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.

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

Spice 'All My Best Shit'

The new single release from Californian band, Spice, this is a rip-roaring piece of grungy, fast adrenaline rock.

This is a song as much about anger and how to express it compared to sitting upon your emotions. In this day and age of mental awareness and being expressive about feelings, this is a guitar-driven indie rock song seeking to be heard amidst this pandemic of epic proportions.

The single 'All My Best Shit' is released ahead of the self-titled album out on July 21st from DAIS records.

The album is a nine track 30-minute cut of sonic infusion sparking discussion about co-existing with spikes of loud and soft, short and long but yet full of sparky punch and authority in this world of unrest.

The group comprise of Ross Farrar (vocals) and Jake Casarotti (drums) from the band Ceremony, along with Cody Sullivan (bass), Ian Simpson (guitar) and Victoria Skudlarek (violin) the band have honed a sound from the Bay Area pedigree full of modernity and anthemic yearning.

Spice is out from DAIS records on July 21st

Private Life by Tempers

New York based duo, Tempers, have released their new album Private Life on Dais Records.

The duo comprise of Jasmine Golestaneh and Eddie Cooper, and the band are nowned for incorporating dark indie, electronica and synthesizers into their three albums to date.

Private Life though is something far different than their previous work; they have honed their minimalist craft to create this unique document of living in this melancholic world at the moment.

From the opening track 'Capital Gains' there is a sense of opening up from an internal world of liking other people's interests and focus on your own.

The song titles back this up an introspective notion from 'Peace of Mind' to 'Push/Pull', these are songs about loneliness and melancholy whilst living in the big city.

While some songs can be described as electronic dirge, this is integral to creating the soundscape necessary to an album; which breathes when you listen to it in one sitting. It may be sombre but there is a sense of uplifting by the time of track 8, 'More Than You Realized'.

All in all, electronica is a difficult genre to nail as it can become out and out dull, yet Tempers have created a unique atmosphere that personally would be great to hear on an album and one that is befitting the current mood of alienation travailing across the many spheres.

My thanks to One Beat PR for the review opportunity.

Motionless by Cold Showers

Out today from Dais records, the new album Motionless from LA synth trio Cold Showers

This LA trio may be synth and that genre of keyboards and musicality may bring images of coldness and industrial edge, yet the Californian team are a bunch of die-hard romantics from a by gone era.

The sound of this album first sampled by lead anthemic single 'Shine' is one of the late 1980s/early 1990s a la The Mock Turtles and 'Can You Dig It?' one of those tracks destined for airplay with a sing-along catchiness

On the album after a deliberate methodical beginning, the album has a great middle run of sequencing. The single 'Shine' is followed by 'Measured Man', the title track and 'Sinking World'. These songs are indebted to the 1980s wave of alternative music with a pop sensibility - imagine Morrissey and Marr being married with the edge of New Order and pop of Tears for Fears.

The next single 'Dismiss' is one of those tracks that the band have returned to after some time and is perhaps the song most reminiscent of Depeche Mode but with a killer Marr guitar riff.

All in all Motionless is an album that will be very satisfying for a new listener and a huge step for the band in terms of breaking for mainstream traction and Dais Records have possibly picked up a winner; keep an eye out for forthcoming release from Drab Majesty.

Cold Showers are supporting Tamaryn at the Shacklewell Arms in Kings Cross on Saturday 25th May - they may well steal the show.

My thanks to One Beat PR for the review opportunity.

'Dismiss' by Cold Showers

The new video release from LA based synth pop band Cold Showers for single 'Dismiss'

The album is a fine amalgamation of pop influences from the 1980s and to present day, in the same vein as White Lies there is a sombreness to this pop with strands of euphoria reaching up to the sky.

Cold Showers are one of those bands that sound like they are from the North of England, where the bleakness has fed into the songwriting - when the band hails from Los Angeles where that mix of sunshine and isolation becomes a winning combination.

Lead single, 'Shine' is one of those anthemic pop songs that will feed into your ears and much like the maligned 'Simplify' by Young The Giant - a song that should be sung by many a festival crowd.

'Dismiss' is more about a relationship near its darkest point before the inevitable parting, yet it still has that europhic edge. Dating back from 2013, the band decided to re-record it for the new album 'Motionless' out on May 24th from Dais Records.

Opening with a riff reminiscent of Johnny Marr and The Smiths, with lonely vocals this is nevertheless a gripping piece of pop-rock music.

The band tour with Tamaryn in May -The Shacklewell Arms on 25th May; Broadcast, Glasgow May 27th; Night People, Manchester on 28th May and The Lanes, Bristol on 29th May.

My thanks to One Beat PR for the review opportunity.