elkyn has released his debut album, ‘holy spirit social club’, which sees elkyn aka Joey Donnelly put his uncensored inner dialogue on paper, bravely airing the thoughts most wouldn’t dare expose. Whether that’s hurtful messages to one’s self, vague and elusive memories or lingering lessons from childhood, it’s all here on ‘holy spirit social club’, unfiltered and searingly honest. 

This sincerity is matched in the music. While the arrangements on ‘holy spirit social club’ are far more expansive than those heard on 2020 EP ‘beech’, tender finger picks and elkyn’s distinctive half-whisper still remain at its heart. Though the pain is palpable, its impact is meditative, enveloping the listener in a safe haven where you feel free to acknowledge the darker parts of yourself. 

Rainy regret-tinged evenings dominate ‘holy spirit social club’. ‘everything looks darker now’, reflects ruefully on how Donnelly shied away from an old friend who unexpectedly came to a rainy gig in Manchester. While ‘change’ finds him on the streets of Yorkshire, revisiting his family home and wondering whether he had fulfilled his father’s desire for him to ‘become a man’ - a sore point that resurfaces again and again on ‘holy spirit social club’. 

This unflinching honesty has seen elkyn become a streaming success in recent months, with the one-off singles that followed ‘beech’ making it on to a number of Spotify editorial playlists. After a lockdown spent demoing, he entered Nave Studios with producer Mark Gustafson, creating more complete songs than ever before. The process was so cathartic for Donnelly that he went on to name the album after the social club that once existed in the basement below the aforementioned studio. 

Whilst elkyn isn’t exactly kind to himself on ‘holy spirit social club’, it does see him lift a monumental weight from his shoulders. In elkyn’s words, it’s “an interim into writing nicer songs and being nicer to myself”. In creating ‘holy spirit social club’, he has faced demons that he’s shied away from for too long, finding a way back to himself that previously felt impossible. It’s only by sitting with your darkest moments that you can begin to glimpse the light - ‘holy spirit social club’ is proof of that and a whole lot more.

fell

As humans we often fancy ourselves as logical and reasonable beings when the reality is we are far too often swept away by our emotions resulting in impulsive and self gratifying behaviors that leave us completely wrecked. Stray Local sets this despairing notion against the upbeat, cheerful nature of the chiming keys, driving bass line, surfy guitars, and playful synths. The song offers another opportunity for us to ignore the warning signs for 2 or 3 minutes and just bop along and enjoy the good vibes.

www.straylocal.com
IG - @straylocal

jagged teeth on the beach
you can feel the truth in your hands
marvel at history or watch it all turn to sand

waves crashing down 
you won't pull up your towel
you think its nice now

bail out, I'm trying to read the tide
we're wrecked, its such a mess now
you're just waiting.... to feel something, feel something

fading fantasy 
your lips a salty smile
you could have planned for this 
we are too wrecked now

waves crashing down
its time for you to swim
you're laughing now, now

bail out, I'm trying to read the tide
we're wrecked, its such a mess now
you're just waiting.... to feel something, feel something

rise and falling, fall and falling for you

bail out, I'm trying to read the tide
we're wrecked, I'm such a mess now
I keep falling

rise and falling, fall and falling
rise and falling, fall and falling

Wrecked

A spike of atmospheric grungy, garage rock.

From the off on ‘Did I Play Games’ guitar chords arc like solar flares punctuated by quiet passages of floating-in-space vocals. 

The single ‘Did I Play Games’ is taken of the debut album Monsters & Heroes released January 28th 2022.

Monsters & Heroes

Did I Play Games

Run Little Rabbit Run

Trapped in the Big Room
Written and performed by For Breakfast
© For Breakfast / Glasshouse 2022
Out June 2022

Heavy Horse Museum

Wall Of Noise

The Hannah Barberas return with digital four-track EP.

When You Were My Boyfriend is taken from the band's second album, coming this summer on Spinout Nuggets (LP) and Subjangle (CD).

However, this EP is strictly Bandcamp-only, in recognition of their awesome support for artists during the pandemic.

"A great record." Mickey Bradley

All songs recorded at home by the band

Mixed by Trevor Fountain
Mastered by Jim Riley at Ranscombe Studios

Artwork by Sally Kelly.

When You Were My Boyfriend

‘So You Think’ is a laid-back jazz track featuring some serious piano chops, swinging upright bass, and a chihuahua.

I wrote it together with my friend Becci Wallace, an amazingly talented Glaswegian artist.

’So You Think’ is our response to society’s expectations of women. To stay young and beautiful. To leave the technical stuff to the guys. As you may have guessed, we don’t think so!

I hope you’ll enjoy the track as much as we enjoyed writing it! :)

So You Think

I found this Northumbrian pipe tune in a manuscript. It's called 'Over the Border' and I think was about Hadrian's Wall. I got a slight obsession with the sound of this tune, and the idea of borders. How humans perceive and create borders which do not exist in nature, and what this means for the world.

If you like the track and you want to support me to make more music, you can buy it here cheap as actual chips: https://frankiearcher.bandcamp.com/track/over-the-border

Over The Border

Out on Wednesday 18th May on Blitzcat Records

Recorded by Joseph Thorpe at Brighton Electric Studios
Mixed by Dave Blair
Mastered by Neil Pickles
Performed by Play Dead

Barbershop

Catch And Release

Toronto-based genre-defying producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist The Ugly Fun is
breathing new life into his music with a fresh name, vision and approach. His music is
cherry-picked from indie, garage and pop elements, with a unique guitar-led and progressive
spin. His process is one that thrives from collaboration; constantly seeking fresh and
innovative ways to tap into new avenues of creativity, and often incorporating other artistic
sources to spark inspiration - most recently connecting with the work of art photographers to
ignite refreshing musical and lyrical ideas.
Having been making music for 40 years, he has come far from his days of recording on an
old tascam Portastudio that his father would rent for him once a year. In a flurry of youthful
creativity he would use his two week rental window to scrape together crudely recorded
tapes, later gifting them to whoever would listen. A talented multi-instrumentalist, he began
his instrumental journey playing piano and drums, and later at the age of 12 found the love
for guitar when discovering a battered fake stratocaster and giving it a second chance at life.
In 2015 he launched indie garage trio The Sleepovers, playing shows and recording a few
EPs until the trio eventually went their separate ways. Inspired by the abundance of voice
notes left unfinished on his phone, he is now injecting new life into old ideas under solo and
collaborative rebrand The Ugly Fun. The result is daring, guitar-driven, lofi-injected garage
pop infusions. His debut single ‘Mixed Tape’ is out September 3rd, and is deeply inspired by
his teenage years at the lake, and influenced by the works of art photographer Tina Barney.