world the record inhabits. The trick in the tale however is that these songs were written by Difford and Tilbrook way back in 1974, a long time before the classic hit singles this band are still celebrated for. In fact, ‘Trixies’ was the very beginning of the duo’s partnership, written whilst they were both still teenagers. Upon learning this suddenly the simple pop purity of so many songs here makes sense. Yes, they were reaching for a grander scheme, the influence of The Who’s ‘Tommy’ does not need to be examined for fingerprints to know its presence, but the actual writing was at a level of blissful, wide-eyed hunger for the form. These tunes wear Beatles‑style major/minor pop frameworks on their sleeves, displaying them without inhibition. The incredible thing is, at the ages of 19 and 16 respectively, Difford and Tilbrook were already showing a sophistication in their music way beyond their years.

So why is it only now that we are finally getting to hear this newly recorded album? Well Difford puts it down to a lack of technical know-how whilst still three or four years away from their first record. “Long story short” he explains, “these were songs that we just didn’t have enough musical experience to record properly.” Tilbrook feels similarly relieved not only that the songs finally got recorded, but also that they did it as late as this. “These are very much the same songs we wrote then. The only difference is that now I can teach the songs to the rest of the band. Back then, I didn’t even know what the names of the chords were.” That fact alone will stop you in your tracks when coming across a song like the albums second, the scene setting ‘You Get The Feeling.’ It seems like the work of a master, flowing from intro to verse to bridge to chorus with the ease of an artist fluent in theory, not someone who might mistake a treble clef for a cauliflower. No wonder when rediscovering and playing the original cassette some fifty years later, they felt inspired to give the project an overdue revival.

It is revealing just how at home Chris and Glenn were with this form of expression. The popular rock operas of the day are clear in the structure, the curtain raising ‘What More Can I Say’ vividly dropping us in a nightclub scenario at the end of a long-storied night, the sun beginning to rise outside. That the time of day can be sensed in the key changes of the music alone is impressive. The leering punch-drunk lull in the vocal of ‘The Dancer’ suits the sinister texture of the portrait within the lyric. And then there are touches like the countdown that closes ‘The Place We Call Mars,’ the kind of cheesy flourish they would possibly never write today, but one you cannot help admiring for how perfectly it suits the album’s breezy spirit. Another real stand out is the lusting come-on and suggestive thrust that is ‘Why Don’t You.’ The chorus is a pure delight and here more than anywhere the band Squeeze became, the hit makers of ‘Another Nail In My Heart’ and ‘Cool For Cats,’ are in full view and it is absolutely thrilling. So yes, there are obvious stand outs but all the same, this is a record that remains strong from start to finish. After the curtain comes down with parts 1 and 2 of the title track, Squeeze sound so fully energised that you are left wondering if this is the beginning of something more. It would appear the answer is yes, an album of all new songs recorded alongside ‘Trixies’ is already completed and waiting in the wings. Watch this space, on this form it could well be another valuable addition to the bands classy catalogue.

Danny Neill

‘Trixies’ is out now and available for purchase here: https://amzn.to/3NdLDKf

The Band Squeeze in 2025 photographed by Dean Chalkley

Live Reviews

The Crystal Teardrop / Scott Hepple & The Sun Band / Lassie – Voodoo Daddy’s, Norwich, 7th March 2026

Norwich is a city with a deep undercurrent of cool musical culture, especially if you dig around in the undergrowth, and this early spring Saturday evening certainly produced the goods for these hungry ears. The streets were fizzing with sound as hen parties and revellers spilled out onto the pavements from previously rustic pubs now pumping out four to the floor electronic dance music for the masses. But that is just the lacquered surface, the market‑tested throb designed for anyone itching to torch their disposable income on a lukewarm slurry of booze, uppers, decibels, and collective delusion—an environment where musical discernment peaks at a sweaty, unexamined “tune!” But fear not, just step past the pizza serving mask of Voodoo Daddy’s, toward the bar where the air hums with vintage rock ’n’ roll or sandpaper‑rough nineties grunge, and suddenly you are certain you’ve found the place where the night actually begins. Explore the downward steps behind an unassuming side door and you step into a room that, tonight, sparkles with the kaleidoscopic colour and swirling sound of music that has its roots among the audio space cadets of the twentieth century whilst firmly planting a flag in our 2026 soil.

