Cabbage - Amanita Pantherina

Cabbage are at a crossroads as they release their second album Amanita Pantherina - third if you count the Young Dumb And Full Of Cabbage compilation that really was their debut. Are they still relevant? Can they still conjure up the headrush adrenaline that their first four EPs announced them with? Has too much of the mud of the ultimately false accusations made against them stuck? Freed from the constraints of a record deal and returning home to their Brassica Studios in Mossley to regroup and record Amanita Pantherina, it very much feels like a release from the events of the past few years.

TRACK OF THE DAY : One Little Atlas - Path Of The Sun

One Little Atlas return with new single Path Of The Sun, their first new track since 2018's single Orenda. Capturing a mix of hypnotic vocals, beats and more traditional instruments, the song feels like the soundtrack to an imaginary film full of mystery and intrigue.

King Of The Slums - Encrypted Contemporary Narratives

Hulme's King of the Slums, legends of the Manchester scene for more than three decades, return with their seventh album, the follow up to 2018's Artdog Gods. Stuart Ralston has a listen.

TRACK OF THE DAY : The Slow Readers Club - Two Minutes Hate

Two Minutes Hate is the second track to be taken from The Slow Readers Club's forthcoming album 91 Days In Isolation. Taking aim at the way hatred is spread on social media and then translates into real life, the song is a very prescient observation about the way people thrive off creating chaos and division.

Just Mustard - Part Time Punks KXLU 88.9 FM Live Session

Hailing from Dundalk in County Louth Just Mustard are another band from across the water shining bright during these dark troubled times. Their debut album Wednesday, rightly so, featured in many Album of the Year lists for 2018 and it felt like the band would go from strength to strength before a global pandemic brought the quintet’s juggernaut to an unexpected halt. This limited edition release seeks to bridge the gap yet is exceptional in its own right.

Pillow Queens - In Waiting

Pillow Queens' debut has been four years in the making, anticipation built up through a series of EPs and then singles, the last five of which feature on In Waiting. It's an album of this time we live in, an introspective look at life in a modern city like Dublin from underneath the glossy veneer with stories of the shadow of religion, still visible homophobia and the difficulties of growing up and becoming an adult when the cards are stacked against you mentally and financially. It's direct, bold and uncompromising in both its sonic and verbal attitude yet refuses to allow itself to be compartmentalised into a genre - as impressive a debut in many ways as some of the lauded ones from the same streets.

Dave Fidler - Manchester Rose And Monkey - 27th September 2020

The latest in the series of outdoor shows at The Rose And Monkey in Manchester saw an intimate Sunday lunchtime show by Dave Fidler accompanied by Adrian Gautrey playing a mix of new songs as well as tracks from his two albums I'm Not Here and Songs From Aurora to an appreciative crowd.

The Blinders - Manchester Rose And Monkey - 22nd September 2020

The Blinders emerged from lockdown with a stripped back "lounge lizard" set at their second and spiritual home The Rose And Monkey on Tuesday night to a socially-distanced audience of forty lucky fans who snapped up tickets within seconds of going on sale. An hour-long song set took favourites from their debut Columbia and predominantly tracks from their 2020 album Fantasies Of A Stay At Home Psychopath and reinvented and redrew them for the intimate surroundings.

TRACK OF THE DAY : Test Card Girl - Holds Me Down

 

Holds Me Down is the debut single by Test Card Girl (aka Catherine Burgis). The song has already grabbed the attention of Tom Robinson and the evening show at XS Manchester. The song is a glorious mix of 80s-influenced synths, crystal clear crisp lead vocals with some delicious layering of backing vocals in parts and it's tinged with optimism and hope as she sings about the glorious feeling of falling in love and being immersed in it. 

Chris Helme / Hannah Ashcroft - Manchester Blackjack Brewery - 17th September 2020

Chris Helme played the latest of Jezebel Music's outdoor shows in the intimate surroundings of Blackjack Brewery's yard down by the railway arches near Manchester Victoria with support from Hannah Ashcroft. Mixing classic Seahorses tracks with a few choice covers and some excellent new material he delighted the small appreciative crowd with both music and self-deprecating humour.

TRACK OF THE DAY 2 : Ist Ist - Drowning In The Shallow End

Recommencing their series of videos and limited edition prints to accompany each of the ten tracks from their independent top five album Architecture, Ist Ist reprise with track seven from the record Drowning In The Shallow End and a video shot in the first days of lockdown relaxation.

TRACK OF THE DAY : Déjà Vega - Spitting Gas

Déjà Vega have announced the digital and physical release of their new single Spitting Gas and their biggest UK tour to date. Clocking in at just two minutes and fifteen seconds, the song captures the exhilarating live performances of the track in the times before lockdown - and is likely to feature on their second album that they were recording at the start of the year.

Doves - The Universal Want

When Doves went on an indefinite hiatus after their celebratory homecoming at Warehouse Project in Manchester in 2010 the omens for them coming back at all weren't great. Rumours abounded of a breakdown in communications, Jimi headed off to produce a solo album and Andy and Jez combined on their Black Rivers project. Whilst the internet head of steam slowly built demanding a reunion, they'd already got together behind closed doors, rekindled old flames and started work on what was to become The Universal Want. Whereas their last album Kingdom Of Rust was fraught with the sound of fractious relationships, there's a joyful undercurrent of warmth and love that runs through The Universal Want. 

TRACK OF THE DAY : NewDad - Blue

Galway four-piece release their fourth track since March in Blue, a song about different perspectives in a relationship and how they ultimately end in division. 

INTERVIEW - Eimie

Eimie is the new solo project from operatically trained vocalist / musician / comedian Amy Webber and she has just released her debut single Not Enough. We caught up for a chat about branching out on her own, the single and its forthcoming video and how she's found ways in lockdown to perform and remain creative.

TRACK OF THE DAY 2 : Matter Of Mind - Oblivion

Matter Of Mind return with Oblivion, their second single of the year after Poison Ivy featuring their new line-up. Their trademark sound is still very much intact, big powerful guitar riffs and drums and soaring vocals that build to a climax in the chorus. Oblivion is a very personal track that will resonate with many dealing with lead singer Jordan's anxiety. 

TRACK OF THE DAY : TV People - Nothing More

Dublin's TV People return with their third single of the year Nothing More. Accompanied by a strikingly simple yet complementary video, the song reflects on the endless struggle to survive and understand the world around you. Delivered with Paul Donohue's vocals imbuing a genuine sense of helplessness to control the uncontrollable that we're living in, it's their most reflective track to date without losing the energy and intensity of predecessors Kitchen Sinking and Time Eats Up.

TRACK OF THE DAY : Simeon Hammond Dallas - August

Simeon Hammond Dallas's new single August drops as that month draws to a close and moves into September. It's a break-up song timed to coincide with the end of the month - sharply observing that "we're all fools for love and desire" as it picks over the remains of a relationship and being misled by a narcissist and his games with a honesty and clarity before looking forwards.

TRACK OF THE DAY : The Slow Readers Club - Yet Again

Yet Again is the first track to be taken from The Slow Readers Club's forthcoming album 91 Days In Isolation, an eight-track record written in isolation and recorded at their old haunt Edgar Street Studios in Bury once restrictions were eased. A powerful punchy song with a harder edge than their Top 10 album The Joy Of The Return, it finishes with a positive message amidst the doom and desperation of these extraordinary times we're living in.