The Cure’s fifth and final performance of Disintegration at Sydney Opera House on 30 May 2019.
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Otis Mensah – Sanctified
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 -
Mayflower Madame – Sacred Core
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 -
Felixity – Twisted Love
Amy Winehouse-inspired pop/neo-soul artist Felixity releases her debut album ‘Love Sick’ on May 1 via Komplex Recordings. The latest single ‘Twisted Love’ also gets a swank powerhouse video featuring (and jointly choreographed by) Felixity herself with dancer Joshua Jung, who has performed with Mabel at The Brit Awards and appeared on ITV’s The Greatest Dancer.
Felixity recently released the Oberkon Remix of her debut single ‘You&Me’, created by a trio of heavy hitters: Andy Spaceland (a.k.a. Andy Jenks), part of Alpha and 5 Billion in Diamonds, together with Butch Vig; Jay Reynolds, notable mixer for the likes of Dua Lipa, Liam Gallagher, MIST, Fred Again, Gabrielle, Paloma Faith, and Pixie Lott; and producer David Francolini.
This collection of 10 deeply personal songs is part confessional, part exorcism, and all infused with her extraordinary voice and street smart lyrics. These songs, which were written at the very end of last year, taking the listener on a poetic journey to the heart of the singer. Felixity’s music is also influenced by The Weeknd (Trilogy), Etta Bond, J Cole, Anderson Paak, KAYTRANADA, and Jhene Aiko.
“On the whole, ‘Love Sick’ is a full stop on a part of my life. Written about personal experiences and laid over heavy drums and lots of strings, I wanted people to know that we all feel the same things and the hardest stuff never lasts. I wrote this about my past and the things that have happened. Sex, drugs love and addiction, it’s all in there,” says Felixity.
This album was recorded in London, Bristol, Brighton, Berlin and Geneva. Mixed by Cenzo Townsend (U2, Ash, The Strangers, The Wedding Present) at Decoy Sound and mastered by Brian Lucey (Katy Perry, Shania Twain, Liam Gallagher, Hatchie, Green Day) at Magic Garden Mastering, this album was produced and engineered at Komplex Studio by David Francolini, drummer for Levitation, Dark Star and Dragons. Francolini has been operating Komplex studios out of Bristol, UK but has now moved operations to the French Alps.
“Given the confessional nature of Felixity’s lyrics, it was important to create a dramatic soundscape; a cinematic and lush harmonic bed on top of which her wonderful voice could sit and her stories’ meanings are amplified. I have shapeshifted the feel of the songs throughout the record so it feels like the emotional journey that the lyrics portray. All quite conceptual really, but always keeping it uncluttered, funky, simple, and the groove deep,” says producer David Francolini.
“Fusing old school soul music with more contemporary textures, color, rhythms, and tone, I brought in some of the best musicians I have had the pleasure to have met for the album recording: Dekel Shula Adin (bass), Dean Frechtman (guitar), Ziv Sobelman-Yamin (Rhodes piano) and Adam Coombes (piano). We also have guest guitar from Angelo Bruschini (Massive Attack) and Alex Lee (Goldfrapp). The strings were worked on together with the soulmaster Martin Eden. I played all the drums and percussion myself and also myriad other synths etc. Was a fukkin labour of love!”
This collection of songs of love and loss is just the tip of the iceberg of what is to come for Felixity, who has several albums planned for 2020. The ambitious songwriter is already in the studio completing the second one. As for many artists, live shows planned in support of this album have been postponed. Nonetheless, Felixity is hoping to perform again later in the summer, current environmental permitting.
Featured image by Steve Gullick.
CREDITS
Written and performed by Felixity and David Francolini
Produced and engineered by David Francolini
Recorded at Komplex Studio in November/December 2019
Mixed by Cenzo Townsend at Decoy Sound
Mastered by Brian Lucey at Magic Garden Mastering.
All songs were written by F. Abbott and D. Francolini, except ‘You&Me’, written by F. Abbott, D. Francolini and S. Clines
‘Twisted Love’ video directed, produced and edited by Alex Rozerot KirkwoodLINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/Felixityx
https://twitter.com/felixity_x
https://www.instagram.com/felixity_x
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtqvgVRDF_xKKzWNNYnRVmA
https://music.apple.com/gb/artist/felixity/1497518825
https://open.spotify.com/artist/0rrpwcxiKQNAtpsU3e4q7V