Saturday 30 May 2020

TRACK OF THE DAY : LOAstate - Blue Skies


LOAstate have quietly been making their mark around Manchester with little fanfare but packing out venues since they made their live debut at Neighbourhood Festival last year. Their new single Blue Skies seems set to take them up a notch higher and thrust them into the limelight. Julia Grantham takes a listen and finds out more.

Friday 29 May 2020

PINS - Hot Slick


Hot Slick is PINS' first album for five years, a period where they've undergone a line-up change, losing original members before regrouping as a three-piece. Crunching guitars are replaced by bright synths and drum machines as the music's distinctive characteristic, mirrored by the bold, colourful artwork that represents both the album itself and its accompanying singles. 

TRACK OF THE DAY : Loose Articles - Snake


Loose Articles have released a lockdown video with a difference for Snake, one of the tracks from last year's Orchid Lounge EP that features them making the most of the strange times we find ourselves living in.

Thousand Yard Stare - Interview


Today sees the release of The Panglossian Momentum, Thousand Yard Stare's third studio album, released twenty-seven years after its predecessor Mappamundi. We caught up with front man Stephen Barnes to find out why a one-off reunion has turned into a fully-fledged one with a live album and double EP already under their belt and chatted about the album's writing and recording process and how their sound has changed over time.

Tuesday 26 May 2020

Thousand Yard Stare - The Panglossian Momentum


Even The Stars favourites Thousand Yard Stare cement their return with the release of their third longer player, the sublime The Panglossian Momentum.

Wednesday 20 May 2020

Machine - Same Old Story EP


Same Old Story is the debut EP from Barnsley four-piece Machine. The follow-up to debut single Machine raw in its delivery and production, but shows an immense amount of potential for a band in its formative stages, having only formed in November 2019.

Tuesday 19 May 2020

Section 25 - Duette


Ever evolving Section 25 follow up last year’s excellent Always Now 5 LP box set with an exciting new live album – Duette is their 16th full length record.  Now in their 42nd year, Section 25 concluded 2019 by announcing a new phase under the moniker Section 25 Industrial Unit, with the band stripped back to a core duo of founder Vin Cassidy and long-time member Steve Stringer. Embarking on a short run of shows, Vin and Steve recorded their Vienna show last October and the results are issued here. Stuart Ralston has a listen.

Monday 18 May 2020

Tim Burgess - I Love The New Sky


Tim Burgess releases his fifth solo album I Love The New Sky via Bella Union on Friday. Recorded over a year, it's Tim's first fully self-written album and features contributions from Grumbling Fur, Factory Floor and the Echo Collective string section. It's a record teeming with ideas, observations about life and friendship delivered with charm and an intuitive intelligence wrapped in a warm comforting musical blanket that reveals many complexities under its top layers as they push boundaries, drift off the beaten track yet remain focused on their destination.

Friday 15 May 2020

James Holt - Interview


For some musicians, living in lockdown has seen them busier, more productive, more creative and increasingly active on social media, engaging with their fans in many different ways. We chatted to James Holt, who has been known and keenly followed by Even The Stars for some time now, and who was kind enough to speak to us ahead of the release of his new single Pendulum, which dropped today and was produced by James Skelly (The Coral) at Parr Street Studios, to find out what life has been like for him during these unprecedented times. Here, in a unique and in depth interview, we discovered much about the history and background to James’ musical journey thus far, as well as what’s he been up to since being forced to stay indoors, and cancel his gigs.

Monday 11 May 2020

TRACK OF THE DAY : Glue - Left Without You


Left With You is the debut single from Stockport-based duo Glue who comprise of vocalist and lyricist Liv and producer and guitarist Mary. Confident, packing a punch with gravelly blues influenced vocals fighting against the drum beats and guitars, it's an impressive first offering.

Sunday 10 May 2020

TRACK BY TRACK : The Ryne Experience - Funky Town


Funkytown is the new album from The Ryne Experience released via US label Under The Counter Records. It's described as " a conceptual psychedelic alt-country record following the story of Paul Mashake, a man who has his name, lover, and identity stolen from him by Nameless Sam. As he forms new experiences as a blank slate, he begins to see the world with new eyes, and when he eventually reclaims his past life, he feels like an impostor in his own skin and disillusioned with modern societal life. As Nameless Sam returns to take the one thing that tethered him to his old identity, he snaps and descends into madness."  Ryne walks us through the album.

Friday 8 May 2020

TRACK OF THE DAY : Ellysse Mason - Something Good


Something Good is the first new material from Ellysse Mason since 2018's Hunt Me Down EP. Accompanied by an home-made isolation video, the single shows her moving away from her folk roots to a more electronic sound without distilling any of the emotional qualities of her vocals or her words.

Wednesday 6 May 2020

The Murder Capital - Live From BBC Maida Vale EP


The Murder Capital today release their Live At Maida Vale EP recorded shortly before the lockdown at the legendary BBC Studios. As well as featuring Green And Blue and Don't Cling To Life from their debut album When I Have Fears, it also sees them cover FKA Twigs' Cellophane and they've released a video to accompany that track. Jason Wynne takes a closer listen.

Monday 4 May 2020

Pink Tears - Pink Tears


Pink Tears is the debut album from Jamie from Blackley M9 (he has a thing with postcodes) who describes himself as "Goff soul // Pop tart // Laptop // Geetar" in his bio. From the park shot of the album's cover through ten songs, he takes you on a twisting, winding journey through the deepest recesses of his creative mind, moments of dark reflection contrasting with those of shiny pop tones, often next to each other. Out of potential chaos comes surprising beauty.

Ellysse Mason - Interview


Ellysse Mason releases her new single Something Good on Friday accompanied by her own lockdown video. We caught up for a chat about her musical roots, her influences, making the video and progress on her debut album.

Friday 1 May 2020

Ist Ist - Interview


Ist Ist today release their debut album Architecture, five years in the making for one of Manchester's most independent and committed bands who've built a strong dedicated following at home and further afield through an uncompromising approach to their music and their art that accompanies it whilst being ignored by large sections of the new music community. Architecture is an impressive calling card that reflects exactly what Ist Ist are about - from the detail in the songs, their desire to work with a Grammy-winning mastering engineer, the novel approach to releasing each song with accompanying visuals and their choice to continue with the release whilst most of their contemporaries are delaying their albums. We caught up with bass player Andy Keating to talk about all of this and more.

TRACK OF THE DAY : Rules - Wendy


Wendy is the second single to be released by Helsinki duo Rules via the Soliti label. The song forms part of their debut album Rules due for release in August, where all but ones track tell the tales of characters in world literature. Wendy takes up the story of J M Barrie's female protagonist from Peter Pan. It does so with a shining glimmering synth-led track underneath it that feels irresistibly poppy.