Music

Pls Pls Me – Water Torture

Pls Pls Me – Water Torture

Pls Pls Me has today premiered their new video for the single titled ‘Water Torture’. When I first heard Pls Pls Me last year I fell in love with their style and originality. And, when I interviewed them, I fell in love with their personalities and drive. Jimi Fish and Jessie Torrisi are two artists who could easily have brilliant solo careers but, when brought together, become this original thing that demands a listen and commands an audience.

With ‘Water Torture’, this is proven a solid fact. This video has that slow burn feel that captivates you with that first look and keeps you for a second. The song gives a sonic resilience to the recently disenfranchised and isolated with the assurance that we are not alone yet we can survive isolated. ‘Water Torture’ is a song of strength. And, almost like an anthem, it drives that point to the end and makes that end of the song a new beginning. Take a listen. Take a look. Take the message.

Check out our other features with Pls Pls Me HERE.

Featured image by Jason Leavy.

About ‘Water Torture’

‘Water Torture’ is Pls Pls Me’s send-off to Donald Trump. It is a description of how the duo felt the last 4 years, just hearing his voice. “For anyone who cares about racial justice, or the rising number of COVID deaths, or who wants this country to stand for more than celebrity or ego – it felt like he was taunting us,” Jessie says. Trump’s tweets, history of sexual harassment, his claim of being a super successful businessman while declaring bankruptcy 6 times, all find their way into this song.

Though they’ve been known to inject their politics into their music before, Pls Pls Me didn’t set out to write a song about Trump. One day, Jimi heard a sound clip by Brooklyn producer Noams on instagram. Instantly lyrics popped into his hand, so he reached out to Noams, who had never intended to make a song from the instrumental, and they struck a deal. Soon after, musicians from NYC to Austin TX lent their voices for the chorus; it turns out quite a few people felt bruised ‘n battered by 4 years of a Trump presidency.

The vision further came together when their New York photographer friend Jason Leavy flew out to California and they did a shoot at Hayes Mansion, San Jose, taking pictures masked up by the eery yet entrancing light of the swimming pool at night.

“For me, this song is a purge,” Jimi says. “I love our campiness and our ability to bring queerness to such a serious topic. Right now, America feels split in so many ways. While unity would be great, there will be none until we get the negativity out.”  

Music, after all, is catharsis. And we could all use some of that after 2020.

About Pls Pls Me

Pls Pls Me is a Brooklyn-based queer electro pop duo who came together on a grey New Year’s Day in 2016. While launching QUEER MF, a local showcase and party for queer music, singer/multi-instrumentalists Jimi Fish and Jessie Torrisi bonded over writing songs about sex, longing, and surviving the age of Trump.

Their love of eclectic, hip hop-inflected production and otherworldly harmonies crystalized with last year’s long-awaited debut EP, Too Late. Jammerzine called them “a slow melodic burn… that hits in all the right places.” Analogue Trash calls their modern dream-pop “very doomy, but a lot of fun.” And OVRLD says Pls Pls Me are a cross of “early XX and Everything But the Girl.” Their latest track Water Torture, which is a send-off for Trump, is a departure from their summer love anthems.

But this band has a sonic range. More than anything, Pls Pls Me is the story of a deep friendship formed over late nights at the piano while pondering the power dynamics of love and the art of being queer. Their follow-up EP, produced by indie songstress Sarah Jaffe, is due out in Summer 2021.

LINKS:
https://plsplsme.nyc
https://www.facebook.com/PlsPlsMeNYC
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2GFPThWEgRKDMICtF5Nb85?si=JMN8DTqgQOKENVw2O1tY1g
https://www.instagram.com/plspls.me
https://www.twitter.com/PlsPlsMeNYC
https://www.soundcloud.com/plsplsme
https://www.youtube.com/user/YouPleasePleaseMe

The Mojo Slide – To Kill A Monkey

The Mojo Slide – To Kill A Monkey

The Mojo Slide has officially released their new single and video titled ‘To Kill A Monkey’. The swagger only found in the legends of rock from The Rolling Stones to Stone Temple Pilots come together in the form of ‘To Kill A Monkey’ with little effort from a band that effortlessly takes it to a new level. On all levels.

