All posts in SIGHTS

Currentmoodgirl – Letter L

27/05/2020

Greta Edith, of Manchester’s ‘Pearl City’ (Sunday Best Records) and ‘Bernard and Edith’ (Bella Union), is charting a course through new terrain with her latest project, CURRENTMOODGIRL.

A true northern chanteuse; with her velvety-soft vocal melodies threading the needle between anchoring basslines and heavy, distorted beats, Edith creates a melancholy pop sound that is daringly expressive.

“The Letter L”, is described as “A playground clap game that got out of hand” and is entirely self produced and played including instrumentation from flute, steel pan and Theremin. The music floats by the window in a landscape that is as genuinely heartfelt as it is alluring & hypersexual.

Accompanied by a Lynchian home music video: an alliterative fever dream of monochrome-on-red, a tangled & disheveled ballerina, dancing like no one is watching. Edith leads us down a primrose path in her study of life’s mercurial swings.

“What do we get for our trouble and pain? Just a rented room in Whalley Range.” so sang Morrissey on Miserable Lie.

Hi Greta! How have you been influenced by your surroundings?

Manchester’s industrial past is beautiful to me. I can taste its copper blood, and I want to play in its gritty playground.

Why did you create CURRENTMOODGIRL?

I’m driven to make music/sounds that validate the intense ping pong emotions I feel, in my body, mind and heart! I want to know how guilt sounds… I want to make a song that sounds like how my skin feels when I’m flustered and in a rage… or a lullaby that replicates the after-shock of a panic attack.

How have you been coping during the pandemic?

At first I was maniacally making music – I had no money, surviving off cuppa soups, and my friends had to come to the rescue bringing me food and helping me pay rent, but I felt happy.

Now I’m on the dole and exhausted… I can’t get out of bed and the past month has been a real challenge to cope.

But I’m gonna do the dishes I swear!

You recently performed a live set on youtube, tell us about that?

I’ve been discovering new ways to play live so I’m enjoying the process and figuring out what I want to do… so its nice to have the brain space to think about that, at least when I’m not unwell.

How have your experiences in the music industry been like so far?

I have been making music for 10 years now and there’s no way to penetrate through unless you’re rich or know the right people. It doesn’t matter how good you are.. the “rock stars” and “icons” of today are youtube bloggers and influencers. You just have to forget all about that and enjoy the self discovery, and if anything good comes along, it’s a bonus.

What are your ambitions for the project?

I just want to keep branching out, working with different artists and evolving into a new Pokemon.

BUY – https://currentmoodgirll.bandcamp.com…

FOLLOW – https://www.facebook.com/CURRENTMOODGIRL https://www.instagram.com/gretaedith

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Koalas – Home Heart

12/09/2017

This month marks the 10th anniversary of my arrival in Manchester, and it seems fitting that I’m introducing a new band tipped by Dan Parrott, one of the many unsung architects of the modern music scene here. We first crossed paths back when he was working as music producer on Channel M – a much missed local station that gave debut television broadcasts to the likes of Deerhunter and Laura Marling. His label Love & Disaster, released early tracks from Everything Everything, Dutch Uncles, Delphic and the criminally underrated Airship.

Now running Low Four; a multifaceted music project utilising a beautiful and iconic recording space in the old Granada Studios – Parrott is once again putting his energy into helping new artists. With a focus on music programming/online streaming, it’s undoubtedly going to help re-affirm Manchester’s international reputation, as well as give a home to some of the city’s brightest talents. Having already recorded a live session there on the basis of a handful of demos, synth pop act Koalas are one of the first to benefit.

Led by composer and vocalist Samuel Jones; it’s clear that Koalas songcraft has been patiently and lovingly honed, with debut track Home Heart immediately hitting all the right notes. Co-produced by Brendan Williams (Dutch Uncles/GoGo Penguin) the hidden complexities of the track slowly reveal themselves, fluttering between ideas and textures fluidly to create a reassuringly warm and nostalgia tinged sound. Influenced by Caribou and Boards of Canada; an appreciation for sonic experimentation is balanced delicately with the desire to tug at heartstrings with gorgeously subtle pop harmonies. Vocalist Rachel Waters hushed words merely tease at her true abilities.. but then a little bit of mystery only adds to the allure. In contrast Jones’s chorus swoons and shimmers, dancing nervously around, waiting for an opportunity to break free.

https://www.facebook.com/koalasmusic/

Phill Young

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Parade – Candide

23/04/2017

“If this is the best of all possible worlds, what are the others?”
– Voltaire, Candide

It was always going to take something truly magical to awaken me from my writer’s hibernation. With every passing month, it’s felt harder and harder to find the right words. I bought a desk in an attempt to commit myself, but the desk soon became littered with half-finished articles and a sense of frustration. I kept making excuses and finding new distractions…. and I think for a while, I might have even fallen a little bit out of love with music. That seems like such a strange and horrible thing to admit now, because in truth, it took just a few seconds of ‘Candide’ by Parade, to know that this was THE song to make everything right again.

A beautifully imagined debut by one of Manchester’s most promising new artists; ‘Candide’ is seemingly seeped in an old fashioned romanticism, a celebration of regret, despair and longing. Every moment is tenderly crafted by an artist determined to find hope in the darkest of places. Produced in the now mythological SWAYS Bunker.. or for the unenlightened, the spiritual home to some of Manchester’s greatest modern outfits (MONEY, Kult Country, Bernard & Edith and PINS) it seems like the stars might be aligning for Parade to break beyond the confines of the crumbling white walls that stand defiantly opposite Strangeways prison in Salford.

