The debut single from Western Lows, taken from their forthcoming album Glacial, out on Highline Records in the UK and Europe on September 9th, 2013.

Western Lows - Grapevine

Cat Power (feat. M. Ward) - Willie Deadwilder

Mirrors Of Paradise

Mimicking Birds - Burning Stars

After "Theater Island," last year's 6-track EP, Sóley returns with her first full-length, an album full of rhythmic makeshift creatures, of handclaps hidden in the undergrowth, tempting us to join in. The 13 tracks are sometimes incredibly catchy; amazingly quirky at other times: think cardigan-folk from the northern hemisphere, an ocean of stained glasses bopping up and down in the shared apartment's dishwater, leeward in limbo. The result is refreshing in its lack of edginess; think Joanna Newsom minus her harp, or the Casady sisters circa 2004, but then clearly better trained, less crooked. In other words: her voice, those loops moving around like wooden toys, and finally the piano – that's the backbone, the essence of her compositions; at least until some unexpected element appears elsewhere, a rhythmic creaking or the lack thereof, like a hidden Rube Goldberg machine, setting off yet another component, thus paving the way across the threshold and on into the next realm of sound. And thus we keep on sinking, deeper and deeper, until we stand on terra firma once again, realizing that somehow, next to us, above us, around us, a beat is laid out, hesitantly moving along at first, then careering… 

Sóley: I'll Drown

Mont Blanc

Peter Broderick. Broken Patterns

Sóley - Pretty Face

Dark Dark Dark - Daydreaming

After appearing alongside Clint Mansell and Philip Glass on the soundtrack for Park Chan-Wook's recent psychological thriller Stoker, Emily Wells prepares to release her debut UK album and single.

Album ‘Mama’ (out June 3rd via Partisan) combines subtle hip-hop inflections and wide-ranging sounds with Emily’s distinctive feline vocals, creating a record that is simultaneously light & delicate with a bold punch of personality.

Contrasting with the heavy layering and electronics of the original, the European version of ‘Mama’ sees Wells re-imagining the entire record acoustically for a second disc and mirror version. These fresh renditions of an already unique record are stunningly austere, recorded solely with voice and guitar. Emily Wells has stripped off her own armour, leaving only her crystalline voice and equally unambiguous songwriting on display.

String-laden single ‘Passenger’ is released on April 29th. Its noir-ish tone is cinematic in its scope - a song that becomes a real focal point of Mama.

Watch the video for ‘Passenger’ here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXAaPvVaZDQ

From the start of her career, Wells’ musical interests were simply too wide ranging for just one instrument. Trained as a classical violinist, the Texan soon created her own sonic “spaceship,” an ever-growing pulsating arsenal of synthesizers, effects pedals and toy instruments, all tied together with live sampling and a genre-agnostic approach that is diverse, distinctive, and utterly her own. Honing her sound on a series of independent releases, including an acclaimed cover of The Notorious B.I.G.’s classic ‘Juicy’, it was these initial glimpses and the countless live dates both as bandleader and solo performer that carved out the musician she has become today.

The female singer-songwriter stable may be packed with unique voices and varying degrees of talent, but Emily Wells is an artist whose innate complexities lift her out of that particular stable and into a realm all of her own.

Passenger

Free Flowers

To celebrate the 100,000th follower on Lisa's Facebook page, here's 'Flowers' for free.
Recorded by Joe Henry in Bryn Derwen studios. Photo by James Minchin.

Click here to buy Lisa's full length album 'Passenger'. www.smarturl.it/passenger


Peter Broderick. Broken Patterns

sleep.sleeper