London born, France resident singer Blakk Pearl released her debut single ‘Cowboy’ at the end of last year. Sleek and commodious and driven by a subtle backbeat and a warm marimba sound, the track perfectly showcases Blakk Pearl’s haunting, mellifluent tones floating atop a lush and otherworldly dreamscape.
Blakk Pearl has now shared a video for her debut single, a video she has put together herself: “I love 1930’s era cut-out animation, and when I came across this clip of this beautiful trio of fairies trying to help a soldier, who had lost his way in the woods, I knew it was the perfect video for ‘Cowboy.’ It tells the story of ‘Cowboy’ so beautifully and delicately, and in such a feminine way”.
Blakk Pearl grew up in North London and moved to Devon when she was a young teenager, where she would watch her, by now absent, father on US TV shows and hear of his activities in LA as a manager of NWA.
She now lives in a convent just outside Toulouse in France. Having rebuilt it from a ruin, it serves as her creative hub and sanctuary. Blakk Pearl divides her time between Toulouse, London and Paris.
Blakk Pearl’s first EP is set for release via Kobalt in early 2018.
LINKS:
http://blakkpearlmusic.com
https://instagram.com/blakkpearlmusic
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Alias Kid & Friends – Sergio Kun Aguero (Scorin’ All Over The World)
Manchester’s Alias Kid certainly don’t do things by halves, they just do what they want!
After turning Alan McGee’s head, the man behind Oasis, Primal Scream and The Jesus & Marychain, just to name a few, they’ve played with some of the biggest names in music and released their critically acclaimed debut album ‘Revolt to Revolt’.
Firmly under McGee’s wing, the band have taken a little time out to work on upcoming releases, one of them being this absolute beauty of a football anthem dedicated to Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero.
I’m sure you’ll recognize the track from the off and it’s going to be a perfect chant around the Etihad Stadium. Aguero is set to break the Manchester City goal scoring record, so the track is a celebration of his time so far at the club and all proceeds made from it will be going to a charity of the football legends choice.
The single also features chants from the Prestwich and Whitefield supporters club and the back photo was supplied by Kevin Cummins.
Sergio Kun Aguero, scorin’ all over the world!!
LINKS:
https://www.aliaskid.co.uk
https://www.facebook.com/aliaskid
https://twitter.com/aliaskid -
Moonshine Booze – Happy
Moonshine Booze present ‘Happy’ as the second single off their debut album ‘Desert Road’, released via Seahorse Recordings. Along with that, they reveal a new surreal video shot against the backdrop of vivid Kafkaesque scenery. Written by Emiliano Zapata and realized with the masterful supervision of videographer Jessica Montebello, who shot and edited the clip, in addition to her tremendous artistic contribution involving certain peculiar characters.
This story juxtaposes the immense landscape of the scorching desert with a smoky and dark journey that projects through an illusory door. Darkness and light, solitude and freedom side-by-side and yet opposite, and the fragile equilibrium of the characters, such as the emblematic clown, obsessed by chronic mood swings. These are allegories of the most arduous and torturing journey the mind can conceive – a journey towards happiness and the demolition of ‘social rules’ that inevitably tide the mind within stringent tormentous borders.
Combining grit blues rock with alternative country, Moonshine Booze’s music has been described as psychedelic country blues-tinged rock, as well as brazen desert alcoholic acoustic rock. The album’s release was preceded by their first single ‘The Place’, along with a fiery retro-freakish yet humorous video.
Moonshine Booze formed in the summer of 2014 in Teramo, Italy. This trio is comprised of Andrea Manila (vocals), Emiliano Zapata (guitar) and Fabio Manchos (drums). The video for ‘The Place’ was a collaborative effort between Emiliano Zapata and Josh Heisenberg, with Zapata writing the scenario, Josh handling the filming and editing, and both on direction.
Having been active on the music scene for over twenty years in various bands, both in Italy and The USA, the trio has gathered and elaborate experiences from different musical genres, putting them to good use in their new project.
The initial idea behind this band was to put out a series of classic covers from Johnny Cash to Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Little Walter and J.B. Leonor, which were to be completely rearranged while still preserving the rude and crude grooves of their roots.