First up with the live thrills are a female duo with a bold, iconic look. Lassie are Emily Winng, whose thick mop of electric red hair glows like a fire under the stage lighting and Camille Davila, who fuses post‑punk sharpness with gothic elegance and a cool, Lennox‑like femininity. Their stage presence is a combination of mysterious and daring with a welcome dose of the personable thrown in; Emily turning a sound man directed request for less echo on her vocal into almost farcical slapstick. However, it is musically where these two are a serious proposition. Their harmonious vocals recall the dark angelic tones that Leonard Cohen used to appreciate so much in his backing singers, whilst Camille’s trebly guitar textures are both ethereal and the sound of an atmospheric vintage b-movie. Add to that Emily’s Bow Wow Wow referencing tribal drumming, which her partner occasionally doubles up on, with an inescapable mix of raw immediacy and deep song-based concepts and Lassie are a ridiculously enjoyable opening act. I later find out that they are currently preparing a debut album which, I confidently predict, will result in the number of voices singing their praises growing dramatically.

I loved the contrasts in the acts tonight and the most seismic shift was felt with the departure of Lassie and the arrival of Scott Hepple And The Sun Band. They are a four piece down from the north of England who in 2025 released their third album ‘English Mustard,’ produced by the analogue supremo of the recording studio, Liam Watson. Maybe it is this connection that sees Scott Hepple’s group described as a psychedelic, garage rock band but that terminology alone will not prepare you for the amplified assault this band unleash on their audience. They open their set like a demolition crew on double time, almost like they need to clear the decks of all residues before they can truly begin to build and concoct their magic. And magic there certainly is with these boys; they are playing music that stretches over valleys way beyond the three-minute garage template you might expect. This band play a hard-edged blues rock that has progressive threads and plenty of space for wild, stimulated instrumental wigging out. There is more than a touch of Free’s Paul Rodgers phrasing to Scott’s fronting of this band, that long haired, booze-soaked swagger is evident too but there is a voltage enhanced joy in expression with the Sun Band that is all their own. This kind of conviction can only come from a group with serious intent and, above all, talent.

Tonight’s third and final band, The Crystal Teardrop, also released an album in 2025, and they too worked with producer Liam Watson to make ‘The Crystal Teardrop Is Forming.’ Everything about this group screams UK psych, from the Beatles Hofner violin bass guitar to the Brian Jones Vox Teardrop plectrum shaped axe of singer Alexandra Rose marrying perfectly with her go-go girl stylings, even the keyboard player looks like he has walked in from the set of an open university programme lecturing on chemistry. But do they have the music to back up the direction their fashion sense points them in? Well indeed they do, in fact, where their album hones their psych-pop vision into sharp focus, in this live setting they can see for miles and miles. I have not caught The Crystal Teardrop before so maybe this is normal for them, but it felt to me like they reacted to the volcanic eruptions of the previous band and took to the stage determined to tap into that same energy and passion. Evidently motivated as well as revelling in what was a fun-packed Saturday night for all of us, they lobbed their sixties‑psych glow straight into 2026, finding eager believers ready to carve out a place for it in the modern musical wilds. With the horrors of war in the backdrop to all our lives today, it felt apt too that they chose to climax their set with a motherlode of psychedelic freaking out. Somehow, the final sonic collapse of all the wondrousness that had preceded it, from all three acts, felt like a nailed-on representation of the moment we live in. It also reminded me that, no matter what else we are contending with in the outside world, brilliant music can frequently make it better. Look deeper, great things are always happening.