Check out our other features with The Mojo Slide HERE.

ABOUT THE MOJO SLIDE & ‘TO KILL A MONKEY’

‘To Kill a Monkey’ is the 4th track from their current album, Manic Panic. Their music is described as “filthy-blues rock n roll” and To Kill A Monkey embodies this, with 3 raucous minutes of no-nonsense, stomping blues rock!

To Kill a Monkey follows previous singles Good Times, Not in My Name and Good Man Down – all picking up huge plays on the radio including Janice Long’s show on BBC Wales, Johnny Doom on Kerrang! Radio, Wyatt Wendels at Planet Rock, Rock Radio UK, Roger McCormick on Brooklands Radio, BBC Cambridgeshire, 2XS Rocks, Nevis Radio, and Total Rock to name but a few.

On the single, the band says: “It’s one of the very first songs we wrote – we actually wrote it nearly 10 years ago! But it’s taken this long to be released. It’s a live favorite – we often finish our gigs with it as it gets the crowd going. It’s a dirty blues rock ‘n’ roll number – a real foot-stomper!”

They go on to talk about the new video to the track: “We pride ourselves on our videos – so it’s been a little frustrating filming our own lyric videos in a lockdown. But this song is a bit random and we wanted to make sure that was shown in the video we did :-). Yes, the drummer is playing on the toilet, in a morph suit. And yes, we have a guest musician playing harmonica is a Trump mask. It was certainly good fun doing it”.

LINKS:
https://themojoslide.com
https://facebook.com/themojoslide
https://instagram.com/themojoslide
https://twitter.com/themojoslide
https://soundcloud.com/themojoslide
https://reverbnation.com/themojoslide
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4wGCmOPDaqWJO5HGzcsMdF?si=eAE22NXQSzKj0Tkfuo_z2w

The Gracious Losers – Loath To Leave

The Gracious Losers – Loath To Leave

The Gracious Losers have premiered their new video for the track titled ‘Loath to leave’. Graciously gritty and beautifully subdued, ‘Loath to Leave’ is a musically melancholy track devoid of boredom and filled with introvertedness. The music reacts to the lyrics in a subtle fashion, almost highlighting the meaning with little influence. This is masterful songwriting. Almost like a noir-style film with almost hidden plot points, the video artistically emphasizes the musical crescendo, an almost anti-crescendo actually, with the skills found on a cinematic level.

“‘Loath to Leave’ is about the sheer magic that is capturing and preserving a likable version of ourselves on film or in a photograph and the tragic reality of not being able to stay in that moment.”

ABOUT THE GRACIOUS LOSERS

Known as a 9-piece supergroup, featuring members of Sister John, Thrum, God Help the Girl, The Parsonage, Sporting Hero, and the Berie Big Band, The Gracious Losers draw on their shared and disparate musical influences including Celtic folk, 70s psychedelia, and outlaw country. The album title, ‘Six Road Ends’ refers to an arcane place in Northern Ireland, where six rural roads haphazardly converged at one perilous junction. The crossing no longer exists, and so has taken on a mythical quality despite once being very real – a place of stuckness, hesitation, and risk. Lilley’s intricate songwriting reflects these themes, feeling at times planted in an intersection and at others moving lightspeed toward uncertainty.

The lead single “Loath to Leave,” out on February 18th, follows the throughline of impermanence with a lightly plodding funk groove, unexpectedly melancholy lyrics, and decaying organ frills that alluding to a peaceful fade away. A wailing slide guitar propels listeners along as the track evolves through what feels like time and space. The track’s video underscores the detachment from spacetime, as Lilley and vocalist Amanda McKeown fluctuate freely between chairs in a “perpetual state of magic” before disappearing altogether. The duo can be seen in a state of waiting in a liminal living-room, passing the time by checking watches or kicking the ground, before resolving the tension created by transitional moments with a sense of relief.

LINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/The-Gracious-Losers-1905555083095410/
https://twitter.com/graciouslosers

Percy Richter – In My Bones

Percy Richter – In My Bones

Percy Richter has released his new video for the track titled ‘In My Bones’. That soulful swoon of a vocal set is prominent in the song and, combined with that laid-back sound in the music gives all the more meaning to the lyrics. This is a song that engulfs you with that first listen and the video’s minimalist style actually enhances that statement where it counts. Percy is an artist to watch. Watch out.

ABOUT PERCY RICHTER

Percy Richter is an artist, singer, and songwriter originating from Chile and now based in London, England. Percy is quickly making waves in the scene with his unparalleled sound and style. Inspired by his life experiences, Percy seeks to create music that will inspire people around the world.

Starting at a young age, Percy has developed his style and sound to what it is today. Influenced by the likes of like Coldplay, Duncan Sheik, Keane, Morrisey. Percy Richter seeks to push the envelope with his sound and bridge various elements from different genres to make a well-rounded, dynamic style.

Percy is fueled by his passion for music, and his willingness to be the next big artist to breakthrough. With every release, the London-based artist will have listeners engulfed in the world he creates with his relatable lyricism and realness. Percy Richter is an artist to keep an eye on and ear out for as he is set to cement himself in the music industry for years to come.

LINKS:
https://ffm.to/percyrichter
https://www.instagram.com/percyrichter
https://open.spotify.com/track/1eNmXjZ0hprfuakCEn0pig?si=a77bea6719d84e5e

Rachel Mintz - Silly Weight

Rachel Mintz – Silly Weight

Jammerzine has a special treat in the form of an exclusive interview with mega-talent Rachel Mintz as well as her brand new video and single titled ‘Silly Weight’.

In the interview, we get a glimpse of what it’s like to be that artist at the edge of going to the next level. Professionally and personally. We get that virtual screen capture of a moment where an artist shows how she’s gotten to where she is now and what that next level holds in store for her and those she is taken with her.

Plus, we get what draws most people closer to an artist as well as brings new fans. We get that personal glimpse at the mind behind the music!

Click HERE to listen to the interview.

The video for ‘Silly Weight’ matches the music in originality and scope. Rachel has that uniqueness to her vocals and it is perfectly complemented by the music of Mintz and DSBlade in that dynamic-duo combination of musicians who understand one another. The dystopian feel and sparse setting give Rachel more room to play with the settings and interact with the camera as if the viewer was there. And they are.

ABOUT RACHEL MINTZ

Rachel Mintz is the kind of genre-fluid mind that could easily become an algorithm’s dream, even if the LA-based artist has some doubts on her latest single about social media as a whole.

Growing up in Miami with a musical family, she performed with one of the world’s most celebrated children’s choirs before pivoting to gritty rock and punk bands in her teens and eventually relocating to California. “Being raised in Miami, I never quite felt I fit in,” Mintz adds in retrospect. “My upbringing influenced my rebellion, which may have led to the artistic freedom expressed in my music. My teenage girlfriends and I listened to a lot of hip hop growing up, which cemented my love of rhythm.”

Working with Grammy Award-winning engineer and co-producer Ian Cross (Usher, Janet Jackson, Lauryn Hill, Gwen Stefani), Mintz finally found her own voice on her 2019 debut Shed A Tear, which found her gleefully weaving between dream pop, darkwave, and baroque pop to praise from The Big Takeover and Pure Grain Audio. Building on top of Tear’s success, Mintz is readying a new EP for 2021 heralded by “Silly Weight,” a Bangles-reminiscent synth-pop blast of a lead single questioning social media and technology’s grip on daily life.

