The Green Child - Simmering Basset

 

New album from an Austro-American pairing - Raven Mahon and Mikey Young.

This insightful album of electronic and stipped back vocals is reminiscent to this listener of Ladytron and other electro pop bands of the mid-noughties; there is an earnestness to the music seemingly you have to listen to this music without being overbearing.

Lead single Fashion Light harnesses this energy of retro-futuristic with soundscapes of synthesizers and drum machines.

This lovely sound the pair create helped by Mahon's wistful delivery of the dreamy vocals make this a winning combination; harking back to the works of OMD, Tears for Fears and even the smooth vocals of Errol Brown and Hot Chocolate.

The band used to be a long distance collaboration with Mahon residing in California, before upping sticks and joining Young in his native Melbourne district. Moving on from their self-titled debut in 2018, this album shows a growth in the partnership living near each other and Mahon growing into a near place of familiarity and stability - the tightness of the band is evident in the work being created.

Raven explains further, “it feels more cohesive because over the year or so in which we wrote these songs I started to feel a desire to take the lyric writing part more seriously… my head is rooted in this new place now and that’s settled into the songwriting.”

From the flurry of 'Witness' to the album closer 'Double Lines' this is an album of melodic grandeur and musical expansion, a band ready to make a break for the big time; this is an album full of measured elegance from the exquisite production values to the dreamlike sound perfect for these dreary autumn weekends ahead.

Shimmering Basset is out from Upset The Rhythm on October 23rd.

My thanks to Mutante PR for the review opportunity

Those Who Know - Alis Hawkins

 

The third novel in the Teifi Valley series arrives from Dome Press. It has been my pleasure to be a part of the blog tour for the release

The novel brings us back together with Henry Probert-Lloyd, lead coroner for region who is having to experience a local election for his role against a favoured local. Henry along with his loyal subject, John Davies, are reporting on a local death of a popular school teacher, Nicholas Rowland, who has died under strange circumstances. Amidst the local hustings, Henry and John must find the answers to a local death which has become murder, rule upon the case and win an election while saving face - this threatens to undermine his ambition and his career.

Hawkins does a great deal of work in creating the gothic and eerie atmosphere of the surroundings of the Valley; what also must be said is how we are at a tipping point in Welsh history and for that reason the culture of body science. One character very much would like to conduct an autopsy of the dead victim to see the full extent of the injuries suffered, the belief being that you will learn more by opening up the body and discovering that the inside will tell more of a story than mere external contusions, lacerations and blood loss.

Following the publication of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, there was a real fear of grave robbing and a fear of surgeons with god complexes who may well carve up bodies for their own reasons. Probert-Lloyd must cleverly weigh the aspirations of his medical career with a political aspiration and being a novice detective.  Lloyd must navigate this path of being true to science and rationality, and not use his intelligence as a weapon against those less fortunate.

Hawkins' expert research and natural storytelling creates a well written narrative; a story that can be dove into on newcomers to this series as well as existing fans.  In Probert-Lloyd you have an enjoyable but flawed main character who in partnership with John Davies is a tandem to follow and saviour.

Those Who Know is out from Dome Press in September.

My thanks to Emily Glenister for the review opportunity.

Follow Alis Hawkins on Twitter here

Death Bells - New Signs of Life

 

THE NEW album from Australian duo Will Canning and Remy Veselis, aka Death Bells, is a fusion of post-punk and emo-infused rock.

The band has become a more concrete two-person pairing since its formation in 2015, culminating in the twosome making the bold move to up sticks from Sydney, Australia, and transfer 7000 miles to Los Angeles, California, in 2018.

The duo have blossomed since then with a debut EP appearing in 2019 along with a single, "Metropolitan Indian". They've signed to Dais Records for their sophomore offering, New Signs Of Life.

Mixed and engineered by Colin Knight at Paradise Studios, there is a real sense of the band growing as people as well as a partnership. A tightness to the composition and sheen to the production has led to a sound not too dissimilar to Bastille while maintaining that alternative edge and not fully branching out into the mainstream.