Words: Danny Neill Photos: Sophie Reichert

*The Crystal Teardrop bring the psych to an explosive conclusion*

Music Mixes

New Mix: Fruit Tree Records – Fresh Juice 2026 Vol. 2

Welcome to this new music mix, the second of the year in our ongoing series highlighting the latest brand new releases being spun today at Fruit Tree Records. Get straight into the sounds with this Mixcloud link, then check out the purchase and pre-order information in the tracklisting that follows:

Tracks – Fruit Tree Records – Fresh Juice 2026 Vol. 2

You Gotta Understand – Carmy Love https://amzn.to/3P6zXJI

Stuck In My Head – Skaracha https://tipatop.bandcamp.com/album/stuck-in-my-head

One Of Us – Lady Nade https://amzn.to/4bF2K0E

Site Unseen – Courtney Barnett https://amzn.to/4s876n9

Alice – The Wave Pictures https://amzn.to/4rrSgXq

Man’s World – Cat Clyde https://amzn.to/4s4qfpH

All Bad Parts – Lime Garden https://amzn.to/4cD0jwJ

Sweet Relief – Howling Bells https://amzn.to/4lq7haN

Better Days – Elles Bailey https://amzn.to/4bmvLgk (Amazon exclusive signed edition)

It’s Been Too Long – Ringo Starr https://amzn.to/3PfWPqa

Tripping Out On Love – Muck And The Mires https://amzn.to/4lp9zqB

Powder Keg – Clementine March https://amzn.to/3MWii72

Scales Will Fall – Hen Ogledd https://amzn.to/4lmu1Z3

Memories Of Home – John Scofield / Dave Holland https://amzn.to/4b4JSIp

The Boatman – Lucy Kitchen https://amzn.to/4rCpN1e

New Release Reviews

The Wave Pictures – Gained / Lost

When a cult band has been around as long as The Wave Pictures, and they have been bringing us music for nearly three decades now, you can be sure that the lack of wider acclaim they experience in the present moment will be counterbalanced by the cult longevity retained long after they are gone. They might even receive some Nick Drake-esque posthumous elevation, making good on my theory that the good stuff does rise to the top eventually. They belong to a very small but, in its own way, enviable club; like The Fall whose legend has only grown after Mark E Smith’s passing or Half Man Half Biscuit, who are never in nor out of vogue but maintain an audience and a special niche with their idiosyncratic writing style. It is harder to pinpoint exactly what sets The Wave Pictures apart. They make infectious, often catchy, songs built around introspective urban kitchen sink drama without the grandeur of Morrissey; they play dirty garage rock but appear like sensibly attired young men beloved of their partners mothers; they have a guitar hero lead who could riff most of his peers into the ground but would rather boil a kettle than pose like a rock god; they give an on stage impression of being the lads gang you would want to belong to and yet are, in every way, the antithesis of laddism. Whatever it is about them, and no matter how appealing their modest stature might appear, they absolutely deserve to be a lot more successful than they have been thus far; this latest album release puts even more weight behind that claim.

Still with the core trio of David Tattersall on guitar and vocals, Franic Rozycki on bass and Jonny Helm on drums, they laid this record down in early 2024 at Rochester’s Ranscombe Studios with their old collaborator Jim Riley at the controls, capturing that live in the room sound they prefer. Launching with some instantly inviting pot-boiling guitar licks on ‘Alice’ which, despite its immediacy and an instrumental break both melodically progressive and threatening to push the dial into the red, has a very dreamy refrain. This is surely deliberate, for the song was inspired by the William Burroughs book ‘My Education’ and we are dazed by imaginings of a kind of antechamber between life and death, a place where it is said that there would be ice cream. This band can work on both a basic and a deeper level, which is beyond doubt and so it is with the lolling ‘Sure And Steady.’ This one is at first glance a song about memories, as Tattersall sings “I don’t remember yesterday but I remember when I was eight years old” things feel relatable and yet, as the memories home in on finer feelings, the space between the past and present blurs. That said, if you asked The Wave Pictures what this is about, I suspect they would say it is about flapjacks. That same timelessness and weightlessness is felt vividly in ‘Past The House Painted Blue,’ here it is a peak into the ever-changing watercolour inside Tattersall’s head while musically, he treats us to some of his finest West African sounding guitar sorcery.

