London based singer/songwriter Ollie Trevers studied at Leeds College of Music and ICMP. He started writing and performing music at fourteen years old, harboring artistic aspirations from the very beginning. A veteran of the band circuit, Ollie released his first solo EP Saucy Naughty Rubbish in 2018.
Stylistically, the record saw Ollie exploring a powerful and energetic blend of post-punk and classic rock. His musical direction has since evolved into the five songs you hear on his new EP Cordelia. It is a kaleidoscopic meeting of styles, channeling punk, alt-rock, prog, blues, folk, and psychedelia. Ollie takes inspiration from artists such as Led Zeppelin, Ella Fitzgerald, Edith Piaf, Tim Buckley, Jeff Buckley, Pink Floyd, Queen, Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, and David Bowie.
Having only performed with his new band since March 2019, Ollie toured in the South of France a few months later. He plans to tour Britain, Europe, and Nashville throughout 2020.
LINKS:
https://www.ollietreversmusic.com
https://www.facebook.com/ollietreversmusic
https://soundcloud.com/ollie-trevers
https://www.instagram.com/olivertrevers
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Ernest Moon – Satdeenight Ready
Liverpool-based outfit Ernest Moon presents ‘Satdeenight Ready’ off their ‘Ba-jesus’ EP, which is finally being released on CD in early April. Recorded at Orphan Recording in Dublin with Peter Ashmore and Gavin Glass (Paul Brady, John Grant, Lisa Hannigan, Mundy), these four tracks are packed with loads of adrenaline-packed expression that is both critical and tongue-in-cheek.
‘Satdeenight Ready’ is about a fella going out at the weekend to get drunk and look for some romance. Though he gets reflective in the chorus where he laments humanity’s needlessly cruel and trashy aspects, albeit in a humorous rather than heavy way.
Ernest Moon is Steven Doran and Brian Murphy, two English no-marks brought together by a liking for eggs on toast. Their sound is somewhat punky and has been described as pushy pop. They say they are “filling the gap between pretentious lyrical art and bog standard pop music”.
“We were in a band before with our best mate and whatever blert we could get to drum. we released one LP, which bombed everywhere except New Zealand, where we were worshipped and certain underpopulated parts of Estonia there were some unsubstantial sales,” says Steven Doran.
“This is the first time our singularly poetic take on stuff has been released. And it is as polished, in terms of production, as we’ll ever get. One could say that the four songs on the Ba-jesus EP are inspired by the humor and language of working-class Liverpool, and the tendency to be both showy offy and earthy. The music reflects that with its up-frontedness,” says Brian Murphy.
“This EP was recorded in Dublin, which is why we used the utterance Ba-jesus, which derives from Ireland and is an expression of resignation and disbelief among other things”.
The Blockheads, Arab Strap and Talking Heads number among their influences, as do Loudon Wainwright, Joni Mitchell, and writers such as James Kelman, Paddy Kavanagh and Philip Larkin.
The ‘Ba-jesus’ EP is available digitally via iTunes and for streaming on Spotify. The CD is being offered exclusively via Bandcamp and comes in a breathtaking matt finish gatefold card case with bonza photographs by Steven Crabtree and Chris Dorley-Brown.
LINKS:
https://ernestmoon.bandcamp.com
https://soundcloud.com/ernestmoon-244815177
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm4-lITLajtU_q4qHN-KEsg/videos
https://twitter.com/ErnestMoonMusic
https://www.facebook.com/steven.doran.545 -
Rodney Cromwell – Comrades
British indietronica synthpop artist Rodney Cromwell has announced his forthcoming new ‘Rodney’s English Disco’ EP, his first collection of all new material in three years. Previewed by the song ‘Comrades’, which also features a 12″ extended dance mix by electronica act Vieon, the new EP will be available on 7″ vinyl, CD and digitally via London-based Happy Robots Records.
Where the debut album ‘Age of Anxiety’ by Rodney Cromwell (real name Adam Cresswell) drew on personal demons, on this new EP, social and political tribulations in the UK inspired these wry songs of woe. ‘Comrades’ is a robotic turbocharged rebel song for the twitter generation. ‘Barbed Wire’ is a song from across the barricades of the supermarket checkout. ‘Technocrats’ is a song for our illusory robot masters. ‘Dreamland’ is a breakup song for someone who just wants to go back to bed and pretend none of this ever happened. Sonically, this music sits between Kraftwerk, Pye Corner Audio and the Best of Divine.
Rodney Cromwell’s evocative synthpop looks to the proto-electronica of the 70’s and 80’s to construct a twisted soundtrack for the post-truth world. The instrumentation of the new EP has been kept intentionally minimal with its drum sounds taken entirely from a vintage Boss DR-55 drum machine and with a self-imposed limit on the amount of hissy analog gear used in its making. Melody and dark humor combine with simple motorik rhythms, soaring bass lines and the bleeps of retro synths, all within a lo-fi pop aesthetic.