“I would regularly lament social media culture with [producer DS Blade]… which oddly enough, is how we were introduced,” recalls Mintz. “There are things, especially now, that we focus way too much of our energy on. Things like social media and consumerism are ultimately meaningless and don’t serve us at all. I am just as guilty of this as the next person. In a way, I wanted the lyrics to be a reflection of our conversations.”

LINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/rachelmintzmusic
https://twitter.com/Rachelmintz
https://www.instagram.com/rachelmintz
https://linktr.ee/Rachelmintzmusic
https://rachelmintz.bandcamp.com
https://open.spotify.com/artist/54RQwyzpAT4tNL71xGLdhg?si=yh6gc11LSc2F5iPv4OBOJQ
https://music.apple.com/us/artist/rachel-mintz/1486127780
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgSkTzQNTrCXEXI5oNTgcrg

Greywind – Am I Asleep?

Greywind – Am I Asleep?

Greywind has released their new video for the track titled ‘Am I Asleep?’. Starting with that subtle burn of a hook and the lush vocals of Steph O’Sullivan on vocals and the brilliant guitar work of her brother Paul, ‘Am I Asleep?’ hits you right in the creative feels in such a way that it will stay with you and become a part of your musical conscious. This song is beautiful.

ABOUT GREYWIND

Making little secret of their ambitious global plans, Greywind is fast proving themselves as a force to be reckoned with. Raised in the Irish town of Killarney, their mutual passion for expansive, stadium-sized rock music has since propelled them beyond the confines of stifled opportunity and into realms of superstar potential.

Produced by Romesh Dodangoda (Bring Me The Horizon) the duo’s brand-new single, ‘Am I Asleep?’ bursts with textual, cinematic magnitude. The track’s sweeping post-rock soundscapes alternate between tender, evocative and aggressive. Steph O’Sullivan’s voice is the magic ingredient that elevates Greywind into another dimension. And don’t miss the epic accompanying video, see here.

Greywind: “During the writing process for ‘Am I Asleep?’, we were heavily inspired by movies. We’ve always aimed to bring a cinematic sound to our music and visuals, and we wanted to expand on that more than ever.”

Formed by siblings Steph (vocals) and Paul O’Sullivan (guitar), Greywind are an alternative rock duo from Killarney, Ireland. Armed with a powerful mission statement, painstaking years calling out to be noticed were condensed into a single week, when the first song they uploaded to SoundCloud was picked up by Zane Lowe and Daniel P Carter on Radio 1, a deluge of industry interest followed, and a bidding war with all the major record labels.

The band’s eventual 2017 debut album, Afterthoughts would go on to address the dark heart of the human condition and lay out the foundations for the band’s thirst for stardom. Recorded at Sonic Ranch Studios in Texas with Grammy-award-winning producer, Jason Perry, the album was released through Universal and charted in the Official UK Rock Charts on the day of their sold-out debut headline show in London.

In 2020, Greywind toured with the American rock band, Palaye Royale, and was selected to perform for the US Embassy. They’ve also played some of the biggest stages around the world, including Reading and Leeds Festival, Isle of Wight Festival, Download Festival, Rock Am Ring, and have supported the likes of You Me At Six, Thrice, and The Coronas. Greywind has been heavily backed by BBC Radio 1, Zane Lowe, and MTV.

LINKS:
https://greywindband.com
https://twitter.com/greywindband
https://instagram.com/greywindband
https://www.facebook.com/greywind
https://open.spotify.com/artist/3QFfYJq7jdx8GnVrePpZm4?si=oJgIZGaoSiaDjO4l9YkqKg

Distant Voices – Lights of The City

Distant Voices – Lights of The City

Distant Voices have released their new video for the track titled ‘Lights of The City’. Valdis Stekelis, aka Distant Voices, gives that folk-rock sound a fresh makeover with a styled hook and a vibrant sense of musical self with a song that builds to a beautiful build-up that mentors the music and surrounds the listener.