‘You’re My Patient Now’ plugs into the scuzzy, growling electric prowl that decorates this band with a whole other, far darker dimension. Here there is, and elsewhere across the record, another female voice heard in the mix which gives the piece a mild horror texture, although the song is actually prompted by the detective fiction of Raymond Chandler. ‘Sparklers’ returns to the domestic, inspired partially by the poetic wording on a tin of golden syrup. Themes of memory and passing time are an ever present across ‘Gained Lost,’ the title track evoking thoughts musically of the Rolling Stones ‘Exile On Main Street,’ which is a reference point also signposted by the cover art design. For all those comparisons, the Stones could never have been this ingloriously winsome. ‘Faded Wave Pictures T-Shirt’ tugs on many key elements of this bands appeal; indie-culture sartorial references, a sense of longing and nostalgia inflected reverie, thoughts of beaches blessed by a surf tremolo sound and some beautifully expressive guitars that chart a direct path back to the Velvet Underground at their most beautiful.

‘Samuel’ has a burst of instrumental colour with some keys and a scraping violin entering the mix. If experiencing this album is like walking through an art exhibition, this one would have you rooted to the spot a little longer, scratching your head trying to work out what is going on as the nightmarish refrain repeats “even the phone is dead, do you hear that, Samuel?” ‘The Past Comes Back To Haunt Me’ revisits a chugging, conveyor belt-like revolving sound that resonates like the Modern Lovers; long term Wave Pictures fans might remember them locking this groove on ‘The Woods’ earlier last decade. In a rare drop of pace, the penultimate tune ‘Orange Fire’ meditates on the idea of photographs and the notion of catching a ghost in the frame. This is another one where David expresses freely on a stunning guitar solo, playing the track to its end, it shows the pay back achievable when capturing this band in a comfortable situation and just letting them play. ‘Worry Anymore’ closes a glorious set with an overwhelming downpouring of feelings and thoughts that have been amassed along the way, even the ice cream sung about at the beginning makes a re-appearance. The Wave Pictures may not break any new ground with this album, but they do better than that. ‘Gained Lost’ is the work of a band at peace with all their strengths, including the ability to write a cohesive suite of compatible songs, and playing to those abilities with confidence, conviction, and flare. What more can I say? It is another brilliant Wave Pictures album.

The Wave Pictures album ‘Gained / Lost’ is out now and can be purchased here: https://amzn.to/4120AlD

Danny Neill

New Release Reviews

Various – Highway Of Diamonds: Black America Sings Bob Dylan

Some compilation albums are speedily compiled cash ins, born out of a half-baked idea and fleshed out with track padding, often an attempt to capitalise on a current trend or hit and not designed to last beyond the marketing campaign that accompanies them. Then there are other compilations that are curated works of art put together with care and consideration by musical connoisseurs inspired by the desire to promote and share records, often obscure, that have not received the love and attention their quality merits. Any record collecting veterans reading this will not need me to tell them that Ace Records, the label behind this collection, belong in the latter category and in fact, are arguably the market leaders in these kinds of themed archival digs. Not only do their track selections cast a very wide net indeed and almost always throw up some wonderful surprises, but also, they pay special attention to the sound quality. So many Ace Records releases in my collection are head and shoulders above their peers in terms of audio depth. They really get this stuff right, not to mention the packaging, which is detailed and in depth, inviting the opportunity for a proper sit-down and immerse yourself album listening experience.

