Following a non-stop 2016 that included sell-out gigs in Glasgow and Manchester, great reviews, an artist development deal, their own short film for Joy released, and now included in a movie soundtrack, the rest of 2017 is looking very good for The Moods.
Early autumn, 2017 also sees the launch of film Strangeways Here We Come, starring Michelle Keegan, No Offence’s star, Elaine Cassidy, Bafta winner, Lauren Socha and former Eastender, Nina Wadia. Makers of the Salford-set, darkly-comic feature film chose not one but two of The Moods’ songs, for the soundtrack. The Aptly titled “Kids Carry Guns” is featured in the opening scenes, and new song “Keep Your Powder Dry” graces the final stages of the film. Placement of The Moods tracks was a recommendation of Terry Christian, and testament to the fact that their sound captures the atmosphere of northern urban life. This is a major UK Film release and will be shown in cinemas across 28 UK cities.
The Moods’ message is loud and clear. This 9-strong band unifies rap, brass and beats, delivering potent, political lyrics for a post-2016 world. The Moods will make you dance, and then they’ll make you think.
The New Single JOY, released June 23rd, on A1M record label, has had a massive initial response, from both fans, regional & student radio, online stations and podcasts. Joy is currently being played on over 25 regional radio stations and as far away as USA and Australia. “Joy” – Mixing soaring vocals, rousing strings and drum and bass, Joy will have fans dancing in fields, on dance floors, in living rooms… wherever they happen to be when they’re lucky enough to hear the track”.
To promote the new single and video, The Moods take their bold, live show on the road for a UK tour, starting on June 16th. After a summer travelling around the country, the band returns to Manchester in September to launch their album, Missing Piece at Manchester’s Iconic O2 Ritz.
SOURCE: Official Bio
LINKS:
https://twitter.com/themoodsmanc
https://www.facebook.com/themoodsmanc
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Methods – Fires
After the release of their debut single, Sanctuary, and a number of live shows throughout 2017, Methods return with their new single ‘Fires’.
Described by singer, Ash Bradley: “Fires is a song about the break up of a relationship. About two people who have been together for a long time, growing apart. Both using actions to show their feelings, instead of speaking to each other. Thoughts get locked away. The only way for them both to move forward is for it all to end.”
‘Fires’ is released worldwide via Hellhole Records on Friday 15th June. Methods first headline live show, presented by Baddies Boogie and taking place at The Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham, on Saturday 12th May, will kick-start the ‘Fires’ tour and is set to be one of those ‘Where were you?” moments.
Methods are a Wolverhampton/Salford based, five-piece who create a sound that can only be described as dark electro indie. Influences are drawn from the likes of Joy Division, Depeche Mode, Primal Scream, Editors, Interpol and any other music that catches the creative ear of Methods.
Formed in 2015 after a mutual need to create something special and meaningful.
Ash Bradley – Vocals
Jon Nash – Synths
Ryan Deakin – Guitar
Adam Hall – Bass
Pete Bates – DrumsNot ones to follow the crowd Methods produce a mixture of dark, gritty rhythms with a good helping of uplifting synths and guitars, topped off with some of the best lyrics around. 2017 saw the band solidify their sound playing a number of gigs testing it out and unleashing Methods to the world, the response has been good and momentum is gaining.
The band released their first single ‘Sanctuary’ in August 2017, recorded with the legendary producer Gavin Monaghan at Magic Garden Studios.
During December they supported The Twang on their 10th Anniversary Love It When I Feel Like This Tour.
Most recently their music has been used by Wolverhampton Wanders FC on the goal of the month and heard by thousands of people.
2018 is set for much bigger and better things. The band are constantly writing and recording new material and are currently working towards their next single release.
Methods are the hardest working band around and 2018 is their year.
“Fires is a song about the break up of a relationship. About two people who have been together for a long time, growing apart. One side is a dominant person and controlling. The other side wants to be loved. Both using actions to show their feelings, instead of speaking to each other. Thoughts get locked away. The only way for them both to move forward is for it all to end.”
Ash (singer)LINKS:
http://methodsmusic.co.uk
https://twitter.com/methodsmusik
https://facebook.com/methods2
https://instagram.com/methodsofficial -
Crooked Ghost – Sleepwalker
Dreamy post-punk rockers Crooked Ghost have announced that their new album ‘Skeleton House’ will be released on CD on November 23, followed by a limited edition 12″ vinyl release in February 2019. Ahead of this, the Asheville, NC outfit presents their ‘Sleepwalker’ single, accompanied by a video, directed by Rome Widenhouse.
“Skeleton House’ is the band’s sophomore long-play – a dark and hazy dreamscape of lush and angular melody, with a stark lyrical rawness touching upon such subjects as addiction, trauma, loss, superstition, and everything that gets left behind after a catastrophic event. The album consists of eight tracks, ranging from dreamy and playful to anguished and harrowing. Billowing vocal patterns weave intricate stories between shimmering guitar crescendos, cascading synths, and mathematical percussion.
This album follows up their debut LP ‘Strange Burial Rituals’, released in March 2017. This new offering has two distinct halves: the first is lighter, the second darker. The whole thing plays out like a story, or rather, two opposite stories that are intertwined.
“The song ‘Sleepwalker’ was one of the first written for the new album, and everything about it just worked. The song itself is in reference to addiction and a dissolution of one’s sense of self; self-medicating and numbness. I wanted to bring light to something dark, yet still tell an honest story. Something about this song has always stood out for us, says frontman Ray Clark.