Having been a member of the confrontational and enigmatic post-rock outfit, Hartheim; a band which ended in the most tragic of circumstances with the untimely passing of guitarist Gaz Devreede, one could have almost forgiven Parade’s Nic Townley if he had disappeared off the radar completely. But this is a fascinatingly personal vision, full of hunger, desire and a dream-like innocence that clings lovingly onto every piano chord. With a vocal tone reminiscent of the unashamedly emotional quiver of Jeff Buckley, Townley has a remarkable ability to draw the listener into his world, and keep you there. Sun Kil Moon’s Mark Kozelek invited Townley to sing on stage with him during last year’s RNCM show; an unreal moment for an unknown artist, but one taken confidently. Candide is one of the most heartbreakingly perfect pieces of work I’ve heard in forever.

Parade headline Soup Kitchen on September 30th

Photography by Natalie Curtis

Phill Young

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Lay. – Angel Halo

03/05/2016

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When modern icon Kendrick Lamar performed a surprise secret show in Manchester recently, he also found the time to cypher with local talent at a workshop organised by Brighter Sounds. Clearly inspired by the opportunity to impress K.Dot; 21 year old Layfullstop rose to the challenge, holding her own on the mic against the Grammy-award winning star. It was the kind of attention-grabbing statement that she could only have imagined making the night before… but for those in the know, it’s just a matter of time before the spotlight takes on a more permanent fixture.

Currently one of Manchester’s best kept secrets, 21 year old Lay Nathan has already been exciting audiences with her genre-defying performances; experimenting with elements of neo-soul, jazz, electronica, hip hop and grime. Living in a city which naturally encourages collaboration, it’s no surprise to discover her recorded output is equally as expressive; as a member of urban collectives Roots Raddix and Cul Dé Sac, her talent is clearly being nurtured lovingly by those around her.

As a solo artist, Lay. has continually played with her artistic identity; there’s a real sense of freedom to her work, which from a purely technical perspective, displays a high level of skill and confidence… but, it’s the emotions behind her voice that truly make her something special. Latest release Angel Halo feels like it could be breakthrough moment, a track that mixes old school soul and injects it with modern hip hop – harking back to those 90’s R’n’B halcyon days, when Aaliyah, Lauryn Hill and TLC were ruling the charts. Produced by Keziyah, the intelligently subtle and sophisticated production gives the track breathing space and allows her to reach for moments of beauty with her sultry and distinct velvet harmonies.

https://www.facebook.com/layfullstop

Phill Young

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Tiger Lion – The Sea

11/12/2015

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Clémentine Blue has been trying to understand the true meaning of home for a long time now; having moved to the UK from France a few years ago, she’s since found herself living in Brighton, Manchester and more recently London. As a result, her musical palette is disarmingly colourful, glistening vividly with all manner of ideas and inspirations – but her real ability lies in being able to bring together these influences to form a bewilderingly beautiful patchwork quilt of sound, fashioned by the memories of people she’s met, loved and lost along the way.

‘The Sea’ is the first song to be taken from her stunning debut EP ‘Outremer’, a collection of bedroom recordings produced and mixed by Clémentine herself, exploring themes of loneliness and abandonment with a tender sensuality. Like Annie Clark’s St Vincent, Tiger Lion is a project that defiantly embraces change, experimenting with different cultures by taking traditional instruments away from their context. However, it’s her moments of intimate expression that really draw you in deeper, exposing a vulnerability with a depth far beyond your initial expectations. The accompanying video, directed in collaboration with Angèle Béraud, is soaked in shades of blue; each subtle tone and texture forming an emotional connection with the music.

‘Outremer’ is released via Woodland Recordings on the 29/11. Limited edition physical copies of the EP will be available with hand-stamped CDs inside a 7″ sleeve, a numbered print of one of Clementine Blue’s analog photographs + lyrics booklet and hand painted credits.

Tiger Lion plays Pitchblack at Birthdays in London on the 18/12.

http://www.woodlandrecordings.com

Phill Young

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Francis Lung – Back One Day

23/10/2015

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I’m writing this on my birthday. I wake up to the sound of my cat clawing at the curtains; my eyes catching tiny glimpses of morning light with each scratch. I decide to hide under the covers for the best part of an hour before finally accepting defeat and dragging myself out of bed. I slowly shuffle towards the bathroom, look into the mirror and see a tired, reluctant face staring back. I’ve never much liked my face – it reminds me too much of my father, and with each passing year it feels more like his than my own. My relationship with my dad is virtually non-existent – he had an affair with my best friend’s Mum when I was 13 years old. He seems to have completely given up on the idea of repairing the damage between us these days; I don’t even get a card.

I listen to Francis Lung’s ‘Back One Day’ to cheer myself up – it’s a song that manages in a few triumphant minutes to reaffirm my belief in life and love. There’s a raw honesty in Tom McLung’s lyrics, and the tender piano notes feel almost Daniel Johnston-esque in their tone. The impressively cathartic chorus breaks free with almost willful abandonment. McLung’s solo ambitions have been in the works since he was a teenager, taking a backseat during the WU LYF days, but always there… his song-writing being patiently refined and developed. Having built up a reputation for an impassioned live show, McLung seems to be able to delicately balance both the intimate and more extrovert aspects of performance. The clean white suit he wears demands the audience to look at him… but when you do, you see a performer lost in his own world… and the accompanying video to ‘Back One Day’ reflects this, with Manchester visual artist Ella Deacy keeping the focus on McLung’s anguished facial movements. At times McLung reminds me of John Lennon, his melodies are beautifully simple in their structure, or at least they seem that way; I guess that’s the trick to all great pop music.

Pre-Order ‘Faeher’s Son Vol I’ here: http://francislung.bigcartel.com/product/faeher-son-ep-12-vinyl

Phill Young

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