Best of October 2022

Indian Radio Values

Morning Song

through the fire

Libra Libra

Self-proclaimed retro gaming addict Garvie’s self-produced single ‘Decisions Decisions’ is about the big boss in his life… decision making.

Garvie’s lyrics audibly pace back and forth pondering religion, hustle culture and smartphone addiction amongst other things before arriving at the simplest of truths in the unshakeably hook-y chorus - ‘my only choice is you’. Garvie commented on the lyric: “I'm terrible at decision making - I wrote this to convince myself that 90% of the decisions I make are meaningless. That’s a lie… but I can’t make choices when I think they’re important.”

The indecision runs through Garvie’s production - in the best possible way, of course. It’s an OTT soundscape where we hear shades of Remi Wolf and Still Woozy - it travels from bit-crushed drums and latin-inspired acoustic rhythms through to driving indie rock rhythm guitars and (of course) a liberal sprinkling of the 8-bit synths that inspired Garvie’s retro gaming aesthetic. 

Just when it seems like Garvie’s reached a conclusion and all is calm, Garvie thrusts us headfirst into his heaviest rock moment yet before deciding against it and slamming the brakes in an abrupt close. It’s all packed into a very tidy 1 minute 50 seconds. 

Who needs coherence when indecision is this fun?

Garvie - Decisions Decisions

Spotify

Sugar Lemon Tree

Don't Ever Hide Your Face

You're an Animal

I'm a Dinosaur

Owners Club EP

Village Green

Garvie takes the AI conversation and holds it up to a fun-house mirror with Default, a frenetic pop rock stomper. 

Default opens with a groove-laden, rough and-ready garage rock beat - but that’s far too simple cool for Garvie’s liking. It didn’t take co-producers Garvie and props long to cover this simple canvas in irreverent lyrics, bit-crushed synths and cartoonish SFX (banana peels, anyone?). Default walks a hyperactive tightrope between the extremes of cool minimalism and pure fun, where Queens of the Stone Age’s sense of groove and Metronomy’s production style can be gleamed.

“I like to make music that nods to the past in a fun way whilst sounding modern at the same time.” Garvie explains. “While it’s fairly tongue-in-cheek lyrically, Default is ultimately about feeling obsolete and replace-able in a relationship, which is why it uses quite a lot of computer-based references. It’s also got a lot of parallels with all of the recent developments in AI, which have definitely made me feel like I might be obsolete soon as a human artist!”

Default

Saytr play are an indie-pop outfit known for their electric live shows, in iconic venues (gorilla, broadcast, ebgbs...) And the festival circuit (great escape, ynot, neighbourhood, 110above...) alike. 

Sharing influence with Circa Waves, the strokes, sundara karma and cage the elephant, and recieving playlisting from radio x, Spotify (New Music Friday, Hot New Bands, Indie List) Amazing Radio and bbc introducing, the band have racked up over a million streams on Spotify & a dedicated fanbase. 

Following their hiatus, Saytr Play came back this year with 'The Butterfly Stitches EP', amassing over 150,000 streams, Editorial support on Spotify's Fresh finds and New Music Friday, playlisting on XS Manchester and national radio coverage on Radio X. Off the back of this success, Saytr Play sold out their headline show at Manchester's Deaf Institute a month in advance. 

Saytr play release 'Brother' on 1st September and headline Manchester's Canvas on the 8th September.

Brother (YKTDY)
Is a very nostalgic song for me. Most songs touch on the subject of love, the only difference here is that I wanted to write a song about how much I love my mates. I wanted to share some of the story’s and memories we lived through in our younger years. Growing up in Moston (Manchester). The good times. The bad times. It’s celebrating he family we choose, in our case our brothers. Life is never plain sailing but I like to think that is about who you are with not where you are. In this industry iv met a lot of privileged people but I honestly wouldn’t change our upbringing for the world. I’m proud of where I’m from & I love my mates so I wrote a song about it. Enjoy.

Brother (YKTDY)

Familiar Faces

Do The Right Thing is the first of a new batch of HAARM singles which will be released every 6 weeks leading to their debut album which is coming out digitally and on ltd edition vinyl in April 2024 (not announced yet). They return to the live stage on Oct 26th 2023 at The Shipping Forecast in Liverpool with support from Niki Kand and Tweak before embarking on a string of UK and EU dates at the start of 2024. HAARM have previously provided the sound track to the Premier League on BT Sport and have enjoyed multiple syncs on Sky Atlantic, BBC and Amazon Prime programmes and have gained support for previous singles on Radio 1, 6 Music and Radio X. We have members of King Hannah, Banners, a Bongo's Bingo Host and a Doctor in the band.

HAARM Do The Right Thing MASTER B

Thawed

Atlantis

With their unapologetically nostalgic approach, Tourist Attraction not only pay homage to their influences but also carve out a space for themselves in the contemporary scene. "You Were Right" is not just a song; it's a spirited celebration of love, fate, and the timeless allure of indie rock done right.

You Were Right

Fresh pressed indie music. 
http://obscuresound.com

Garvie is a songwriter who spent too much time playing video games during lockdown… now he’s trapped in one.

That’s OK though – life in the real world wasn’t for Garvie. He spent years writing for other artists and cutting his teeth on the London live scene, but the lightbulb moment came when the gigs stopped, the Gameboy turned on and he learned to produce during 2020.

Garvie was forced to immerse himself in creating a sound of his own for once. What emerged was a sound-world that mixes the signature guitar grooves and bigger choruses of his past writing projects with the synths and cheeky 8-bit throwbacks of his new videogame existence. This sound is complemented by his animated DIY videos which use retro gaming graphics and Instagram filters to tell his story.

Lyrically Garvie is straight-talking with a touch of the dramatic and an unshakeable dry sense of humour. These are complemented by a voice which Frank Turner once commended for its authenticity.

With his first three singles Garvie has received airplay from BBC Radio 6 (Tom Robinson called his first single ‘Bad Person’ an ‘irresistible earworm’), consistent airplay on all 3 releases from BBC Introducing and also regular airplay from Amazing Radio in the UK and US.

Garvie - Decisions Decisions

Garvie

Related tracks