february 2022 mixtape

Any artist is welcome to send us a track via freshonthenet.co.uk anytime between Monday lunchtime and Wednesday evening (or when we receive 200 submissions, whichever is sooner) - and all our moderators, including Tom Robinson, will listen to every track. This is our full inbox from the week beginning Mon 14th February: from Friday afternoon you'll be able to hear our shortlist and pick your favourites on this week's Listening Post which will appear at freshonthenet.co.uk/batch436

If a track you submitted does not appear in this list, it’s probably because another of your tracks appeared in our Fresh Faves or on the BBC Music Introducing Mixtape during the last three months — we ask that artists featured on either wait three months before resubmitting to give others a chance. 

We also don’t accept short previews or SoundCloud Go tracks that can only be heard as 30 second previews, and tracks made private after submission, which cannot be included in playlists. You will be able to resubmit the track in future. Tracks (and remixes of tracks) that have been previously submitted, and tracks from banned artists will also be removed.

ENTIRE INBOX: Batch 436

[Weekly Mix] 2022.02 (3)

22 February A

Tomorrow

Pre-order 'The Leather Lemon' here - https://p.e.wharfcatrecords.com/leather-lemon

About The Leather Lemon by P.E.

P.E. 's sophomore album, The Leather Lemon (Wharf Cat Records, out March 25, 2022), ushers in a new era for the New York band. A wild ride through chewy bubblegum pop, sweeping synthetic orchestrations, and mutant club beats, the album slides ever closer to the fully-realized pop sensibility only winked at with their debut album Person (2020) and subsequent releases. 

Digging into mystery, romance, and sex appeal with The Leather Lemon, the group — composed of members of Pill (Mexican Summer) and Eaters (Dull Tools) — centers its sound within a Bermuda Triangle of dance music, electronic composition, and experimental rock. Members Jonathan Schenke, Bob Jones, and Jonny Campolo play  within pop parameters, building upon free-form collaboration to create a fluorescent groove machine that harnesses the energy of their frenetic live shows. Singer Veronica Torres explores her softer side, expanding her vocal repertoire from spoken word and jagged growls to cherubic and sensuous psalms. Sax virtuoso Benjamin Jaffe’s chiseled experimental tone is heard in an extended solo of true romance in “Tears in the Rain,” a somber surrealist duet penned by Torres and Andrew Savage, singer/guitarist of Parquet Courts. 

Recorded primarily at Schenke’s Studio Windows in Brooklyn, NY, The Leather Lemon was cultivated from a fertile creative period between spring 2020 and summer 2021, which also yielded 2021’s acclaimed The Reason For My Love EP. Pitchfork writes: 
	
	The quintet refines their impulses on their 2020 debut Person and transforms them into a body-moving EP. The jittery electronics are still there, but the drum cuts feel sharper and lighter, bringing a sense of structure to what could easily be shapeless. Vocalist Veronica Torres abandons spoken-word and leans fully into singing about poetry, beauty, and the contours of the body. Her lovely vocal stretches fill up the space once occupied by industrial bass drops. Sensuality suits them well.

The Leather Lemon is a reckoning record for the times; an album of psychedelic resurfacing, real-time response to world events, and soft, sympathetic magic. This is a collection of songs shaped by five individuals who embrace music-making as a way to center themselves in times of uncertainty; it’s resilience and imagination given shape. The Leather Lemon is a true sweet-and-sour listening experience, an album as bright and clear as it is fractured and fun. Get turned UP and ON with the electrifying new lemon drop from P.E.! 

P.E. is: Jonny Campolo (piano, synths, bass, percussion, voice), Benjamin Jaffe (saxophone, synths, voice), Bob Jones (beats, samples, synths, bass, voice), Jonathan Schenke (synths, beats, bass, percussion, voice), Veronica Torres (voice, lyrics). 

Produced, Edited, Mixed and Mastered by Jonathan Schenke at Studio Windows. Additional production by Bob Jones at Zo City Studios. Written in-person and in-quarantine by P.E. between Studio Windows (NY), Zo City Studios (NY), and Gray House MPLS (MN) 2020-2021.

BUY LP

P.E. - Tears In The Rain (from the album 'The Leather Lemon' out now!)

Headstones
Loose Buttons
2021
Moon Crawl Records

What' On Outside

Headstones

Passive

For self release on 16th February 2022. Currently being used on Film 4's 'Films at 9' trailer (UK Television).

Written by James Leonard Hewitson, performed by James Leonard Hewitson and Michael Kitching (Drums, Percussion)with Josh Ingledew (additional synth).

Produced by Chris McManus, Blank Studios, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne.

A song exploring the low key madness of emotional unavailability, in the hope to make it all a little less frightening.

Stable

Yes, You

Of the sun

Written and performed by Gag Salon.
Recorded and produced by Chris McCrory at Green Door Studio, Glasgow.
Mastered by Sam Smith.

