americana
SEE: Juanita Stein – ‘Reckoning’; seven UK dates from May
TORCH-songtress Juanita Stein, who released her third album of rootsy songcraft for Nude, Snapshot, in late October, has released a video for the dark, rousing drama of “Reckoning” and announced a seven-date tour for May ’21. The video, embedded down below, follows Juanita on a bike ride through southern France. It was self-filmed in the …
PREMIERE: Ben Eisenberger – ‘Soloists’: hear a set of warming folk grace from Omaha tunesmith
Beautiful and drawing respectfully on a number of strands in the wider folk pantheon, Ben’s songwriting, arranging talents and his musicianship pull this record into a pretty special place indeed
TRACK: Becca Mancari – ‘I’m Sorry’
HAZY music is indeed the trademark of Captured Tracks, so that Becca Mancari has made another turn towards an increasingly layered Americana for her debut with the label is no surprise. The New York songwriter is now presenting a new single and video from The Greatest Part, which she released in June; “I’m Sorry” is …
ALBUM REVIEW: M. Ward – ‘Think Of You’: Portland guitar wonder seduces with Billie Holiday set
M. Ward’s pulled off quite a neat trick here. Think Of You has many of the appurtenances of a seasonal album without quite being one. It could be M. Ward’s best album in a good while, proving that all he really needs is some retro recording equipment and a guitar to be at his very best
TRACK: Leif Vollebekk – ‘Long Blue Light’: beautiful alt.folk from Montreal
CANADA’S Leif Vollebekk is another excellent alt.folk singer-songwriter in a country that seems, these past few years, to produce them just for fun. Andy Shauf, Patrick Watson, Yves Jarvis, Sing Leaf … there’s so much delicate and necessary songsmithery being produced north of the 49th parallel. He’s just released a digital two-track EP, “Long Blue …
SEE: Tele Novella – ‘Never’: a sweet song of loss and yearning with Super 8 footage
TEXAS TWOSOME Tele Novella, who memorably describe themselves on Twitter as “coin-operated medieval pop songs through a 1950s western lens” (and that’s totally on the money) have today released a third track and accompanying romantic Super 8 film from their forthcoming February album, Merlynn Belle. We’ve taken in both of the two preceding singles: the …
SEE: MF Tomlinson – ‘Strange Time’: rising alt.folk talent announces debut album
MICHAEL TOMLINSON is the main man in the sorta-solo project MF Tomlinson, in which he plys a very neat line in indie folk/roots songcraft with a grainy bearhug of a voice. Australian by birth but based in London, Michael has just dropped the video for “Strange Time” a song very much about the upending of …
Rising: We interview new indie-Americana duo Sunny Bones – see ‘Be Cool’
EXQUISITE new duo Sunny Bones is the partnership of Helen Anderson and Ben Asker. The pair came to know each other through their previous band Box Of Light, which past incarnation of the pair saw them play the cooler names to drop on the British festival circuit, such as Latitude, Green Man, and Secret Garden …
PREMIERE: Modern Hinterland – ‘California (August 16th 1998)’: some much-needed Americana sun
CHRIS HORNSBY’S Americana outfit Modern Hinterland are all set to release their new album, Diving Bell, on January 29th – almost a year to the day since their last, The Longest Part Of The Night. Chris and the band, Simon Shippey, Tim Thackray and Colin Marshall, found a new creative level, laying down the album …
ALBUM REVIEW: Anna McClellan – ‘I Saw First Light’
While this may be her third album, you get the feeling this is merely the tip of the iceberg and there is so much more in terms of potential and ability at her disposal