As of February 17, ‘Lights of The City’ is available everywhere digitally. The ‘Long Road to Home’ album will be released on March 26 and can already be pre-ordered from the artist via Bandcamp.

ABOUT DISTANT VOICES

Straddling several genres at the same time, Distant Voices has announced the forthcoming album ‘Long Road To Home’. Ahead of this, they are previewing the high-velocity rock n’ roll lead single ‘Lights of The City’ complete with a fast-moving video, created by Alit Gonzalez.

Based in London, Distant Voices is the solo project of Valdis Stekelis, who wrote and began writing these tracks in 2019, finally finishing a year later due to the delayed realities of the UK lockdown. The band name itself was chosen during that period to reflect these unusual times, where live music (as we have previously experienced it) is a scarce occurrence and where we consume music with a less personal connection to the people making it.

Like the tracks on the album as a whole, ‘Lights of the City’ was inspired by Stekelis’ travels around Europe, based on events from that extensive journey. This lead track reflects the beginning of this trip with all its excitement and promise, but also a light sense of anxiety about what lies ahead.

This album was recorded at EAS Studios near London in collaboration with producer-engineer Ed Sokolowski, who has worked on albums by Melanie C, Fleur East, Hugel, David Archuleta, and Lukas Rieger. Sokolowki mixed and mastered this album, as well as co-producing it with Stekelis. Joe Montague also contributes drums on multiple tracks.

“This is the first body of work completed under the Distant Voices name, which I am very keen for people to hear and hope that they will enjoy it. The album was inspired by events that happened during my journey around Europe in 2019 and, in fact, they appear chronologically in the tracklisting,” says Valdis Stekelis.

“There is a range of different feeling tracks on the album – from lively to melancholy and also psychedelic. They are tied together – both in terms of the subject matter and also due to the underlying elements of a retro feel with electronic flavor. It was a lot of fun to make and is truly inspired by events that really affected me at the time”.

LINKS:
https://distantvoices1.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/distantvoicesuk
https://twitter.com/UkDistant
https://www.instagram.com/voicesdistant
https://soundcloud.com/distantvoicesuk
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZGAM_kCRBK52HQlgbCsggA

of1000faces – Anaira

of1000faces – Anaira

of1000faces has premiered the new video for the track titled ‘Anaira’ on Jammerzine. of1000faces, aka Matt Walker, has that wonderfully atmospheric beat-driven sound that announces his music even to the most unfamiliar listener.

The video is a lush mix of retro-sci-fi that compliments the music and gives it that soundtrack quality paying homage to that genre in its first heyday circa the late 1950s. On many levels, it works. It gives you that nostalgic sense while looking forward to hopefully better days. This is what it’s all about.

‘The Infinity LIne’ LP is out now digitally across online stores such as Apple Music and streaming platforms such as Spotify and Bandcamp. The ‘Astronomica’ album is also out on all the same sites, previewed by this sampler video spanning the full album.

ABOUT OF1000FACES

of1000faces is the solo project of Matt Walker, a renowned drummer, and producer who has worked with some of alternative music’s most iconic artists. For 25 years, he has toured and recorded with Morrissey, Smashing Pumpkins, Garbage and Filter, all the while dedicating himself to myriad side projects, independent bands, and film/tv work.

Known for his obsessive writing and recording while on tour, Walker eventually decided to pursue a more singular and personal endeavor. Thus was born of1000faces, the moniker reflecting the project’s inherent premise and, at the same time, a nod to Joseph Campbell’s ‘Hero of 1000 faces’.

“ANAIRA is inspired in part by an epic science-fiction poem called ‘Aniara’ by Harry Martinson, which is about humans turning to space for refuge from a ravaged Earth. The piece is meant to convey a sense of determination and tenuous hope,” says Matt Walker.