“The music video was shot by Rome Widenhouse over a period of several weeks and includes shots of that eclipse everyone was so excited about. The video is a bit surreal and has a sort of Twin Peaks meets the X-Files vibe. It was a lot of fun to shoot, even the traipsing barefoot through the woods in nothing but a bedsheet and getting poison ivy part. At one point our director took a tumble down a cliffside and we thought he was done for!”
Formed in Seattle in 2013 as an acoustic side project by Ray Clark, Crooked Ghost was initially a channel for leftover songs that didn’t seem to fit in any of the other bands Clark was involved in, but quickly became the focal point of Ray’s creative energy. Ray soon fled the musically-saturated Seattle scene to find himself in the intensely creative heart of Asheville, North Carolina.
With a guitar case full of lyrics of songs never intended to be heard by anyone, somehow, something had begun to spark again. Intimidated by the idea of a solo project, Ray joined with Chris Saldin, who would play bass, and bought an electric guitar, set on bringing Crooked Ghost to life. Together with drummer Jon Wyatt, the songs came to life. A few months later, they entered the studio to record their debut album.
They were eventually joined by Charles Reed on guitar and Alex Cannon on keyboards before recording the heavily emotive and dreamily lush ‘Skeleton House’. With the power-pop punch of Catch Fire, the dark-disco punk breakdown of Roadkill, to the angular yet dreamy swoon of Sleepwalker, Skeleton House will impress and even haunt you.
“These songs were inspired by the loss of someone I loved to a fire. The idea that something like a fire could destroy so much, but still leave something behind was so enticing to me. I wanted these songs to represent resilience and strength, and to be able to process loss in a healthy way. I wanted to find a way to bring light to the darker things I was experiencing, and to arrange the pieces into something beautiful,” says Ray Clark.
“We recorded this album up in Black Mountain, NC in the dead of winter. The snowy and icy landscape definitely added to the album’s atmosphere. This is also our first release on vinyl, making it very special for all of us. As kaleidoscopic as it sounds, I feel we very much achieved the piece of art we were wanting to make.”
As of November 23, ‘Skeleton House’ will be available on CD. It can already be ordered via Bandcamp and is also available across music stores and streaming platforms such as iTunes and Spotify.
LINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/CrookedGhost
https://crookedghost.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/crookedghost
https://twitter.com/thecrookedghost
https://soundcloud.com/crookedghost
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIgVwlr638HsQbVuTZGH6EQ
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/skeleton-house/1394361906
https://open.spotify.com/artist/1dQla5TZY6h1hmDyAIDtrF?si=5Qufr3YuSmGi_5FdwECCPA -
Drew Davies – Mrs Taylor
Last week we brought you the review for Drew Davies’ new single titled ‘Mrs Taylor’ and told you how special the meaning behind the music is. This time around we concentrate on the video, which just dropped.
The video perfectly encapsulates said meaning with a symbolic journey via car and foot through what I think is one of the more beautiful countrysides in this world. The scenes are cut to the beat which punctuates the track and enhances the driving tone of the song as a whole. Topped by interesting guitar and chord changes that give soul and take score, ‘Mrs Taylor’ is one of those beat-centric anthems for the #indie scene.
ABOUT ‘MRS TAYLOR’
London-based rock soloist Drew Davies has announced his single ‘Mrs. Taylor’ set for release on 1 November. The track is lifted from his upcoming debut EP via AD1. The EP was mixed by Steve Honest (Oasis, Eurythmics) and mastered by John Webber (David Bowie, Super Furry Animals). Davies has been featured by the likes of Clash Magazine, Atwood Magazine and Music News amongst others. He has seen radio play from BBC Radio York’s Introducing with Jericho Keys, BBC Wales, Radio X, and as a previous member of The Mercy House, the band saw support from Kerrang, Classic Rock Magazine, Metal Hammer, MTV and BBC Radio 6 and Radio X. He has toured extensively in the UK and Europe, had music featured on the Rock Band video game, played Download Festival, London’s Scala and the iconic Troubadour.
ABOUT DREW DAVIES
Hailing from South Yorkshire, Davies comes from a long line of singers and musicians. He has spent the better part of the last decade treading the boards of venues and festivals across the UK and Europe with various bands, working in musical collaborations, writing for other artists and singing in session gigs to get by. Through successes, setbacks and everything in between, he has poured himself into his musical labors and has now produced his most personal work to date.
Pulling from a wide array of influences, Drew Davies is inspired by everything from 50’s rock n’ roll to electronica, citing acts such as The National, Scott Walker, Vangelis and Tom Petty. From this palette of familiar reference points, he has created a genre-bending and timeless sound that bears semblance to the likes of Sam Fender, Future Islands, and The War On Drugs.
On ‘Mrs Taylor’ Davies displays impressive vocal polish, bringing the lyrics colorfully to life against a full musical arrangement. Propelled by energetic instrumentals, the songwriting and hooks are brilliantly written and expertly executed. Thematically, the track traverses melancholic subject matter, but Davies tackles it with gusto and positivity choosing to highlight memory of life, rather than a reminder of our inevitable mortality.
Davies gives some background to the track:
Mrs Taylor is a song about childhood. Growing up in the South Yorkshire countryside it wasn’t always easy to get around. My oldest friend’s mother Mrs Taylor used to ferry us around a lot and take care of us if we ever got into scrapes. When I learned of her passing I immediately started writing lyrics and music; ‘Mrs Taylor’ was written then and there as an ode to childhood and to those who took care of me in those formative years.
LINKS:
https://www.drewdaviesmusic.com
https://www.facebook.com/drewdaviesmusic
https://www.twitter.com/drewdaviesmusic
https://www.instagram.com/drewdaviesmusic
https://drewdaviesmusic.bandcamp.com