Influences of Interpol, the National and Editors abound in the dispassionate vocal delivery, coupled with a definite new chapter in their existence which the title track heralds. Watch the video below:

Full of optimism and embracing guitars, brass and percussion, it offers a change of pace.

"We started writing New Signs Of Life'in Calgary whilst on tour around this time last year.

"More than anything, the song is about resilience in the face of change. It's a very deliberate statement and sets the tone for what's to come musically from us," the band explain.

The emo phasing and influence abounds with the inflection on the opening track, "Heavenly Bodies", which is very much redolent of Interpol's "Narc".

"Two Thousand And Twenty", a song about being burnt by the powers recalls those 80s' guitar bands such as Echo & the Bunnymen or Psychedelic Furs - a real panache and flair is apparent in most of the album.

This flair will be familiar to listeners of Death Bells' label mates Private World, whose 80s' electronic album and the two albums together share that same DNA of new romantic influence and positivity amidst the darkness.

It's an album of great potential and ambition from a pair to definitely keep an eye on; an album that in this most unusual of years, one of looking inward, fits neatly into the global mindset.

New Signs Of Life will be released by Dais Records on Friday, September 25th, and is available to order here.

Still Corners - The Last Exit

 Still Corners have released their first music from their forthcoming fifth studio album, due for release on 22nd January 2021. The title track 'The Last Exit' is available now on all platforms.

Lead single/Title track from Still Corners' fifth album

There is an accompanying video in support of the track which is below

The musical project of Greg Hughes and Tessa Murphy, the group formed after a chance meeting when waiting for a train in London in 2009. Over the last decade the band have produced a steady stream of romantic and reflective music.

Signed to Sub Pop quickly after, they released two albums with the label before forming their own label Wrecking Light to release Dead Blue in 2016 and Slow Air in 2018 to critical acclaim.

The first single, is the final chapter of the Still Corners' road trilogy. What began with 'The Trip' and was followed by 'The Message' concludes with the stunning 'The Last Exit'. The video inspired by Peter Weir's 1975 classic Picnic at Hanging Rock finds Tessa pulled into the mysterious rocks of Joshua Tree.

Tessa explains: "In a world where everyone thinks all the corners of the map are filled in we like to suggest there's something beyond that, something eternal in the landscape and in our psyche.  Maybe you don't see it every day but it's there and that's what we are trying to connect to."

With a galloping beat and silver tone guitar creating this hypnotic hippy sound, The Last Exit races down a highway to destination unknown a bracing bout of elegance of a world unseen.

The album listing consists of 11 tracks:

• 1. The Last Exit
• 2. Crying
• 3. White Sands
• 4. Till We Meet Again
• 5. A Kiss Before Dying
• 6. Bad Town
• 7. Mystery Road
• 8. Static
• 9. It's Voodoo
• 10. Shifting Dunes
• 11. Old Arcade

Tessa further remarks on how the pandemic has brought a different focus on the album: “There's always something at the end of the road and for us it was this album. Our plans were put on hold – an album set for release, tours, video shoots, travel. We’d been touring nonstop for years, but we were forced to pause everything. We thought the album was finished but with the crisis found new inspiration and started writing again.” 

To learn more about the band go to their website or follow them on Twitter.

The fifth album from Still Corners The Last Exit is out on 22nd January 2021 from Wrecking Light Records, pre-order link here

When The Past Kills - MJ Lee

Book Five of the DI Ridpath series is out on September 24th from Canelo

MJ Lee has developed quite a niche in recent times, his creation Detective Ridpath first appeared in the latter part of 2018 and since then Lee has written with a breakneck pace of regularity providing the fifth tale of his cancer survivor Detective Inspector who has to overcome office politics, his own career aspirations and the criminals of the Manchester underworld.

From the second tale Where The Dead Fall, which was this reviewer's introduction to the series, Ridpath has this relatable everyman quality that comes across in the page; not once in the second book did this reader feel left out of a secret club with the first book narrative being relayed quickly and called back at times without leaving the reader none the wiser.

