A half dozen weekly fresh picks of tasty new music…
Pynch – London
From the bands debut album ‘Howling At a Concrete Moon’ which is due out on April 14th 2023, this is a take on melancholic pop music that lands its punches. As seen in this nostalgia tinted video, the song sets the hopes and aspirations associated with a city like London against the stark reality of trying to penetrate its societal brick walls as the debris of failed endeavour disfigure the landscape. As Pynch sing in this song, “have you ever dreamed of owning your own home? That’s just a bourgeois fantasy, better leave that shit alone”. Welcome to the real world, check this lot out now…
St Vincent & The Roots – Glory Box
As much as this magical pairing refrain from altering the structure of this Portishead classic, it is nevertheless a very welcome cover version. Performed with a live string section, Annie squeezes every last drop of drama and passion out of the lyrics whilst also taking full advantage of the understated guitar shredding opportunity the song offers. I never have a problem with respectful cover versions as a general rule, great music should be kept alive and played; this is as strong an argument for that view point as I can offer today…
Esther Rose – Safe To Run
Esther’s 2021 album ‘How Many Times’ was one of my outstanding albums of the year, I wrote more about that one here https://fruit-tree-records.com/2022/05/23/esther-rose-how-many-times/ This is the title track from her forthcoming LP release on New West Records, it shows her music is continuing to show mouth watering hints of future mass recognition (if there’s any justice) and if I need to add any more inducement to listen, this song and video feature an appearance from Hurray For The Riff Raff’s brilliant songwriter Alynda Lee Segarra…
ThirtySeventy – Acceptance
Either written as above or as 30/70, this delectable slice of jazzy soul is the work of a musical collective from Melbourne, Australia. Taken from the newly released Energy Exchange Records album ‘Art Make Love’, this has a truly spiritual, laid back vibe that just seems to reel me in. They describe themselves as a musical family rather than a group and with this, their fifth album, it sounds like their hypnotic communal flight is really beginning to take off, check this out today…
Seth Martin – I Still Love You
In so many ways, folk music remains the true underground music of the people, even in the 21st century. What the people at #gemsonvhs have done, for a few years now, is set themselves up as the modern day version of legendary folk archivist Alan Lomax, collecting field recordings of below-the-radar singer songwriters playing their own original material, building up an online archive of these tunes. They also do a ‘in the rough’ new music contest which is currently running and has received an avalanche of entries. I would suggest you go and lose yourself in a treasure trove of exciting new talent but as a taster, here’s a lovely, rustic selection from Seth Martin, who says of his song that it’s “a ballad about recovery from heartbreak, but maybe more than that it’s a reflection on the idea that nobody’s an island, and how much we need one another even when we don’t know how to ask for help”…
Kokoroko – RAPT
Finally this week, here are Kokoroko with their first-ever official music video, a beautiful short film soundtracked by ‘Ewà Inú,’ ‘Home’, and ‘Age of Ascent’ from the band’s debut album (released August 2022 on Brownswood Recordings). The film is directed by the multi-disciplined filmmaker, writer & video artist, Akinola Davies Jr. It re-imagines the music as a soundtrack to a triptych of interconnected stories set in Makoko (sometimes known as the Venice of Africa), a community originally settled by fishermen, excluded from official census records, and under threat of demotion.
Fruit Tree Records 