This is the second of an occasional series in which Ace have collected black American artists covering the songs of Bob Dylan. He is not quite the surprising choice of composer for this type of project that some might believe. As the sleeve notes highlight, he has written and published more than 600 songs and there is a little shy of 9,000 versions of his songs in circulation by over 5,000 artists. That said, ever since he first appeared on the scene with his 1962 self-titled debut album, Dylan has been a divisive figure, someone just as likely to inspire howls of derision for his unconventional voice as he is to be lavished with praise for his lyrical genius. For my money I have always believed him to be a great singer, a character voice unafraid to emote and push the boundaries with his imperfections but there remain many who fail to arrive at a proper appreciation because the Dylan voice is too much of a barrier. Maybe then, this kind of release is the very thing they need to experience and enjoy the writing of Bob Dylan. Undoubtedly, there is a deep well from which to take a tasty range of selections to stitch together as a cohesive whole. Bob was highly regarded for his early political songs that enriched the repertoire of civil rights movement, and it is clear black US singers kept him in the mix when looking for material. There can surely be no greater endorsement than Nina Simone’s including three Dylan originals on her 1969 LP ‘To Love Somebody,’ it is her delicate reading of ‘Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues’ that graces this album.

During a 1965 US press conference Dylan famously drew laughter when describing himself to a journalist as “a song and dance man.” They might have realised he was not entirely joking if they had heard the Odetta album ‘Odetta Sings Dylan’ from earlier that year, especially her version of ‘Baby, I’m In The Mood For You’ which appears here in all its jaunty carefree splendour. Mind you, that is nothing compared to the stonking soul work out Solomon Burke inflicts upon ‘The Mighty Quinn’ in 1969. It is incredible how many of these tunes wear a soul dressing so comfortably. Jazz singer Sarah Vaughan gives ‘If Not For You’ (perhaps most famously sung by George Harrison) a proper shake down in 1971 then only four years later Merry Clayton successfully finds the funk in ‘Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35.’ Not only that but the gospel transformation The Staples Singers cast upon ‘A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall’ in 1968 is sensational. As is often the case though, it is the less obvious tunes that reveal the greatest delights. Bettye Lavette captures the levelling desolation at the core of Bob’s 1989 song ‘Everything Is Broken,’ a 2012 cover that would later lead to the under-rated singer making a double LP of Dylan’s music in 2018. However, it is a pair of jazzers who point to a limitless potential still untapped in this music; firstly, Cassandra Wilson whose 2002 recording of ‘Shelter From The Storm’ drapes the song in some stylish attire but even that is modest compared to Jimmy Scott’s deconstruction of ‘When He Returns.’ Recorded in 1996, he takes the closing number from 1979’s maligned Christian ‘Slow Train Coming’ album and transforms it into a piano-jazz, be-bop adjacent hymn. Quite remarkable and a real jewel in this absolutely essential twenty-track collection which, typically for Ace, does not have a single weak selection.

This Ace Records album is available to buy here: https://amzn.to/3ORY2nE

Danny Neill

Fresh Juice

Fresh Juice 9th March 2026

Tiwayo – Up For Soul

To get things going on the good foot this week how about a killer tune with some seriously sharp edged playing and a rough, lived in soul voice taking it out for delivery? This one is from Tiwayo’s latest album ‘Outsider’ which is set for release next month on the Record Kicks label. It is produced by the Black Pumas Adrian Quesada and promises to push this Paris born singer firmly into the spotlight, which he has slowly moved away from in recent years since his 2023 debut on Blue Note. It really is a welcome return from an artist with an incredible voice; even some of the all time greats in soul, blues and gospel did not come as close to a sound so authentically aged and fresh as this. No wonder Tiwayo was once bestowed with the nickname “The Young Old”. Get yourself on the pre-order list for the album via this link: https://amzn.to/4dau3RK

White Rose Motor Oil – Hit In The Face

Of this song, soon to be featured on their long anticipated debut album ‘Spider,’ the band say it is “for all of us who feel the need to punch-dance out our rage right now.” This is a rollin’ and tumblin’ rockin’ rockabilly thunder crack of a tune that revs its engine delightfully with every repeat of the “you’re gonna get hit in the face” chorus line. They are a red hot duo from Denver with a fire lighting zipper of a female vocalist and a love of playing fast and loud. Together they surf the waves between cowpunk and garage rock which is a pretty exhilarating place to be if you can manage to catch it. Find out more about the band this way https://whiterosemotoroil.bandcamp.com/track/hateland-2 and hear them included as part of our first Fresh Juice mix of the year here: https://www.mixcloud.com/dannyneill714/fruit-tree-records-fresh-juice-2026-vol-1/