“The video is a collage of Soviet Era science fiction films, edited into a series of space-age vignettes. Though the retro-futuristic look of these films is a great match for the music, I think the video’s real message is the vision and tenacity of these pioneering filmmakers.”

Following his ‘Astronomica’ album and video for lead track ‘Astronomica’, ‘The Infinity Line’ is the second long-play in his expansive instrumental ‘Monomyyth’ trilogy. An eclectic instrumental album with ambient DNA, it is less passive than its predecessor, the dynamic scope widened, and the general mood darker and more evocative.

CREDITS
Music by Matt Walker
Album cover artwork by: Gregor Huber
Photos by Derick Smith / Treatment by Brian Doherty
‘The Infinity Line’video by Patrick Buhr
‘Astronomica’ video by Matt Walker
‘ANAIRA’ video by Chris Zabriskie and Matt Walker

LINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/of1000facesofficial
https://of1000faces.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/of1000faces
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCElZpAW9ogHNEctHNAtQvjg
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4TeOaeln68u2IRu2Ps9Rlz
https://music.apple.com/us/artist/of1000faces/598669309

Modesty Blaise – Girls Just Wanna Dance

Modesty Blaise – Girls Just Wanna Dance

Modesty Blaise has released their new video for the track titled ‘Girls Just Wanna Dance’. That quirky, almost show tune shtick vibe about is what catches the ears and opens the eyes. This song is catchy. And I mean catchy in a stuck in your head fashion. This is a good thing, trust me. Partly because Modesty Blaise will put a smile on your face. And the story-tell factor of the video adds punch to the punchline and puts some stammer in your step.

As of February 5, ‘Girls Just Wanna Dance’ is available digitally everywhere, including Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp. ‘The Modesty Blaise’ album will be released on March 26 by from Lo-Fi to Disco! and distributed by Broken Silence (for Europe), Shellshock (for the UK), and Tedium House – Revolver USA and Midheaven mailorder (for North America).

ABOUT MODESTY BLAISE

Bristol-based avant indiepop outfit Modesty Blaise has announced that the impending release of a new album via German label From Lo-Fi to Disco! A baroque pop collection titled ‘The Modesty Blaise’, this is the band’s third studio album and their first LP in 20 years since releasing their head-turning ‘Melancholia’ LP (2001), featuring hit single ‘Carol Mountain’.

Ahead of this, they present the lead single ‘Girls Just Wanna Dance’, a perfect orchestral pop song and live favorite singalong that is more Music Hall than Dance Hall. A longtime set closer, ‘Blaise fans have been crying out for it to be recorded and here it finally is. You can bounce around your own kitchen to it and rip your own sink out just for fun.

This new release was preceded by a string of singles, including ‘Natalie Vendredi’ with its endearing nouvelle vague video, which will also be included on the album.

Modesty Blaise has been around for a few decades in various guises. After forming in late 1993, the band quickly recorded their debut single ‘Christina Terrace’ with the esteemed Edwyn Collins at the helm, garnering them immediate success with a live appearance on ITV and inclusion among many many end-of-year top music rankings. This acclaim however was not enough to quell the kind of internecine warfare that Modesty Blaise has become famous for.

After ‘Melancholia’, the band faced one delay after another with line-up changes and deteriorating personal circumstances. An all-too-familiar spiral, the years went by slowly but, no matter how bad it got, Jonny still had his guitars in his mum’s attic.

“When everyone else was in their bedrooms working on guitar solos and dreaming of being a rock god, I was reading biographies of Cole Porter and listening to Gershwin and Jerome Kern and Irving Berlin. I try to write concise things, with deliberate moves away from that where necessary,” says frontman and songwriter Jonny Collins.

“Melody, arrangement and counter melodies… The 3-minute pop single is, I’d contest, the summit of great art. It is timeless, and we consistently get it wrong confusing art with commerce. If your art (or your pop record) sounds like today, it may sound like yesterday pretty soon. Pop iconoclasm”.

