Mayflower Madame returns with a new video for their single titled ‘Sacred Core’. With a root in the gaze and a finger on the pulse of the alt, the Madame gives a dark and brooding opus with equal parts introspection and extroversion combining to make an almost holy sounding trinity of mind, motion, and music. The soul is sacred and the id is core from the hearts of Mayflower Madame. Inhale, ingest, intake, and introvert.
‘Prepared for a Nightmare’ was released on vinyl and CD on June 12. It is available through Bandcamp in all formats, as well as digitally via iTunes and Spotify.
Check out our other articles about Mayflower Madame HERE.
ABOUT MAYFLOWER MADAME & ‘SACRED CORE’
Norwegian psychedelic post-punk outfit Mayflower Madame presents the third single ‘Sacred Core’ off their new second album ‘Prepared for a Nightmare’, released via French label Only Lovers Records in collaboration with Portland’s Little Cloud Records and Parisian label Icy Cold Records,
“Sacred Core is a song about getting lost, drifting away and trying to find the way back to your safe haven – guided by swirling, hypnotic guitars and an insistent, heavy beat. Compared to the shoegazey post-punk of the album’s previous singles “Vultures” and “Swallow”, this track digs deeper into haunting, psychedelic territories, yet still maintaining our trademark dark and atmospheric sound,” says frontman Trond Fagernes.
The accompanying video was directed by Astrid Serck, who also created the videos for previous singles ‘Swallow’ and ‘Vultures’.
“To me, the song is like an open landscape – it’s grounded, but at the same time moving. I wanted to capture that feeling visually with footage from windmill fields and beaches, where there’s constant movement – like rhythm, as opposed to the solid ground. A contrast between motion and stillness. Something to hold on to as well as something loose and vibrating,” says Astrid Serck.
“The core is what you hold on to. The motion is what you can let go. The sunbeams are blinding you, like a sacred light. The ceiling of a church is another symbol of sanctity. The moon is dancing, in disturbing ways, on the screen. In the video, there is also an abandoned house, left with the door open. It´s a metaphor for the feeling of something that is lost, you can go back there, but only the memories are left. In addition, there’s live footage of the band filmed from shows in Oslo and San Diego.”
‘Prepared For a Nightmare’ presents a dark and distinctive blend of post-punk, shoegaze and psychedelia. Here, the band delves deeper into their own distinctive blend of psych-noir and post-punk with elements of shoegaze and noise-rock.
Hailing from Oslo, Mayflower Madame is Trond Fagernes (vocals, guitars, bass), Håvard Haga (guitars) and Ola J. Kyrkjeeide (drums). Formed in 2011, they first rehearsed in a desolate industrial building, sharing space with a carwash company. Their hazy, smoke-laden sound was conceived naturally amidst these gritty surroundings. They soon recorded a four-track demo and became ‘Unsigned Band of the Week’ on a major Norway stations.
After a few years of touring, Mayflower Madame finally released their debut album ‘Observed in a Dream’ in 2016, followed by the ‘Premonition’ EP in 2018. Through eight tracks of theatrical psych-gaze exploration and dark romanticism, the album conveyed the wintry feeling of their home country – icy and gloomy, haunting, and majestic.
Mayflower Madame has shared the stage with bands like Killing Joke, Moon Duo, Night Beats, Psychic Ills, Froth, The Underground Youth, Crocodiles, Cosmonauts, and La Femme. They have also toured North America, the UK, and Europe.
LINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/mayflowermadame
https://mayflowermadame.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/mayflowermadame
https://www.youtube.com/user/MayflowerMadame/videos
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Heat Of Damage – The Gift
California Rock/Metal Band Heat of Damage has released the Official Music Video for “The Gift,” the debut single off of their upcoming sophomore LP, due out next year. “The Gift” was shot and directed by Ethan Parilla of Atrocious Works Productions.
Heat Of Damage consists of four talented young musicians who write, produce and perform an edgy and eclectic mix of hard rock and metal music. Their self-produced EP, Orenda, debuted in 2013.
Since then, the band has performed at numerous venues in the Northern California area. The group released their second EP, Lifestyle, in September 2014. The title track was featured on 98 Rock’s Local Licks program for three weeks running. Lifestyle’s “Apocalypse” was released soon after and earned a spot on 98 Rock’s Local Licks Most Liked Song of 2014 Countdown Show. The song came in at #2 for the year!
Following the successes of Lifestyle, the band entered the studio with Sacramento engineer and producer Matt Thomas to record their first full-length album, Open Fire, which was released in October of 2015.
Open Fire was well received following its release, garnering overwhelmingly positive reviews from a wide variety of writers and music critics. The song “Heaven” was the #6 Most Liked Song of 2015 for 98 Rock’s Local Licks, despite only having two months of airplay during the year.
The group is well known for their musicality and showmanship. Shows are high-energy, engaging, and memorable. Their musical range is impressive, with an ability to provide anything from an incredible rock show to an unforgettable metal experience, for any venue’s style and the crowd. Heat Of Damage never disappoints!
