Steve Schultz may be releasing his second album Over The Edge this week but he’s just getting us warmed up to his clean and honest vocals and piano based tunes. There’s something very organic and Simon/Garfunkel about Steve that makes everything feel fresh whilst reminiscent of what a lot of people consider the hey day of “real piano music” when Elton John was number 1.
This is the lead single “Shadow” from the latest album. It’s a cracker.
Amatorski
Amatorski are a Belgian band and they have elements of Sparklehorse, Portishead, Sig Ros and Fever Ray but with the voice of Emiliana Torrini on top. The clash of harsh electronica, no matter how stark the arrangement, and the warm liquid gold vocals is intoxicating and we will definitely be featuring more of Amatorski soon.
Here’s “Soldiers” from 2011:
Zain Lodhia
Adult pop rock cross over artist Zain Lodhia makes sharp tracks that are instantly catchy and full of hooks but have more to them than meets the eye. Take the single “Lifetime” for example. Beautiful video, decent lyrics, killer chorus! Zain should go very far indeed.
Seabird
Seabird, a band that have been about for a while now, appear to constantly teeter on the edge of breaking out into the mainstream but continue to be a hidden treasure. Making their indie début later on this week with album “Troubled Days” they are hoping to sneak back onto the radar again and with such talent, HPM certainly hopes the album does well. Take a listen to the David Grey-esque vocal below in a great live take of “Love Will Be Enough”
Young Summer
Young Summer is the monkier for DC based singer/songwriter Bobbie Allen whom releases her début album tomorrow. Entitled “Fever Dream” the lead single and title track is featured below and showcases her low-fi electronic dream pop approach. She has a strong assured and smooth voice that reminds me of Sarah Slean.
Listen to Fever Dream below and check out the album tomorrow. We will have a review of the album in the coming weeks too.
I discovered these wonderful ladies earlier this morning. I predict they will be massive in 2013. That is all.
Oba-Oba-Oba-Obachan!!!
Jordan Reyne returns with her latest album “The Annihilation Sequence”. It’s not often I preorder an album but Jordan’s music is a must. Check out the taut title track below.
Radhika Shankar
Radhika Shankar gets a special mention today after having a small chat on Twitter.From India, Shankar is truly a one lady wonder. She writes, composes, plays, sings, records, cuts, shoots and edits. So basically she does everything herself. For that, we salute you – and it’s not half bad either!
Heima return with a new album next month – and a new name too! Renamed to “Bellstop” the duo’s new album will be called Karma. Bellstop have such a great indie folk rock sound and the Icelandic duo look set to rock out in June. Here’s the lead single “Trouble”. Watch out for the scary Ronald McDonald-esque mask!
Monks of Mellonwah
Aside from having a pretty cool name, Monks of Mellonwah have a crisp and slick rock edge and high production values. They fall into the category of tidy rock for me, where each riff has its place perfected into the music, ala Chilli Peppers but with a bit more grunt.
Here’s the great video for “Neverending Spirit” which should help them break out of Australia. We will be reviewing their 2012 EP shortly in anticipation for their new record coming out on Bandcamp soon.
I, Synthesist
Hello? I’m Marc Almond’s Long Lost Brother! Welcome to “I Synthesist”, whose just released his third album “Somewhere and Everywhere” last week. He has a retro-future synth pop vibe that is dark, dank and soaked in sweat but in a slightly menacing way instead of the cheesy pop way. It heavily reminds me of any Soft Cell work after their first album and that can only be a good thing! Here’s “Hello Virginia”
Watch out for the best glasses ever…
Jim Guthrie, of Sound Shapes fame among others has released his latest solo album and it’s a beauty. HPM will be reviewing it quite soon but until then I suggest you swim in the serenity that is Bring on the Night:
The albums available on Bandcamp.
My Washin Mashin
My Woshin Mashin (great name) are a wonderfully eccentric band from Russia and Germany that resemble The Knife possibly as their closest ancestors but they are quite unique because the bounce from genre to genre at the drop of a beat.
Here’s a darkly delicious cover of Joan Osbourne’s “One of Us” showing their quieter side, but they more often than not go into a ferocious mess instead! Their second album came out last week and is called “Evil Must Die”
Dead Can Dance
There has been an ongoing competition regarding Dead Can Dance’s latest video “Children of the Sun” and the winner was announced today. Jeronimo Albornoz won the prize with a fantastic video but I must say that every single entry is a masterclass of videography and they are all beautiful.
So if we must have a boyband take over the world it may as well be a boyband that’s actually talented, that writes their own music, edits and directs videos, does everything themselves and genuinely seem like old round top dudes… right?
Go on then – here’s Take Me To The Pilot whom I found during the first sunny weekend in the UK this year. Suddenly Spring clicked into place. I feel 14 all over again. It’s about time we had some good cheery pop-rock take the charts isn’t it!
I’m still not entirely sure what to make of this… any suggestions? Bizarrely catchy, going out of his way for comedy value in vocal delivery and if you’re going to jump around on my bed with your shoes on then you won’t get very far with me!
Mike Tyler’s upcoming album is called Erection and I’m very curious as to what on earth it will be like!
NYC singer/songwriter Erica Glyn works her way onto the site with a weird and wonderful mash up of various different genres. It starts out very slow and organ-tastic before breaking out into a righteous rock out.
Module’s amazing album Imagineering has been out for a while but the music vdieo for The Pieces Fit has not long been completed. A year in production, the motion captures robot is extremely well done. Everyone should give this experimental album a go.
Benbrick is releasing an EP and this is the final track for it finished and in the can as they say. “They All Say” is beautiful and the video works really well too. Can’t wait for the EP to burst out to us all:
I normally cannot stand Jazz and along with rap, they remain the two genres I can happily leave any day of the week – however even I can tell a fantastic musical artist in those genres – especially when I can listen to it! Welcome Nat Osborn with your band – you may finally have given me entry point for jazzy music at long last. I can’t give a higher compliment than that!
The new album “The King and the Clown” is out Tuesday.
