Otis Mensah is “a young story-teller-rapper-poet with a talent for drawing the poetic from the everyday happenings in his life.” The alternative hip-hop artist has risen from a new wave; age and era, embodying a contemporary, poetic take on hip-hop music. The music he creates sheds light on existential commonalities discovered through introspection with often off-kilter lyrics, accompanied by a sentimental vibe.
As an emerging artist, Otis has been independently releasing music, booking shows and has played around the UK & Europe including his debut performance at Glastonbury Music Festival on the BBC Introducing stage. Otis has also played as support for the likes of Killah Priest, Open Mike Eagle, Brother Ali, Lowkey, Milo, Arrested Development, The Sugarhill Gang, P.O.S, Abstract Orchestra, The Mouse Outfit, iTCH (The King Blues), and The Skints.
‘Sanctified is the stirring new release from experimental hip-hop prodigy Otis Mensah. It speaks of his restless striving to convey his truth through artistic self-expression, tempered by the burden of self-doubt and depression. Drawing deeply on the spiritual imagery of his youth, Mensah describes his obsessive yearning to realize his own potential, and face down his demons ‘in the lunar light dancing by the river.’ Produced by Elijah Bane, with music visuals from GRIT multimedia, Sanctified sees Mensah shift up another gear on his continual quest to connect with his audience through his vulnerable and honest form of experimental hip-hop’ Pink Wafer.
As an artist he perseveres in, connecting to an audience that relates to his writing and shares a mutual interest for thought-provoking lyricism and expressionism.
LINKS:
https://otismensah.bandcamp.com
https://twitter.com/otismensah
https://www.instagram.com/otismensah
https://soundcloud.com/otismensah/oh-jane-prod-the-intern
https://www.facebook.com/itsOtisMensah
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Easy – Day for Night
Ahead of releasing their new album ‘Radical Innocence’ via A Turntable Friend Records, Sweden’s celebrated 90s indie rock darlings Easy present the single ‘Day For Night’, a powerfully catchy track highly reminiscent of True Faith-era New Order or the Bernard Sumner / Johnny Marr offshoot Electronica.
The accompanying clever and beautiful animated video was produced by Ian Holmes, who also created the video for the lead track ‘Crystal Waves’, released on February 21.
In the early 1990s, Easy was one of Sweden’s most notable indie groups. This year marks the 30-year anniversary of their highly acclaimed debut ‘Magic Seed’ LP, a critical success that spawned three alternative hit singles: ‘Castle Train’, ‘He Brings the Honey’ and ‘Horoscope’. The group also frequently toured Britain and Europe. While their ambitious ‘Sun Years’ LP (1994) had less of an impact, singles ‘Never Seen a Star’ and ‘Listen to the Bells’ clearly demonstrated that the band had taken several musical steps forward.
Easy suddenly disbanded in 1994, with members becoming involved in other projects. The mark they left was notable – when returning to Sweden years later, they found a new Indie scene full of bands inspired by their uniqueness and success, having toured all over Europe with bands like The Gun Club, The House of Love, Lush, The Charlatans, and The Jesus and Mary Chain. Easy had something special with elements from pop history – the perfect combination of Sonic Youth-like intensity and the sweet harmonies of The Beach Boys.
In 2010, the group reunited with the original line-up, consisting of Johan Holmlund (vocals), Rikard Jormin (bass), Tommy Dannefjord (drums), Tommy Ericson and Anders Peterson (guitars). The reunion spawned the albums ‘Popcorn Graffiti’ (2012) and ‘Swimming With the Beast’ (2014), marking a new era of inspiration for the band.
The ‘Radical Innocence’ LP is Easy’s first new album in a decade. It is also the band’s third release via German label A Turntable Friend Records, the first being the ‘Magic Seed’ LP reissue in 2017 and the 2018 release of ‘A Heartbeat from Eternity’, a user-friendly compilation of the two previous albums, along with the fresh new single ‘Ask the Sky’. The group played live shows in the UK and Germany.
With a songwriting-production cycle that began in late 2018, the band worked with legendary producer Pat Collier, who was responsible for many of their favorite records, at his Perry Vale Studios in London. Everything has come full circle with the band returning to the British capital, where they recorded their debut album 30 years earlier – kind of a new start on the band’s path towards creating perfect pop songs.
‘Radical Innocence’ is an 8-track offering and their most ambitious album to date. Here, Easy is being easy. The songs are coherent and more refined than on previous albums. This new album also involves a new member – Ingvar Larsson, Moog, and keyboard master for post-punk outfits Camouflage and Dogsmile.