LINKS:
http://www.heatofdamage.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Heat-of-Damage/135160809846382
http://twitter.com/heatofdamage
http://www.youtube.com/user/HeatofDamage -
indifferentMonKeY – God or Machine?
indifferentMonKeY has released the video for the track titled ‘God or Machine?’. A few weeks ago we reviewed the single from indifferentMonKeY and now the video, in my opinion, encapsulates the darkly sensual and introvertedly rhythmic sense of self within the song. Belle’s voice is angelic with a touch of sin and her walk on the beach gives that longing for what once was in this world. Doing that with style is an originality just out of reach from most but firmly in the grasp of indifferentMonKeY. Future funk with a touch of the new reality.
Their debut E.P. ‘Inner Lockdown’ is due for release in April 2021.
About indifferentMonKeY
‘God or Machine?’ starts with a thunderstorm, the rain you can hear is real. The audio is a home studio where the vocals were laid down in a day, a real storm was overhead. Although the rain was pounding on the windows they decided to carry on recording, joking it would add to the atmosphere, on mixing the track, the elements proved to lend themselves perfectly to this brooding, beat-heavy gem. With stunning vocals from Belle and a superb mix/production, you could easily believe ‘God or Machine’ was a hidden track on Massive Attack’s legendary ‘Mezzanine’.
indifferentMonKeY was formed by songwriter/producer Joe Lowe, the sound is drawn from a number of influences and styles but is best described as ‘Heavy Trip Hop’.
The band kicked this year off in style having been played on BBC Introducing with Sean McGinty throughout the whole of January and the track will also be appearing on U.S music publication Relix Magazine’s CD sampler this coming March.
indifferentMonKeY are:
- Belle: Vocals
- Joe Lowe: Writer, arranger, and producer. Bass Guitar, Guitars, Strings, Vocals.
- Luke Wilding: Bass & Guitars
- Keith Ashcroft: Bass & Guitars (Guitarist on “Murder on the Dancefloor” by Gregg Alexander and Sophie Ellis-Bextor). Keith very sadly passed away suddenly a few months ago. RIP Keith Ashcroft. We’ll always miss you always.
- Drums: George Ashcroft-Smith
LINKS:
https://indifferentmonkey.com
https://dazyrcords.com
https://soundcloud.com/joe-lowe-626028563
https://www.facebook.com/indifferentmonkey
https://twitter.com/IndifferentM
https://www.facebook.com/DazyRecords-583724738473361
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCllGh8sArGdof2aQGHbHUPA/videos -
Jake & the Jellyfish – Reading List
The band says, “Reading List is about confidence and learning how to deal with change. Lyrically this one was really personal to me, but I tried to write it so that it could be as relatable to others as possible, we all deal with change in our lives, whether it’s things getting in the way of seeing the person you love, losing somebody close or even not spending enough time reading as much as you’d like. I approached our friend Claudio to do the video and he did such a great job of portraying the exact vibe of the song to the video he produced, he’s such a genuine guy and I think his input and enthusiasm for the project really gave the video an extra dynamic.”
Armed with foot-stomping, beer-soaked folk tunes and ‘sing your heart out’ punk rock anthems, Jake and the Jellyfish write dance-able, sing-along songs about the frustrations of daily life, 9 to 5 jobs, environmental concerns and more. Who knew being grumpy could be so much fun?
Social commentary is a key part to J& TJ’s music, an overall sense of dissatisfaction resides underneath the surface of very relatable, catchy lyrics. Whether it’s a fuck you to lad culture “I won’t follow your lead, and I’m not one of the lads”, or being aware of your own flaws “We’re all hypocrites, just to greater or lesser extents” they wear their emotions on their sleeves and it’s evident in their live show.
5 years of touring in a beat up old postal van has added plenty of experiences to their sound. From breaking down in a small town in France with no breakdown cover and no money to get home to accidentally headlining the Woodlands stage in front of thousands of people at Kendal Calling; it all adds to the community spirit of the Jellyfish, they just want to have some beers and play some tunes at the top of their lungs.
Originally just Jake playing punk folk songs by himself, the band met at uni in Leeds and quickly became a unit rather than a one-man show. Deciding to play as many shows as possible, as quickly as possible, they met many friends along the way. And what’s more, fun than traveling the world and hanging out with your friends? Over the years their sound has gained more and more energy and yet has still matured.
In addition to performing shows all over, the band has played festivals like Rebellion, Mighty Sounds, Boomtown, Bearded Theory, Kendal Calling, Beat-herder and The Fest, and has shared stages with bands such as Red City Radio, The Skints, H20, Random Hand and Beans on Toast, which has enabled them to carve their own foothold in the DIY music scene.
LINKS:
http://www.jakeandthejellyfish.co.uk
https://www.facebook.com/jakeandthejellyfish
https://www.twitter.com/jakeandthejfish
https://jakeandthejellyfish.bandcamp.com