Chris Sawle, Author at Backseat Mafia

TRACK: Stats – ‘Old Flames’: what do you tell each other about the past?

STATS, the synth-pop project of London-based, Welsh-raised Ed Seed, are set to release an album on Memphis Industries exploring the landscape and life of Ed’s childhood next month, entitled Powys…

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TRACK: Mountain Goats – ‘Picture Of My Dress’: yearning Americana ahead of next week’s album; live stream news

MOUNTAIN GOATS have dropped just one more track ahead of next week’s new album, Getting Into Knives – and they’ve gone with the acoustic Americana excellence of “Picture Of My…

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LIVE REVIEW: Erland Cooper, The Barbican, London: bringing the soul of Orkney to the heart of the capital

TO THE Barbican, that beautiful, brutalist residential and cultural hub in London EC2: for a gig. A gig! Livestream or not, it’s a red letter day in 2020. Ah ……

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TRACK: Palace Winter – ‘Richard (Says Yes)’: vivacious synth-rock guided by the spirit of Little Richard

PALACE WINTER, the Danish-Australian intelligent pop duo who just last month hit us with the cracking “Kraftwerk plays country” track “The Deeper End”, featuring the not inconsiderable talents of Grandaddy’s…

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EP REVIEW: Shida Shahabi – ‘Lake On Fire’: eerie post-classical beauty for short film

Lake On Fire is eerie post-classical beauty for the short film of that name: evocative and chilling work from a real talent

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ALBUM REVIEW: Kevin Morby – ‘Sundowner’: simple acoustic truths deliver great profundity

Sundowner is a much more bucolic work than last year's Oh My God. in Kansas he's explored the simple complexity of the 60s' folk-troubadour aesthetic and pulls it off, admirably. It's a damn lovely record.

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SEE: Jorja Smith – ‘Come Over’, feat. Popcan: R’n’B grace tells of app disconnection

JORJA SMITH made it over to Jamaica before lockdown for inspiration and to write new tunes, before all this descended on the world. While she was there she hooked with…

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ALBUM REVIEW: A Lily – ‘Sleep Through The Storm’: bewitching tronica to guard us from where we’re at

Sleep Through The Storm is eight tracks of beautiful, bewitching, cyclical and warm electronic minimalism, intended to guard us from 2020

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Track: Blue States drop ‘Friendly Fires’ from the expanded ‘Nothing Changes …’

IT’S HARD to believe that Blue States downbeatz classic, Nothing Changes Under the Sun, has reached its twentieth anniversary – who pressed fast forward, cos it wasn’t me; but it’s…

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TRACK: Annie returns with first album in a decade: hear ‘Corridors Of Time’

ANNIE, the Norwegian singer-songwriter and DJ who soo should’ve had the whole world supplicant on the back of the brilliant “Chewing Gum” back in the day, is all set to…

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