Country, Folk and Americana all soulfully united with stories that relate and reflect – Banner Johnson returns, with a full length album of heartfelt gems and outright anthems alike.
Albums
The flow is smooth, settled in its confidence, the production in keeping with the study and chill playlists of today only with an essential twist of recognisable melody from the keys. It’s a clever way to blend the popular and the recognisable, and makes for a welcomed opener for an eight track project that consistently calms you down.
Instrumentally eclectic world music and traditional folk tones unite with electric guitar and strong grooves – Woven Green provide the vastness of organic musical escapism, with the beautifully unpredictable and imaginative album Emergence.
Future 9 was Bad Bubble’s first ever solo record, a collection of great songs that were twenty years in the making, from an artist with a uniquely captivating story and style.
This is one of those songs that can’t be done any real justice in writing. Rich Strater creates a space within which listeners can reflect and ponder the world and the past in their own unique way.
Wildly uplifting and intimate in its realness and colour, Joshy Connor’s album Love unknown feels like a genuine expression of connection and joy. Not a project written out of the common search for fame, but one that simply could not remain unwritten.
bert. balances scorn and even cursing with clear optimism and poetic colour, and the result is a strangely intoxicating, simple yet striking song, which again proves a memorable highlight from this uniquely compelling album.
If ever the word original should feel completely at ease alongside an independent artist, bert. deserves that title, and the songwriting is wonderful to match.
An established indie creative, supporting the release of this latest album with a biographical e-book entitled Metaphysical Sherpa: Misunderstood Mystic, Meditative Animal brings a sound that’s somewhere between the likes of Bob Dylan, Rusted Root, and The Rolling Stones. But ultimately, it’s a style that’s quick to become a thing of its own.
Soaring nostalgic rock and roll of a crisp style and fast-paced energy – Stefski & Hutch deliver a unique twist on the timeless format, with the indie tones and subtle psychedelic twists of Selling Lies.
Country rock straight from the relatable depths of Liverpool – The UK’s own Liam Doherty masters the sound and style of the genre, and pairs that with brilliantly uplifting, catchy songwriting.
For those new to the style, you might find similar vibes amidst the hit movies of eras past – the days when street rap battles, break dancing and colourful clothes hung on the air like a stylish hit of opposition to the mundane. Reis Armstrong recaptures the purity of those days, and does so with original songwriting and a clear sense of unity and passion for the process.
Known for their purely improvised albums, the self-defined instrumental cult Mycena are a Croatian collaborative project with four albums already to their name. Their approach is to fearlessly push the boundaries of musical expression, to find new flavours of psychedelic intensity and depth, and to limit nothing and no one during that process.