Folk
Lizzie Reid – ‘Been Thinking About You’: jazzy swing with real heart, soul and devil-may-care
LIZZIE REID, the young Glaswegian songwriter who is a massive, massive new talent – no dissent now at the back, this is just how it is – has been melting hearts at Backseat Mafia over the past few months as she’s hashed out a little trail of candid and heartfelt tunesmithery en route to her …
SEE: Cassandra Jenkins – ‘Michelangelo’: subtle, haunting Americana
NEW YORK folkie Cassandra Jenkins has stepped away from the world of self-releasing on her own Cassandra Complex imprint to ink her signature for Brooklyn’s Ba Da Bing, which imprint – sometime home to Damon & Naomi and Comets On Fire, among others – hosts her second album, the detached, observational beauty of An Overview …
SEE: John Smith – ‘Friends’: honey-voiced folk salutes those dear to us
A SIMPLE name, perhaps, but far from simple tunesmithery: John Smith is coming into 2021 with positivity and a grab-bag of songs to beguile you. Essex born but raised on the Devon coast, he’s earned his crust previously as a session musician, lending his chops and precision to bigger names across the globe, such as …
SEE: The Stockholm video for James Yorkston and the Second Hand Orchestra’s ‘Ella Mary Leather’
AS THE year takes it final bows – mostly, you’d have to say, free from the tossing of bouquets, unless they’re dead black roses or somesuch – we at least have the joy of a soon-coming new album from Fife’s always warming James Yorkston, this time in tandem with The Second Hand Orchestra. The album’s …
Track: Another Michael reveal the beautiful indie folk of ‘I know you’re wrong’
Philadelphia indie folk three piece Another Michael have announced details of their new album ‘New Music and Big Pop’. It’s due out on 19th February via Run For Cover records, and is preceded by a new single ‘I know you’re wrong’, which the band have released with an accompanying RuneScape visual. It’s a beautiful slice …
TRACK: Zola Jesus beautifully refashions the Armenian folk standard, ‘Krunk’
ZOLA JESUS has gone back to her roots with a beautiful and deep take on the Armenian folk standard, “Krunk”; be enraptured by our embed herein. The track was originally released on the final Bandcamp Friday of the year, with all proceeds going towards the Armenia Fund, and its efforts to provide humanitarian aid during the …
News: Lanterns on the Lake announce live dates, plus rescheduled release
“One for the introverts and dreamers, the ones that still find beauty and magic in things” Now, technically speaking, we at Backseat Mafia have already previewed this back in October, ahead of a physical release on December 11th, but, this being 2020, nothing is ever that straightforward, so, this has now been rescheduled to 18th December …
Feature: The 50 best albums of 2020
Well, it’s been a bit of a year, hasn’t it? Global pandemics, George Floyd, environmental issues, terrorism, dissatisfaction with those in charge, not least in the ongoing (it seems) fallout from the American Presidential election. None of that has stopped artists from all persuasions and genres making some fantastic music over the last 12 months. …
Track: Benjamin Lazar Davis releases new track ‘What if I’
You may have picked up on Benjamin Lazar Davis from his 2018 debut ‘Nothing Matters’, an impressively carefree collection of contemporary song-writing, rhythmic heartbeats and lush musical landscapes. Or maybe you latched onto the surging electronic soul pop of his earlier ‘Let it be You’ collaboration with Joan Wasser (Joan As A Policewoman). Or you …
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