Cromwell’s sound has been compared to the analog electronica of Kraftwerk, Section 25 and the ‘retro-futurists’ of Ghostbox Records. His miserablism and dark humor have been compared to that of The Cure and John Grant.
Rodney Cromwell’s debut album and subsequent EPs found crossover appeal, gaining Cromwell coverage from the likes of NME, Electronic Sound Mag, Huffington Post and Steve Lamacq and Gideon Coe on BBC 6 Music and on Spain’s national RNE3. At the end of 2015, Rodney Cromwell featured in 25 ‘Best of’ lists and was named ‘Most Promising New Act’ by The Electricity Club. ‘Barry Was an Arms Dealer’ featured in the 2015 Official Festive 50.
The video for ‘Comrades’ was produced by Dariy Karyakin, who has produced for David Lynch pet fave Nocturne Blue, has been praised by 6-time Emmy Winner Dutch Rall, and has earned various awards and honors. The sleeve artwork is by Latvian photographer Jelena Osmolovska, whose distinctive gritty post-Soviet fantasy aesthetic compliments the sound of this record.
Along with four original tracks by Rodney Cromwell, the EP features remixes by Rémi Parson, Vieon, Pattern Language and the debut release by Alice Hubble (Arthur & Martha, Mass Datura).
‘Rodney’s English Disco’ EP will be released on May 25 and available on red 7” vinyl, CD and digitally. Distributed by Cargo, this album is already available for pre-order via the Happy Robots Records store or Bandcamp. Catch Rodney Cromwell on tour in May.
LINKS:
http://www.facebook.com/happyrobotsrecords
http://twitter.com/robot_rocker
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_ZvCbaApGUVuQA7m7jaJtg/videos
http://soundcloud.com/happy-robots
http://rodneycromwell.bandcamp.com -
John Adams – Flames
John Adams is a Singer/Songwriter/Busker hailing from Aberdare in the South Wales Valleys. With a reach in his tone to match Sam Smith and James Blunt he draws influences from the likes of honest songwriters such as James Morrison, Damien Rice, and David Gray. John’s acoustic approach and atmospheric piano accompaniment compliment his unique and impressive vocal ability as he earns the undivided attention of the listener by addressing them directly with emotive and heartfelt narratives.
This faithfulness to a personal story is mirrored in how John came into the musical world and continues to progress as a musician. A truly homegrown talent, he began his career busking on the streets, using the money to pay for his first release, fittingly entitled “The Pavement is My Stage”. After the album reached No.7 in the iTunes Singer/Songwriter charts in 2016 he took a leap of faith and left his job as a Mathematics Teacher. That gamble paid off and John has gone on to support household names such as Take That, Lemar, T’Pau and Katherine Jenkins. His hard work and impressive live performance have built a strong following of 50,000 online followers, over 6 million views on YouTube and a steady 300,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.
Eager to show his progression John released his album “You Never Know Who’s Listening” in 2018 which combined his live organic sound with a minimal electronic production to make a sound that is satisfyingly different from the usual guitar wielding Singer/Songwriter. The album was very well received by fans and the music industry alike and has already accrued over 6 million plays on Spotify. All 4 singles were playlist by the BBC and Spotify editorials with “See You Again” and “Dandelion Wishes” becoming Radio 2 favorites. He spent the year up and down the country performing at the UK’s largest festivals such as The Isle of Wight Festival, Great Escape, and Victorious Festival, and his headline tour sold out in just two days from release. To end the year on a high his festive hit “Lost In Christmas” became the soundtrack for “La Feltrinelli” Christmas campaign all across Europe.
Not showing any signs of writer’s block, John is excited to reveal ‘Flames’, the first single off his new EP “No White Lies”, was released on February 8th. Directed by John himself and Rhys Davies of Furball films, the stirring music video was imagined after a house fire occurred outside the studio. He explains: “All the usual questions flooded my mind as I strummed my guitar. How did they feel? What did they grab? Who was to blame? I eventually came to the conclusion that they’d be so concerned with survival that these questions were never answered. As dramatic as it seems I felt exactly the same about a relationship at the time and after writing the song I decided to take the same approach to the situation and leave. I centered the song around the lyric “It’s too late to argue who’s to blame, this house will burn down anyway” and pulled on a few semantics to compare the feelings of a house fire to the trapping of a relationship. I tried to mirror this concept in the video with the use of wool. In the beginning, a couple proudly exchanges thread to connect each other and enjoy the unity it brings, but over time the tangled web becomes frustrating and controlling just like a bad partnership.”
LINKS:
https://www.johnadamsmusic.co.uk
https://www.facebook.com/JohnAdamsMusic1
http://www.twitter.com/johnadamsmusic1
https://www.instagram.com/johnadamsmusic
http://www.youtube.com/johnanthonyadams1