Joseph Mumford - vocals / guitar
Tom Dimmock - backing vocals / guitar / synth
Seb Bowden - bass
Ayden Spiller - drums / percussion

Horses

A Spoonful Of Sugar

Follow Jaguar Sun 
Pre Order 'All We've Ever Known' LP - jaguarsun.bandcamp.com/merch
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/jaguar__sun/
Spotify : https://tinyurl.com/ybou3ken
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/hello.jaguar.sun

2022 Born Losers Records
https://www.bornlosersrecords.com
https://www.instagram.com/bornlosersrecords
https://www.bornlosersrecords.bandcamp.com

Jaguar Sun - Midnight Man

what u doing now

what will survive of us is love


CREDITS:

Music: Anto Cossu, Joe Donaldson
Lyrics and Melody: Anto Cossu
Additional piano: Javier Aparicio
Additional Vocals: Delia Ra, Aimée Cohen
Produced by Joe Donaldson, Anto Cossu
Mixed by Dave Roberts, Anto Cossu
Mastered by Anto Cossu

A Larkin

This is a song I wrote about love between two people who cannot be together because of fear of change. It is an acoustic guitar track with a catchy strumming pattern and a chorus that will possible be stuck in your head the rest of the day. This is my first public release of many songs I write. I hope you enjoy.

Come Out Come Out

Dig Deep, Move Out

Early Morning Rain

ALL TO MYSELF

London based Italo-British experimental duo SOUP! have teamed up with American singer and multimedia artist Meredith Adelaide for a transcending, metaphysical Pop gem. SOUP! and Meredith make a game-changing pairing, with SOUP! breaking rules and boundaries within the paradigms of Pop, and Meredith bringing their thoughtful honest lyrics and dreamy vocals.

Meredith and the band met through the Rattle Collective, an international music network based in London and L.A., which allowed many artists to connect and cooperate during lockdown. Meredith recalls: “I’ve been trying to work with Gigi at The Rattle since I joined the Los Angeles crew. He started SOUP! as a way to not overthink creation and asked me if I’d be down to add vocals to a song. It happened during the pandemic. It was a time of transition when I was asking myself a lot of hard questions about what I actually wanted in and for my world”. The result is the single ‘All To Myself’, born out of a remote collaboration transcending physical borders. The new single maintains the essential ingredients of SOUP!’s debut ‘All The People’ - with their abstractionist approach, dystopian soundscapes and a symbiotic performance between the human and the machine.

THE PROCESS

The gestation went through several phases. Drummer Matt Hardy describes phase one: “the track began with a kind of pitched-up vocal loop. To date, I have no idea what it is or where it came from. We jammed over this as a band and developed the current groove. Loads of crazy arpeggiators and guitar loops were added in the process. We really wanted it to sound as mad as possible!”. The track really started to come together during phase two, as Meredith added their vocals. “They really understood the vibe we were going for and the kind of vocal performance we had in mind” explains Matt. As put by Meredith, the lyrics are about trusting that letting go will always bring the right things back. They explain: “there should be no convincing ourselves that something is right for us. Letting go can be a meditation to help me gain clarity about the elements of what I want from what I’m letting go of". Phase three saw Gigi enacting the final synthesis and adding the dark, sweeping synths, which take the track to a different place and enhance its cinematic character.



ABOUT THE ARTISTS

SOUP! began in 2019 from the encounter of award winning producer Gigi Piscitelli and drummer Matt Hardy. Gigi cut his teeth training under Alan Moulder and Flood working on records for the likes of Goldfrapp, The Killers and the Charlatans. He produced Dele Sosimi, from Feta Kuti’s Egypt 80 and he is now working on the forthcoming LP by London’s Afro-Punk pioneers Ibibio Sound Machine. Matt is a young veteran of the British contemporary Indie-Folk scene. He provided the drumbeats for artists like the celebrated singer-songwriter Jake Houlsby and Folk chanteuse Ajimal.

Primarily a self-photographer, Meredith Adelaide touches multiple disciplines as an independent artist. A union-actor and filmmaker with a decade-long modelling career behind them, Meredith is a well-rounded artist, now adding their voice to the world of music. In their art - much of which is released through the creative platform 'Patreon' - Meredith explores themes of grief, loss, self accountability, identity, unconditional love and sexuality.


SOUNDS LIKE

LCD Soundsystem, Talking Heads, Soulwax, Radiohead, ChkChkChk(!!!), Atoms For Peace


LINKS

SOUP!
Spotify: http://tiny.cc/soupnoises 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soup.noises
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SOUP.NOISES/
Matt Hardy: https://matthardydrums.com/
Gigi Piscitelli: https://www.gigipiscitelli.com/

Meredith Adelaide
Patreon: http://patreon.com/meredithadelaide
Instagram: http://instagram.com/meredithadelaide

All To Myself (feat. Meredith Adelaide)

Beaming is a collection of songs shaped from a year of uncertainty and delivered by  songwriter Jon Wilder (aka Boom Years) with an anxious spirit.  "Everybody's trying to make sense of our current situation and how our past has led to the madness that surrounds us.  Finding joy and light right now seems impossible, but I'm reminded daily through the actions of protesters, charity of neighbors and love of friends that hope isn't lost."  These songs mark a turning point for Boom Years, coming from personal events rather than narrative story telling, details gleaned from months of job loss, family strife, dogs in surgery and a move to Portland where the noise of riots and police sirens found their way into the background of songs.  "We'll persist and we'll endure," Jon says, "I'm just trying to keep smiling."

Follow Down

Parallel

Contact/booking: jamesleonardhewitson@gmail.com

'Energetic and thought-provoking songs with a wry, unexpected beauty' - End of The Road Festival

2024

23rd Mar - s/ Mr Ben and The Bens, Pop Recs, Sunderland

6th Apr - Aelius Alternative Fest, Newcastle

20th Apr - s/ Scott Hepple and The Sun Band, Claypath Deli, Durham

30th May - Newcastle, RPM Music (instore gig)

1st June - Newcastle, Head of Steam

linktr.ee/jamesleonardhewitson