After honing their sound during several years of playing many small venues (the band prefers such intimate venues), Moonshine Booze realized that they had developed their own unique sound – a sort of cynical mix of western-funk-tex-mex-rock in a bluesy tone sauce and with bizarre touches, setting them apart from the standard fare in the ‘rock’ realm.
The idea led the band to finally isolate themselves in the studio for over three months to write, record and complete their debut album ‘Desert Road’. Strongly influenced by the likes of The Who, Johnny Cash, The Rolling Stones, Tom Waits, The Kinks and ZZ Top, they managed to create 14 unique tracks for their debut release, integrating what the band had collectively gained from their previous musical experience. In the recording process, they did not follow any formal rules or standard, but simply adhered to the motto “if it sounds good … it’s good!”.
‘Desert Road’ is now available across digital stores and streaming platforms and can also be found via Seahorse Recordings’ Bandcamp.
LINKS:
http://www.facebook.com/moonshinebooze
http://soundcloud.com/moonshinebooze
http://seahorserec.bandcamp.com/album/moonshine-booze-desert-road -
Drew Davies – Man On The Run
Mixed with all the right pop sensibilities as well as memorable harmonies and just plain good songwriting, Drew Davies adds his beautiful crooning style of vocals to his new track titled ‘Man On The Run’. The track chugs along with a stylistic beat and gives me the initial impression that, while definitely a fit for radio, the song still has street cred for the ‘cool kids’ that usually mean a future classic in the eyes of those who listen to music and not merely hear it.
About Drew Davies
Yorkshire born and bred, now London-based Drew Davies has released his single Man On The Run and prepares to release his forthcoming long player in the Autumn of 2019.On Man On The Run, Drew says “The song is an ode to modern dating; it portrays a frustrated character pushed to the edge after a failed relationship with a particularly fickle young woman, whose actions and words rarely matched up. Lyrically I wanted to play with the protagonist’s desire to write a straightforward love song but how his feelings towards the situation prevented him. The chorus refers to being ‘inside’ in both a figurative and literal sense, as a reference to both the emotional prison some relationships can leave you in and also how these feelings can boil over and cause us to act irrationally.”
The video is also available and Drew has now readied a full backing band complete with guitars, bass, keys, drums, and backing singers, bringing the full sound of the song to the stage as it can be heard at London’s The Finsbury on May 24th.
Musically, the self-titled debut is infused with a vast array of influences that stretch from 50s rock n’ roll to modern electronica. From the hook-filled, to-the-point numbers of Roy Orbison or Tom Petty, to the cinematic synth sounds of John Carpenter, Vangelis and Kavinsky, the music is imbued with a heavy tenderness; wrapped up in the genre-bending timelessness of artists like Bowie, Queen or Eurythmics.
The album was produced by Drew himself and was recorded at Tileyard Studios in London, before arriving at the hands of mixing engineer Steve Honest (Oasis, Michael Jackson, Fleetwood Mac), with mastering by John Webber (George Michael, David Bowie, Super Furry Animals) at the legendary AIR Studios.
Drew is no newcomer to the music business though, having spent the better part of the last decade treading the boards of venues and festivals across the UK with various bands, working in musical collaborations, writing for other artists and singing in session gigs to get by, all while fighting his own personal battles.
With his older tracks getting plays on BBC 6 Music, Radio X and MTV Drew has seen some of the highs and lows of the music industry; from cutting his teeth and paying his dues on the so-called toilet touring circuit to recording in some of the top studios on the planet.
Through these highs and lows, friendships and loved ones come and gone, successes, setbacks and everything in between, Drew continues to have such a fierce passion for what he does; pouring his heart and soul into his musical labors to produce his most personal work to date.
The first single ‘Man on the Run’ is imbued with a baritone alt-rock vibe. With a pulsating beat that builds through its verses into an uplifting chorus, it carries the listener through a lyrical journey much darker in content than the music would have you believe at first.
LINKS:
https://www.drewdaviesmusic.com
https://www.facebook.com/drewdaviesmusic
https://www.twitter.com/drewdaviesmusic
https://www.instagram.com/drewdaviesmusic
https://drewdaviesmusic.bandcamp.com