Initially conceived by Chrisy, Lorcan, and Richy as a songwriting project – self-releasing two homespun LP’s and receiving airplay from BBC Radio 2 courtesy of Mark Radcliffe. Following a few singles with Liverpool’s Eighties Vinyl Records (The La’s/The Stairs/The Sand Band), 2016 saw Dave and Jules complete the lineup, evolving into a fully fledged live band.
An EP later that year was followed by a third self-titled LP, produced by long time collaborator Paul Den Heyer and mastered by Nick McCabe (The Verve), released in 2018 on Deltasonic Records (The Coral/The Zutons). This LP received a glowing 4 Star review in Mojo Magazine and featured on the Steve Lamacq BBC Radio 6 playlist with the single ‘By The By’.
Golden Repair is the band’s fourth LP & the first to be released by Mai 68 Records. Formed from sprawling jams during soundchecks & rehearsals, lyrics & harmonies worked out during long van journeys whilst on tour with US Alt-rock stalwarts Buffalo Tom, the result is a record that is more than the sum of its parts; five friends as a collective, playing in a room, together.
In order to capture this vibe effectively, the band decided to record live at Faktory Studios, standing in a circle facing each other was key. You can hear it in every note of the album; no mixing out creaks & coughs, with just the right amount of bleed. Recorded beautifully by Simon Jones (The Verve), the final mixes from longtime collaborator Paul Den Heyer sound exactly like the band envisaged, a moment in time captured like a sonic photograph.
‘Nowhere Near an Ocean’ started as an enveloping riff thrown out on the fly, the band easing into a groove & crashing into simultaneous changes on the day in the studio. It was quickly committed to tape in a couple of takes with improvised lyrics & instinctive harmonies. Proof that the first idea is often the best idea.
‘Where You Gonna Go’ is the first Sunstack Jones track to feature a three-part harmony, devised on a long drive to Holland for a festival performance & introducing a new dynamic to the band.
The two singles preceding the LP release introduce the recurring lyrical themes visited throughout the album. Living in the here & now rather than being caught up in nostalgia for times that have passed, yet longing to be far away from the unavoidable frustration & anger of living in an unfair & unjust society.
LINKS
http://www.sunstackjones.com
https://www.facebook.com/SunstackJones
https://sunstackjones.bandcamp.com
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Atmosphere – Stopwatch
Atmosphere has just released another new music video for “Stopwatch”, directed by Ryen McPherson and produced by activist art collective, INDECLINE, best known for their poignantly satirical murals and installations.
It’s a different place than it was two years ago when Atmosphere released their last record, Fishing Blues. Their seventh album, Mi Vida Local, reflects the ways in which the world–and their place in it–has changed. The idyllic domesticity of the past few records has morphed into anxiety over keeping loved ones safe during turbulent times. The easygoing collaboration between Ant and Slug has started to feel more like the life-or-death intimacy of two men trapped together on a lifeboat. At times, Mi Vida Local is a heavy album, (“I might be the last generation of grandparents,” goes a key line from “Virgo”), but it’s far from grim.
As the name implies, Mi Vida Local is intensely focused on the place it was created–the south side of Minneapolis–where Slug and Ant work tirelessly in their “beautiful basements”, refining their sound without interruption, save for a handful of Minneapolis friends that showed up to contribute. The album pairs complex subject matter with equally deep beats–ones that show a clear lineage back to the psychedelic funk landmarks from an earlier era where America was going through a post-utopian hangover, and prove that there won’t ever be a time where boom-bap beats don’t sound perfectly of the moment.
Mi Vida Local might be the best album Atmosphere’s ever made. It’s definitely the one they needed to make right now, and one listener’s need to hear just as urgently. If it’s sometimes an album about how the fight to find happiness never really ends–even after you get the house and the kids and the artistic freedom to make dad-rap records–it’s also about discovering that there’s happiness to be found just in fighting.
SOURCE: Official Bio
LINKS:
https://rse.lnk.to/MiVidaLocal
https://rhymesayers.com/artists/atmosphere
https://www.facebook.com/Atmosphere
https://twitter.com/atmosphere
https://www.instagram.com/atmosphere -
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 -
Fintan McKahey – Platinum
Fintan McKahey’s latest offering Platinum is a missive to magic. In light of the Covid-19 crisis, Fintan’s themes of resilience are uncannily prescient. As the world around us slows down and many people delve deeper into the old ways. This new single from the young Irish songwriter/producer is an eclectic, downtempo, bedroom-pop production, influenced by the likes of Chet Faker & Bonobo. The song is envisioned from the perspective of one of “The skies own relatives”, the mysterious traveler, who can open the portal to other realms.
For decades artists and healers have been attracted to the beaches and byways of West Cork. Rural Ireland echoes with tales of magic and myth, so it is no surprise that these themes emerge in Fintan’s songs. He writes, records and produces all of his music from the haven of his home studio, where he is continuing the family legacy, as the son of Stump drummer, Rob McKahey, and the nephew of CousteauX singer, Liam McKahey; who spent their own childhoods in the rebel county. The video for Platinum was recorded at his home studio and filmed by Fintan’s partner Kate Bean. Fintan later edited it, whilst self-isolating and awaiting the results of his own test.
“This past winter, I poured my energies into creating a space that I could work in with my band in 2020. The results are beyond inspiring and it almost feels as if the songs write themselves here in my new studio. I was fortunate to complete this self-build just as the Coronavirus began impacting us all but I guess I shall be going it alone here for a while yet.”
LINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/McKahey
https://twitter.com/FintanMcKahey
https://www.instagram.com/fintanmckahey
http://fintanmckahey.com
https://open.spotify.com/artist/3qgXyv2eyJHzhSqzIXQYjE?si=AcNFal-oQce8HPsdu8vCmQ