Oher career highlights include supporting Robbie Williams at London’s O2 Arena, inclusion in a Rough Trade compilation, an ITV company documentary on Jonny Collins, and a BBC Radio session involving seventeen people.

LINKS:
https://www.modestyblaise.net
https://modestyblaiseuk.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/themodestyblaise
https://www.instagram.com/modestyblaiseuk
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4lnNm8g0IYG9H90ZIzsOZw/videos

Léanie Kaleido – All The Things I’m Made Of

Léanie Kaleido – All The Things I’m Made Of

Léanie Kaleido has dropped her new video for the track titled ‘All The Things I’m Made Of’. That somber and heartfelt feeling that comes from earnest and honest feelings is hard to come by in this assembly line world but Léanie pulls it off with her subtle yet soulful croon and introverted songwriting.

‘All The Things I’m Made Of’ is now available as an immediate-gratification download upon ordering her ‘How To Weigh A Whale Without A Scale’ LP. As of March 12, the full album will be released everywhere digitally and will be available across online streaming platforms, including Apple Music and Spotify. It can pre-ordered directly from the artist via Bandcamp.

ABOUT LÉANIE KALEIDO

UK singer-songwriter Léanie Kaleido has announced she will be releasing a new album, entitled ‘How To Weigh A Whale Without A Scale’, produced by Ride frontman Mark Gardener at his OX4 Sound Studio near Oxford. Gardener also contributes guitar on one track. Ahead of this, she previews the lead track ‘All The Things I’m Made Of’.

No stranger to music, Kaleido grew up in a musical household. Her father Top Topham was the original lead guitarist in The Yardbirds and was signed to Mike Vernon’s Blue Horizon record label as a solo artist.

On this long-play, Kaleido plays lyrically astute, laid-back pop, piano-based ballads with the odd quirky guitar ditty thrown in, showcasing Léanie’s eccentric look at life. This new release will thrill Léanie’s existing fans, giving them lashings of melancholia, but peppered with that ever-present tongue-in-cheek commentary that tells you she never has and never will take herself – or anyone else – seriously.

But this third album also cements her as a consistently accomplished songwriter, unbound by the notion of what is ‘cool’ as she sits back and enjoys the thrill of writing unabashedly from the soul.

Léanie, who grew up “snogging posters of Ride and wanting to be PJ Harvey”, has, over time, settled into the acceptance that her songs just come out the way they do. “Not especially cool”, she says, “but I’m really proud of some of my lyrics. Getting ‘salient verities’ into a song gave me a lot of satisfaction! Now Mark is a really good mate who knows what works best for my songs. And he has the best selection of green tea. I’m now a loose-leaf connoisseur, thanks to him!”

Kaleido’s 50th year went off with a bang thanks to Gardener’s open-armed invitation to record at his Oxford studio. After four or five sessions throughout the less locked-down parts of 2020, and ten songs later, an album was born.

“The songs on this album represent the highs and lows I’ve encountered over the past few years, how I’ve dealt with them and what I’ve learnt through the process. It’s a mixture of love, regret, philosophies, humour and hope. I’ve always been a late developer, and so this to me feels like a coming-of-age album,” says Léanie Kaleido.

“Mark Gardener was determined to make my vocals and lyrics ‘the stars of the show’ and this has steered my sound to something more stripped back and atmospheric. Mark is a top bloke. He made me feel at ease straight away. The anxiety tablets I’d taken with me to stop myself exploding with fear weren’t needed and we got on famously from the start. It was such a laugh recording with someone who once had been the target of my ‘dribbly poster snogs’ and now is just a really good mate who knows what works best for my songs.”

LINKS:
https://www.leanie.com
https://www.facebook.com/leaniekaleido
https://leaniekaleido.bandcamp.com
https://twitter.com/leaniekaleido
https://soundcloud.com/leaniekaleido
https://www.youtube.com/user/lkaleido/videos
https://www.instagram.com/leaniekaleido

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