Sydney Sounds is a series of free sample packs cataloguing the diverse sounds of the city. 

Download the packs here: https://bit.ly/31yKwtj

Meshell has changed. So has her music. It’s more peaceful, freer. Her new album, Weather, cloaks itself in the colours of autumn, full of in-between shades and hues and with a certain mildness to it. The singer has let her feelings carry her along. Meshell has never been scared of sharing her most intimate thoughts in explicit or colourful terms that always come from the heart. As ever, she is true to herself. But Weather’s folk sensibility and pregnant acoustic melodies make this a supremely accessible album.

“For a long time I was at war with everyone else. I dug my heels in, I fought hard. That’s all over now. I have my opinions, but they’re no longer a source of conflict with the rest of the world.” On Weather Meshell’s usually deep vocals slip into a register more like a whisper, sharing secrets about subjects that are straightforward, almost light-hearted. She has pared down her style to something like pop. “I started to write this album on the guitar and you can hear it. The final atmosphere’s gentler.”

And then the singer agreed without fuss to put her fate in the hands of a producer. Joe Henry (Ani DiFranco, Bettye Lavette, Allen Toussaint, etc.) helped her reveal a different side to herself. And Meshell went along with this. “I’ve known him since the Bitter album; Craig Street introduced us. I hadn’t called on someone from outside for several albums. But contrary to what everyone thinks, I love getting other opinions, hearing a different point of view and allowing myself to be led by someone with strong ideas. It’s a dialogue. This kind of experience really motivates me.” One might well have imagined her bent protectively over her compositions, her own personal, contradictory and profound world. But she says that she wants to continue this experience in future projects with other musicians. She mentions Brian Eno and Lee Scratch Perry.

She worked the way she likes to with Joe Henry - just two or three takes to capture the spontaneity and freshness of the moment. She is accompanied by Chris Bruce (guitar), Deantoni Parks (drums), Keefus Ciancia (keyboards), Gabe Noel (cello) and guests Jay Bellerose (drums) and Benji Hughes (backing vocals). Meshell recently did some producing herself – for jazz singer Laïka Fatien and rising star Selah Sue. Despite the pop-folk sound of Weather, jazz remains a major source of inspiration. “I love jazz musicians. They’re free; they have no fear. I’ve done pop and there are lots of barriers, lots of holding back. You have to stick to the conventions. Jazz musicians embrace uncertainty and adventure, even in their private lives. They’re more open and often more skilled, both in the studio and on stage.”

On Weather, Meshell sings of the ups and downs of love, one of her favourite subjects. Her heroines are marked by the void left by the loved one (“Object”) or else, like a game of mirrors, pour out their heart about the hurt they have caused others. She does a cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Chelsea Hotel”, dedicated to Janis Joplin, an extremely sad and somewhat sexist song, as well as “Don’t Take My Kindness for Weakness” by Soul Children, a sixties soul band, whose message she has made her own. Her own lyrics are always concise, precise or allusive, full of images and poetry (“I want to be your answer”). “They’re like mantras, some phrases cast to the wind, images that pop into my mind. Then I add the music.” She also talks about the wider world on a few tracks. ‘Oysters’ is about “the change that everyone talks about but never comes”. Meshell explains that “Consumerism is gaining ground all the time. We all live to get a new car or a new computer, but what’s the point?” So, join the great world party? “Not for me,” she replies in Dirty World. “I live two hours from New York. I ran away from all the dirt. There’s a farm where I live, and healthy food. I love cooking – it’s not all that different from making music. You need ingredients, and the greatest pleasure is when you share it share it with others.”

Suzie Stapleton is an Australian-born alternative rock artist now based in the UK. She is known for electric live performances and guitar-driven noir soundscapes that cross into gothic-blues and alt-folk. 

Stapleton’s debut album ‘We Are The Plague’ was released in July 2020 on her own label Negative Prophet Records. The album was Voted Top 20 Albums of 2020 by Louder Than War alongside Jehnny Beth, Porridge Radio, Bob Dylan and more. She has received airplay on BBC 6, Absolute Radio, ABC, RTL2, Radio Eins and more. 

Stapleton self-produced the record which was mixed by Dan Cox (Thurston Moore/Laura Marling). Her band includes Gavin Jay (Jim Jones & The Righteous Mind) on bass, and Jim Macaulay (The Stranglers) on drums. 

Stapleton’s other recording projects include The Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions Project (Iggy Pop, Debbie Harry, Nick Cave, and others) on which she performed vocals, guest vocals on two records with Lydia Lunch & Cypress Grove “Under The Covers” and “Twin Horses”, and an appearance on Crippled Black Phoenix’s latest release ‘Ellengaest’.

Stapleton has now settled permanently in Brighton, drawn to the sea and the pull of an ancestral tide - Stapleton’s grandmother was born in The Lanes in 1922, and her father grew up in the area.

"A dazzling debut album of guitar rock, fused with the primal spirit of blues and gospel... Blending the spirit of Patti Smith and PJ Harvey with the soul of Nick Cave and Mark Lanegan” 
- Louder Than War, Top 20 Albums of 2020
 
“Rich in texture and exquisitely executed" 
- Vive Le Rock

“Fiery rock poetry, nerve-shredding blues... Dark magnetism” 
- MOJO
 
“Beguiling gothic blues soundscapes”
- Classic Rock Magazine

Classical composition
Piano songwrityness
Saxophone melodies
Clarinet embellishment
Vocal innovation

Kathleen Edwards is a modern-day cornerstone of North American roots music. Since making her debut with 2002's Failer, she's spent the 21st century occupying the grey area between genres, swirling together her own mix of alt-country, folk, and heartland rock & roll. It's a sound that has earned its creator more a half-dozen Juno nominations, shows with icons like Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson, and Top 40 success on both sides of the Canadian/American border. From co-writes with Maren Morris to critically-acclaimed solo records like Back to Me, Asking for Flowers, Voyageur, and Total Freedom, Edwards has become a leader of the Americana community, even as her ever-evolving music reaches beyond the format's boundaries.

The best local, national and international acts presented in an intimate venue.

salkimberandtrw is following