Music
See: The Holy Family explore the ergot journey of ‘St Anthony’s Fire’ in a pastoral drone-folk incantation
THE HOLY FAMILY – the smoke-draped, deeply psychedelic collaborative outfit on Rocket Recordings, helmed by David J. Smith of Guapo and Miasma & the Carousel of Headless Horses, abetted in the journey furthur by fine crew members such as Cardiacs, Gong, Knifeworld and The Utopia Strong man Kavus Torabi; Emmett Elvin and Sam Warren, also of Guapo, …
Track: BC Camplight – ‘I’m Alright In The World’: Brian returns with a melodic mantra to guard against the dark and announces an extensive UK tour
HE’S BACK, with new melodies to entice, following last year’s Manchester trilogy-concluding album Shortly After Takeoff – an album embraced and drawn close by British music lovers; BC Camplight has opened his account for 2021 with the bright, loose, and melody-packed “I’m Alright In The World”, which you can watch the lyric video for, below. …
Track: Pastel Coast – ‘Distance’: summery dream pop from the Calais coasts
HAILING from the shores of Boulogne-sur-mer, on the French north coast, Pastel Coast are on land, looking out over the waves; as the Cocteau Twins once said with dreamy ecstasy, “Sea, Swallow Me”. Led by Quentin Isidore, the band have one maritime-inflected album under their belts, 2019’s Hovercraft, which is bookended by the title track …
Track: Catbells – ‘Fade – Rainy Day Demo’: a bright new talent from rural New England with a feline mask and dreampop delight
WE DON’T know who it is that figuratively and physically dons the mask of Catbells; but we do know that she is rather lovely. Born and raised in New England, we know that the singer-songwriter was introduced to the piano aged 5; and that by seventh grade she was playing the guitar and writing songs …
See: Bruno Bavota – ‘Apartment Loop #6’: a personal experience of lockdown captured in modular electronics
WE LOCKED the door; we waited. We waited, we combed the airwaves; we counted the days some more. The experience is nigh on universal, save those of you lucky enough to be reading in Taiwan, Christchurch, Auckland and elsewhere. Italy was caught by the pandemic earlier than many, and as it swept across the country, …
Track: Bandicoot have the ‘Worried Blues’: another excessively brilliant single from the entertaining Welsh band.
Bandicoot have an attitude and an impeccable sense of theatre and drama that make their releases utterly cathartic and completely mesmerising. We premiered the video for their last single ‘Fuzzy’ – seductive with all the delicacy of a velvet coated sledgehammer – and the band has released a follow up single ‘Worried Blues’: another blast …
Album Review: Gruff Rhys – Seeking New Gods
It’s a tricky thing, judging the solo work of an artist who has had such huge success at the head of a band. Should their albums be considered solely within the context of their solo endeavours or do they have to stand in the spotlight alongside the collective behemoths that preceded them? It’s even trickier …
See: Mattia Cupelli – ‘EGERIA’: propulsive ambient darkwave goes down to the water
MATTIA CUPELLI, the Italian darkwave ambient composer, the cyclical, shadowy prayer call of whose “MONOLITH” we covered in these pages just over a week ago, has dropped another track, this time showcasing a more propulsive dark aesthetic. It’s called “EGERIA” and you can watch the video for it below. Built on the hard rock of …
Premiere: Alice Mary releases a live video for the funky art rock of ‘Too Much’
EAST London musician Alice Mary has returned with a new song, “Too Much”, and we’re delighted to be able to premiere the accompanying live video right here on Backseat Mafia today. Of the song, she told us: “”Too Much came to life in several bedrooms, a shipping container by the Thames and a warehouse in …