Hannah Lew – Sunday

You can almost feel the sun rising on the springtime with the gorgeous hazy electro textures on a new track by Hannah Lew. It can also be heard on her self titled debut album due to be released on 10th April via Night School Records. She has a deep background in the US alt-rock underground with Grass Widow and Cold Beat but a new solo project is leaning more into her pop sensibilities, albeit with the sheen of a Numanoid post-punk production aesthetic. She says of this video that it is “a re-enactment of a dream I had, that the song is also based on. It was surreal to embody the subconscious and only then did I divine the meaning of the dream. The whole experience was very ritualistic.” Get the album on pre-order here: https://amzn.to/3NbTR5m

Anna Calvi (feat. Iggy Pop) – God’s Lonely Man

Anna’s latest EP project is titled ‘Is This All There Is?’ in which she purposefully sought out vocal collaborators who would fit perfectly for the role playing task required in each song. She approached Iggy Pop, feeling he would be the ideal personality to recite the destructive inner monologue of the title character in this piece. As you would expect he rises to the occasion and then some, reviving the same energy he pumped into classics like ‘Lust For Life’ and ‘The Passenger.’ The four track EP also features Perfume Genius, Laurie Anderson and Matt Berninger and is available here: https://amzn.to/3NdqwYq

Midnight Rodeo – Desert On The Run (Jenny)

Not exactly a brand new release but this is a relatively new live performance and the band are well worth a heads up for any who have not come across them yet. The song was originally available on their Bandcamp release ‘Thank You For Your Time’ and both that release and subsequent live outings show what a hot proposition this Nottingham based collective are. Their sound sits somewhere in the neo-psych garden although you can hear shimmering influences of Americana and surf rock in there too, all front loaded with a swooning vocalist and a band environment that feels like a proper gang. The vinyl may be long sold out but you can still get hold of the tracks here: https://midnightrodeo.bandcamp.com/album/thank-you-for-your-time

https://youtu.be/h8kRuAN_N7o?si=FELsNatnl7RSlt_Q

Julian Lage – Something More

And finally for this week some superb, masterful musicianship on one of the best Jazz album releases of the year so far. As well as leader Julian on guitar it also features his new quartet of John Medeski on Hammond organ, Jorge Roeder on bass and Kenny Wollesen on drums. It is taken from a new album ‘Scenes From Above,’ which happens to be his fifth record for Blue Note records, which came out in January. Produced by Joe Henry it is a record that feels like a balm amidst the turbulent world we are living in right now, it never hurts to remember that people can still create something beautiful in a time of destruction, division and conflict. You can buy the album via this link: https://amzn.to/4aY9KFN

New Release Reviews

Clementine March – Powder Keg

You would not expect something ordinary from an artist who, when you are first introducing them, have to be prefaced with the words French British chanteuse, multi-instrumentalist, and composer before arriving at the name Clementine March. Furthermore, upon learning that the writing of this third long player was partly inspired whilst touring with the alt-folk maverick Naima Bock and that names like Alabaster DePlume, MF Tomlinson, Katy J Pearson, and Naima herself are amongst the collaborators, you should not expect music that is anything less than beguiling. And whilst I have seen Clementine’s music described as chamber pop, I would argue she is an artist unwilling to conform to any genre-based restrictions and, if anything, this is far closer to the world of Art Rock. You can trace a clear lineage from King Crimson through to David Bowie and David Byrne right up to St Vincent; music that is committed to free expression, that will restlessly mix its palette in a quest for new colours, apply deep studio sonics that make for headphone listening audio candy but it retains, amongst the experimentation, a songwriters ear and love of a killer melody. That is the kind of record that Clementine March is presenting here, a dizzying melange of textures that rebounds impressively from song to song, springing surprises aplenty but somehow still succeeding in moulding a satisfying whole that connects from start to finish.