Working with Collier and Larsson helped the band to further refine their sound, achieving organic pop songs with sweet melodies, sharp guitars, impactful drumming, and clever lyrics.
LINKS:
https://www.easy-magicseeds.se
https://www.facebook.com/pg/SwedishindiebandEasy
https://easy-sweden.bandcamp.com
https://twitter.com/easybandsweden
https://aturntablefriendrecords.limitedrun.com
https://open.spotify.com/artist/0DjECvHwnn8WAvqMWflvB5
https://music.apple.com/ca/artist/easy/1305804296 -
Marc Durkee – A Way to Escape
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia’s solo atmospheric prog artist Marc Durkee is a big fan of Swedish metal hitmakers GHOST. Covering their songs over the years, he’s has posted his latest acoustic rendition of ‘He Is’, which can be viewed on his youtube channel where other past covers from personal favorites can be watched.
“I really enjoyed Ghost’s “Prequelle” album they released this year. I’d already done a few acoustic covers of songs from it, which were well received, so I decided to throw it back to one of my favorites from their previous album.”
Inspired by Katatonia, Tesseract, Anathema, Devin Townsend, Coheed & Cambria, Marc Durkee’s music can be described as “a blend of progressive, metal/rock, doom metal, post-hardcore, and post-rock.”
Durkee’s new album ‘Remain In Stasis’ will be out on out January 18th, 2019 and is loaded with deep meaning to this courageous and talented solo artist, as he explains.
“The first meaning of this release is personal. I’ve been stuck in a state of depersonalization for almost five years now. For me, it’s been a chronic symptom of dealing with years of depression and stress, and it’s unrelenting. When it’s at its worst, it removes mostly all motivation and enjoyment from my life. While that is unfortunate, it does serve as a major source of inspiration for song-writing…The second meaning is more political and universal. I feel that humanity is at a unique point in our history, with technology and social media allowing us to communicate and express ourselves in ways that were previously unimaginable. And yet, nobody really DOES communicate. It seems as though it’s mostly used as a platform to bicker over political ideals and agendas and create discourse, or for anyone to use as their own personal performance venue. Everyone wants to be seen and heard, even those who really don’t deserve to be.”
Marc Durkee is one artist who really does deserve to be heard, and when ‘Remain In Stasis’ is released, all the world will hear him.
LINKS:
https://durk.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/marcdurkeeofficial
https://www.instagram.com/darcmurkee -
First Look: Harper and the Moths – Your Love (360° Music Video)
What began as a remote recording project between friends in early 2013 has morphed into the Phoenix-based dance rock band Harper and the Moths. On July 5th, the quartet will release their debut album Dark Enough To Dance, 12 tracks that deliver glittery, all-night anthems with infusions of new-wave and post-punk.
Vocalist Harper Lines and his “Moths” (who just so happen to have an affinity for staying up late), began work on the album after Lines went through the downward spiral of a serious relationship ending. When things got ugly, the fallout became his inspiration, and his outlet was music. The first single “Your Love” was written to provide closure to anyone who is at the end of a relationship, struggling to see their inner light.
“I wanted to create a pop song that addresses the audience when they’re feeling like they aren’t enough or don’t have the strength to make a difficult but necessary decision,” says Lines.
“Your Love” was released on June 4th with an impressive 360° music video. Taken in two separate takes, Harper and the Moths and several friends & dancers, transport the viewer through a fully-immersive, changing party scene. The viewer can follow whichever character they like through the whole thing and watch again for special Easter eggs.
Harper and the Moths have released three EP’s and a number of singles. Songs like “Walking Through Fire,” “Lose My Touch,” and a cover of Rockwell’s “Somebody’s Watching Me,” continue to be Arizona radio, Spotify playlist, and Soundcloud favorites.
On Dark Enough To Dance, the band recruited the talents of recording engineer, Jeremy Parker (Evanescence, Godsmack), and producer duo ESCQ (Cutcraft Music Group). What came together in various sessions over another 6 months has resulted in a great soundtrack to dance away any future heartaches.
“Harper and the Moths bring dance club energy into their vibrant synth pop and the vocal harmonies on this new single will have you ready to join the singalong whether in your car, at a bar, or just jamming out in the privacy of your own home.”
– YabYum Music“Beautifully captivating and playful in the melody, seasoned with nice brass.”
– PopMuzick“Harper and the Moths have got a plan and it has nothing to do with being confounding or bland”
– Glide Magazine“the full-throated falsetto of Harper Lines that makes everything seem like an all-night party machine”
– AZ CentralLINKS:
https://instagram.com/harperandthemoths
https://facebook.com/harperandthemoths