In this new book When The Past Kills, Ridpath is centre to an investigation where people who wrongly jailed an innocent man before getting the guilty coroner are being subjected to assaults, scare mongering, one by one a chain of command is being followed including online deaths to the dark web, hangings by live feed - Ridpath is in a race against time before he becomes the next victim of the serial attacker.

Lee writes with such a whipcrack rhythm full of short chapters incorporating a range of character arcs, story development and dialogue which is both expositional but gripping; set amidst the gloom of Manchester - Lee is at pains to paint this city as much of a character as his protagonists.

Every Ridpath book is one to relish, as it serves up tales that are full of tension and enjoyment - a sense of satisfaction is apparent and this book also features one hell of a cliffhanger, leaving his reader eagerly anticipating Book 6 which will hopefully drop

When The Past Kills is out on 24th September from Canelo Publishing and all formats

Private World 'Aleph'

Hailing from Cardiff, Wales; UK indie pop outfit Private World embrace the 1980s soundscape of new romantic folklore of Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran and Talk Talk.

As lead single Blue Spirit suggested, this is a band who are keen to share a specific sound that will resonate with old and new listeners, something that will stir emotions within the listener for a fondness with ear worm worthy tunes.


The album as a whole is not telling a story but bringing tunes injected with a loop of pleasing and pulsating electronic fare.

Birdy equals this pleasure with a cyclical rhythm providing a perfect marriage of vocals and instruments, helped by the expert vocals of Tom Sanders who along with Harry Jowett writes the music for the band.

Keen viewers and fans will be familiar with Hypnagogia, the song that shows the band as that right side of sheen and cool reminiscent of Roxy Music, smart suits and a confidence within their work. A band that is less look at me but you should listen to this.

Following in the footsteps of Video Age's Pleasure Line, this is a reminder that the early 1980s influence of pop writing is very much here to stay and one continually mined for work.


This is a great album and very much a confident debut by this band. Ones to watch when the world returns to normal, but for now keep it private.

My thanks to One Beat PR for the review opportunity

The Man Who Laughs

Released from Eureka Entertainment, this classic silent film garners a new restoration in 4K as a part of the label's ongoing Masters of Cinema series.

Made in 1928, the film was made by Paul Leni famous German Expressionist director from the early 1920s and his cinematographer Gilbert Warrenton who had made The Cat and the Canary (1927). This film is considered an early entry into Universal Studios now famous purple patch of horror movie classics under the stewardship of producer Carl Laemmle. From the studio head down, along with art director Charles Hall and make up guru Jack Pierce this collaboration was married with a defining performance at its centre by Conrad Veidt.

Veidt plays Gwynplaine, a carnival performer whose face is mutilated into a permanent ghoulish grin by his executed father's royal court enemies. Gwynplaine struggles through life with blind Dea (Mary Philbin) as his companion, and despite his disfigurement Gwynplaine still considers himself unworthy of Dea's affection.

The make up on Veidt's role has been acknowledged as direct inspiration for the first portrayal of the Joker in the DC Comics of Batman in 1940 and has become common place in screen portrayals through the years culminating in Heath Ledger's Oscar winning turn in The Dark Knight (2008).

Featuring moments of humour, tragedy, doomed romance and swashbuckling fight scenes, The Man Who Laughs remains as one of the most stylish entries into the American silent cinema era. With the sound era about to burst prominently onto the scene and the monsters of Universal pictures being able to talk come 1930-31 with Bela Lugosi as Dracula and Boris Karloff as Frankenstein's monster; it is wonderful to see the richness and detail within the film's production from costume to sets to narrative construction.

The film has been restored from Universal's 4K transfer to Blu-ray and features a score by the Berklee School of Music along with featurettes by horror expert Kim Newman and a booklet by Travis Crawford and Richard Combs.

The Man Who Laughs is available now on Blu-Ray from Eureka Entertainment