Taking all that into account, it may come as a surprise that the inspiration for the title track is credited to Paul & Linda McCartney’s 1971 ‘Ram’ album. However, this is not the act of quirky flexing that some might assume. There has been justifiably positive re-appraisal of the McCartney solo canon lately and certainly that album, with songs boasting a rousing finale like ‘Long Haired Lady,’ could not have direct inspiration pulled so effectively by just any old singer. Clementine shows remarkable eloquence in her deployment of orchestral pop tropes in what she calls a “ultimate breakup / moving on song” and the emphatic ensemble conclusion is surely work that Macca himself would be happily associated with. Still, I am jumping ahead slightly because ‘Powder Keg’ makes for a heavyweight centrepiece to the album, instead we begin with the dreamy violin and horns that usher in the lilting ‘After The Solstice.’ Of all the songs here, this is the one where the Naima Bock effect can be heard clearest. It is a spookily stimulating piece of music, the lyrics pondering the strange appearance of déjà vu impressions in the mind and how they can destabilise your sense of time and place. As it spins off into the clouds, the audio scene is already preparing the listener for a journey that could fly off in any direction.

‘Lixo Sentimental’ does just that, parachuting us into a world of shuffling Brazilian pop of which the writer says is an “affected parody of a sentimental song. I’m teasing myself for being too romantic for my own sake sometimes.” She sings the number in Portuguese and confesses it is a tribute to vocalist Rita Lee who she thinks “would have enjoyed it.” The grunge rockers that soundtracked March’s teenage years, like Pavement and Nirvana, would have found plenty of common ground to sink their teeth in with ‘Upheaval,’ a song that echoes their fuzzy guitar sounds finding strength in distortion as the singers’ voice morphs into a feline growl for the duration. One thing alt-rock did not tend to do is switch seamlessly out of DM stamping angst straight into its dancing shoes, but boy does this album slide its feet gracefully on the following ‘Fireworks.’ There is so much funk in this tune I checked the credits to make sure Nile Rodgers was not listed, he is not but the extra voice of Evelyn Gray does infuse the piece with an authentic dancefloor chemistry. After this the laid-back French sunshine felt in ‘Les Annes,’ which is pierced by the subtle use of a theremin sound, is a welcome interlude before the lush musical drama unfolds in the aforementioned ‘Powder Keg.’

Having hit some impressive peaks of both lyrical precision, mesmeric tonal changes and some undeniable rhythms, the remainder of the album is free to explore these newly formed galaxies further and deeper. ‘You Are Everywhere’ is a more haunting ballad that exhales alongside floating violins before we collide with the jerky, post-punk fireworks of ‘Symptomatique,’ which is another track where a free-flowing trumpet part lends the album a nice jazz referencing dimension. The tiredness expressed in ‘Honestly’ is cleverly performed by Clementine whose vocal sounds like she has just woken from a deep sleep. ‘Lucie’ is an effervescent number featuring spacey synths that, together with the top line, have strong echoes of Stereolab at their most inviting. ‘Les Temps Qu’il Faut Bien’ changes mood again, this time to elegant samba tempo before closer ‘The Power Of Your Dreams’ urges us to preserve our hopes as “each day that comes, there’s a song and it’s yours.” So finally, like all the best Art Rock collections, you are left at the end with a sensory overload having travelled across so many sonic phrases, touches and brush strokes aboard such a delightful song-based excursion that, all you want to do is go back to the beginning and start again. And that is just about as big a compliment that can be paid to any album ultimately.

