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Romy (The xx) releases debut solo single
Today, Romy releases her debut solo single Lifetime.
Written and recorded in London during lockdown, “Lifetime” is a song about the dream of being reunited with friends, family and the ones we love, capturing the euphoria of being together again. Carefree and uninhibited, it’s a song that finds Romy giddy on possibility and, in her own words, is about “being totally in the moment and celebrating it”
“Lifetime” combines Romy’s love of yearning, emotional club music with timeless songwriting. Having co-written her band The xx’s three acclaimed albums, she’s also written songs for the likes of Mark Ronson, Jehnny Beth, Benny Blanco and Dua Lipa (including her GRAMMY winning hit single “Electricity”).
At the same time as honing her craft as a songwriter, Romy has embraced a burgeoning DJing career. DJing since the age of 17 (when she got her first job playing records at a gay club in Soho), the last twelve months have seen her passion reignited, including appearances at Manchester’s Homobloc, Turin’s Club to Club and a closing set at this year’s Pride Inside for Amnesty. She was also a key contributor to 2019’s BBC Radio 1 Residency series.
These two musical loves come together on “Lifetime”, an exhilarating piece of driving, warm, club-influenced pop. Though it stops short of the full blown celebration of club classics, Ibiza house and trance that Romy hinted at via an intimate Instagram performance earlier this year, it’s without doubt the start of a transition in that direction. Produced with Fred again.. and Marta Salogni, it’s a timely moment of escapism during difficult times and an enticing glimpse of what’s to come from the London based singer and songwriter.
Goat Girl announce new album 'On All Fours'. Debut lead track 'Sad Cowboy'
Goat Girl are delighted to announce their new album On All Fours, released via Rough Trade Records on January 29th
The new album was produced by Dan Carey (Kate Tempest, Black Midi & Franz Ferdinand) in South London in early 2020.
Goat Girl’s Lottie Cream sheds light on the lead track, explaining: Sad Cowboy centres around the idea of losing a grip on reality and how often this can happen. When you’re within a world that constantly makes you feel as though you’re living out a really bad dream, disillusionment is inevitable.”
This new record sees the band veer away from the confrontational lyricism of their debut & indicates Goat Girl’s maturing perspectives in discussing the world’s injustices and social prejudices, using the music to explore global, humanitarian, environmental and mindful wellbeing.
Throughout “On All Fours”, Goat Girl’s Frequent use of sci-fi synthesisers, off-beat chord progressions, analogue drum machines, diverse vocal styles and distinct, gritty guitars fuse a musical language that expresses both former characteristics and newer developments of the band’s sound and vision On All Fours.
Listen to Kurt Vile sing 'How Lucky' with John Prine. 'Speed, Sound, Lonely KV (ep) out on October 2nd
Kurt Vile’s Speed, Sound, Lonely KV was recorded and mixed in sporadic sessions that spanned four years at The Butcher Shoppe studio in Nashville, TN.
It includes five songs — covers of John Prine and “Cowboy” Jack Clement as well as two originals — and was recorded alongside a cast of local heavies like Bobby Wood, Dave Roe, and Kenny Malone with Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys) and Matt Sweeney (Chavez, Superwolf) tossed into the mix as well.
Most importantly, it features what KV has called “Probably the single most special musical moment in my life” – a duet with the late John Prine on the songwriter’s well-loved tune, How Lucky
“The truth is John was my hero for a long time when he came into The Butcher Shoppe to recut one of his deepest classics with me. And, man, I was floating and flying and I couldn’t hear anything he told me while he was there till after he was gone for the night,” notes Vile in a personal statement that accompanies the record.
“A couple nights later we were playing ‘How Lucky’ together again; this time onstage at the Grand Ole Opry on New Year’s Eve at the turn of 2020. Nothing like seeing John and his band of musical brothers and family and friends playing into the new decade in front of an adoring audience on that stage in Nashville, TN… and, yup, that’s just how lucky we all got that night.”
Speed, Sound, Lonely KV (ep) is out digitally on October 2nd. A physical edition will arrive early next year.
Tune-Yards Releases New Song ‘nowhere, man’
Today, Tune-Yards releases their new song nowhere, man.
The bright, brash and upbeat song is paired with a lively video that takes Chaplin-esque footage shot in Merrill Garbus and Nate Brenner’s garage during quarantine and brings them to life alongside stop motion animation by Japhy Riddle and Callie Day. The song title references the Beatles song, and is a referendum on how far society has or has not come based on whose stories are told, celebrated and elevated.
Of the video Garbus says,
“The song and the video for ‘nowhere, man’ were created under conditions of feeling squeezed and pushed to the brink — relatively, of course. I wanted to ask, ‘How loudly do I have to shout and sing before I’m heard?’ And the video asks, too, ‘What am I not hearing?’ We hope the music brings energy and a strong wind of encouragement to those who are shouting and singing loudly for justice right now.”
‘nowhere, man’ follows the release of Tune-Yards 2018 fourth album i can feel you creep into my private life. Exploring Garbus’ place in the world, the album ruminated on race, politics, intersectional feminism and the environment, and was called “dance-pop at its most polyglot and polemical,” by The Sunday Times, “bright, vital and surprising,” by Gay Times and “an entertainingly disruptive blast of a record with a mirrorball lure,” by Uncut. That same year, Tune-Yards scored Boots Riley’s film Sorry To Bother You and released a critically acclaimed collaborative song ‘Mango’ with actor Lakeith Stanfield’s musical project Moors.
This Is The Kit announce new track and video
This Is The Kit are pleased to announce their new single Coming to Get You Nowhere, the second track taken from her forthcoming fifth album Off Off On which will be released by Rough Trade Records on October 23rd.
Kate Stables of This Is The Kit explains the meaning behind the video and the song:
“We made the video from footage of our friend’s car getting stuck when they came to visit us during our rehearsal time just before we went into the studio to make Off Off On. It felt like a car getting stuck and people having to work together and ask for help to get it unstuck was a fitting story to accompany this song, which is itself about getting stuck and the ways we can help or hinder ourselves when it comes to getting out of unhealthy patterns. making this video has been really nice for me during this time of not being able to get together with the rest of the band.
I miss them and the time we spent together making Off Off On so it’s been great to hang out with them in video form. Not as good as the real thing of course but comforting none the less.”
Kate Stables decided to work on the new record with producer Josh Kaufman, New York-based member of Bonny Light Horseman & Muzz, who has also collaborated with The Hold Steady, The National and most recently Taylor Swift. Stables first met him when working with Anaïs Mitchell on a cover of the Osibisa song Woyaya, their paths later crossing at the PEOPLE residencies in Berlin and Brooklyn.
“We were on the same page about a lot of musical ideas, as well as doing things I wouldn’t do musically. It was a lovely mixture of ‘you’re exactly in my brain and exactly at the opposite end of my brain.’” After the band – completed by Rozi Plain (bass/vocals), Neil Smith (guitar), Jesse D Vernon (guitar, keyboards), Jamie Whitby-Coles (drum/vox), – reunited for the cold-water rehearsals in Wales, they headed to Wiltshire’s Real World Studios, just finishing in time for everyone to get home for lockdown.