Danny Neill Get yourself a physical copy of ‘Powder Keg’ via this link: https://clementinemarch.bandcamp.com/album/powder-keg

Old Fruit

Old Fruit 6th March 2026

The Nashville Teens – Tobacco Road

This week, in tandem with the new Sixties Garage mix we released on Mixcloud (available to listen here: https://www.mixcloud.com/dannyneill714/fruit-tree-records-sixties-garage-vol-1/ ), the Old Fruit feature is a selection of bands from the same era who all fall under the Garage umbrella. Not only that though, I have also made my mission this week to source some rarely seen TV or film footage of the acts in question, all of whom are rather lacking in visual representation thanks to either their only moderate success at the time or the pitifully small volume of surviving tapes. To get the ball rolling, this is a band heavily linked to the R&B scene of the period with undoubtedly their best known and most successful track. Also, this is by far the best quality footage I have seen, such high definition and colour from the time is rare indeed so get your eyes and ears around this one. For further digging, check out any Nashville Teens CDs you can purchase here: https://amzn.to/4l7VZHW

The Electric Banana – It’ll Never Be Me

Sixties midnight to six men The Pretty Things can be seen on a few TV and film clips from the era but they also had an alter-ego called The Electric Banana. This was hardly publicised at all during those years, in fact the band most likely treated it as a handy side hustle with their writing and recording for De Wolfe library, which placed specifically recorded background and music features into films and TV. Still, even though they never intended for it to be a public facing project, they actually made some really cool tracks under this name and the sound is generally identifiable as the classic Pretty Things style. On top of that, they occasionally appeared on film as the Electric Banana, as seen on this wonderful excerpt. The complete recorded works of the band are available to buy on this 3-CD set from a few years back: https://amzn.to/4rToSuf

The Birds – That’s All I Need You For

More priceless footage from a film although this time, frustratingly, we do not quite get the full song, cut as it is into dialogue scenes from the movie. It is worth it though simply for the chance to catch a glimpse of Ronnie Wood’s first band, way before the future Jeff Beck Group, Faces and Rolling Stones guitarist would become instantly, identifiably famous. The Birds were a mid-sixties London band primarily playing in the energetic mode that would later be classed as Freakbeat. They would have been rubbing shoulders with bands like the Pretty Things and The Who in their early days and in fact, theirs is a decent catalogue from the era and they made a few now garage rock classics well worth getting to know. This CD compilation ‘Collector’s Guide To Rare British Birds’ is a great one-stop place to start: https://amzn.to/4b8bivR

The Standells – Dirty Water

Thanks to its prominent positioning in the original Nuggets compilation tracklist (for the uninitiated this is the 1972 album that launched the collectable genre known as Garage Rock) The Standells ‘Dirty Water’ is rightly regarded as one of the styles premier artefacts. Still, it was hardly a song that rose too close to the surface in its time, the Los Angeles band releasing it as a single in 1965, but clearly it did warrant some promotional TV appearances in the US. That said, whilst it is incredible to see moving footage of the band in colour, they could hardly be accused of capturing the energy of the record with this casually mimed effort. The singing drummer looks quite bemused throughout and even puts his sticks down at one point. Still it is great to see this all the same, you can then follow this link for access to a good CD re-issue of the band taken from the original master tapes: https://amzn.to/3P13bto

The Rockin’ Ramrods – Play It

Even by the standards of sixties garage, The Rockin’ Ramrods are a pretty obscure act. For that reason alone it was quite a surprise to find that there is this grainy film footage of the band waiting to be found. It is certainly not a great quality visual but that downside is compensated by its rarity. They were a band from Boston who enjoyed a little local success in their time and are likely to have played alongside other notable neighbourhood names like The Remains, The Lost or The Barbarians. There is a ‘best of’ CD compilation available to buy via the link which does have some good period tunes in the primitive style sat alongside more standard sixties guitar band fare, worth a punt: https://amzn.to/3P13FQe

The Seeds – I Can’t Seem To Make You Mine

We finish with another garage band who today are regarded as one of the legends of the form. The Seeds were from Los Angeles and more than some of their peers, they really pushed the music forward into the psychedelic and garage-punk that would evolve out of the mid-decade musical grains. Not only that but their leader Sky Saxon was one of the more attention grabbing front men of the day and he knew how to work a camera, so it is nice that there are some examples of the band on film to explore. As for checking out the music, this expanded re-issue of their debut album is as good a place to start as any: https://amzn.to/4b8jNqw