Indie Folk
Jade Bird Shares Radiant New Single “Headstart”: Stream
UK-based folk rocker Jade Bird has just released a new single called “Headstart”. It’s her first piece of new music since releasing her self-titled debut album over a year ago — and it’s well worth the wait. “Headstart” is a three-minute romp bolstered by chipper guitar and her soaring vocals. Bird recorded the new track in the iconic RCA studios with producer Dave Cobb, who worked with big name Americana artists such as Brandi Carlile and the late John Prine. According to Bird, she found the inspiration to write “Headstart” after a trip to upstate New York at the start of this year. “Being there, I was immediately taken back to the magic and inspiration of creating the first album,” she said in a statement. “It’s quite a light-hearted song, about liking someone who just can’t see the sign...
Nathaniel Rateliff Covers Leonard Cohen’s “There Is a War” with Kevin Morby and Sam Cohen: Stream
Kevin Morby (photo by David Brendan Hall), Nathaniel Rateliff (Ben Kaye), Sam Cohen (Kenneth Bachor) Nathaniel Rateliff, Kevin Morby, and Sam Cohen have teamed up for a new cover of Leonard Cohen’s “There Is a War”. The timely track was produced by Sam Cohen (no relation), and will benefit Rateliff’s The Marigold Project. The song first appeared on 1974’s New Skin for the Old Ceremony, at a time when President Nixon’s message of “Law and Order” was getting drowned out by the Watergate scandal. Well, Trump has been beating that “Law and Order” drum, but he’s one-upped Nixon by providing so many competing scandals that none can dominate the headlines for very long. Meanwhile, the deep-seated conflicts that Cohen wrote about show no signs of abating. The new cover has the three cont...
Indigo Sparke Announces Debut Album Echo, Shares “Baby”: Stream
Indigo Sparke has announced her debut album Echo, co-produced by Adrianne Lenker of Big Thief. It arrives January 29th, and Sparke has shared a preview with her new single “Baby”. Sparke is an Australian songwriter who’s been building buzz over the last year, even performing an NPR Tiny Desk Concert right before the coronavirus lockdowns. She’s already made some well-regarded friends. In addition to Lenker, Echo was co-produced by Andrew Sarlo (Big Thief, Bon Iver), and features playing from Nick Hakim and Big Thief’s James Krivchenia. All of those indie darlings are present and accounted for on “Baby”. Lenker sings backup vocals, Krivchenia handles synths, and Hakim tinkers with a glockenspiel. The song is gorgeous and gentle; Sparke sings in an ethereal voice of the kind of lov...
Gianna Lauren Shares the Origins of New Single “Closed Chapter”: Stream
In our new music feature Origins, we give artists the opportunity to explain the influences of their latest single. Today, Gianna Lauren tells us about the internet algorithms that haunt “Closed Chapter”. Next month, folk songwriter Gianna Lauren will release a new EP called Vanity Metrics. Recorded over the course of two weeks, the project explores feelings of love, loss, and sorrow. These deep reflections are tied to the effort’s title, which “refers to useless music industry data,” and the way in which worth is now often dictated by hollow online algorithms. The heart of the EP is probably best conveyed on today’s single, “Closed Chapter”. The new track grapples with the vicious cycle of internet metrics: “algorithms fucking up mainstream beauty standards, acknowledging...
Johanna Samuels Reveals New Single “High Tide for One”: Stream
Rising songwriter Johanna Samuels has joined the roster of Mama Bird Recording Co., a label known for like-minded folk acts such as Damien Jurado, Vetiver, and Haley Heynderickx. To coincide with the signing announcement, the Los Angeles native is sharing a new single dubbed “High Tide for One”. While 2019 offerings like “Rush of Wheels” and “Supposed to Say” were more of the moody folk variety à la boygenius or Sharon Van Etten, today’s track finds Samuels experimenting with more left-field styles. There’s hints of whimsy in her curling guitars, and following Samuels’ lilting melodies is like taking a leisurely drive across rolling hills. The lyrical focus of “High Tide for One” isn’t as lighthearted, though. According to Samuels, the song was penned in response to watching Dr. Blasey For...
Andrew Bird Shares COVID-19-Inspired Holiday Song “Christmas in April”: Stream
Hark! is the forthcoming holiday album from Andrew Bird, due out next week. An expansion of his 2019 EP of the same name, the project features covers of John Prine and John Cale, as well as original numbers like today’s newly unveiled “Christmas in April”. As you may have guessed by its title, this seasonal offering was inspired by and written during quarantine. On it, the indie troubadour wonders what the holidays will look like amidst the coronavirus pandemic. “When will we know if we can meet under the mistletoe?” Birds asks with a sobering melancholy in his voice, echoing our very same anxieties and fears as the global health crisis stretches into fall and winter. (Remember when we thought it would only last through spring?) Editors’ Picks In a statement, Bird further explained h...
Fiona Apple Sings the Gershwins’ “Bidin’ My Time” in Pro-Biden Voting PSA: Watch
In a year that has seen many become increasingly vocal about their politics, Fiona Apple has made sure her progressive voice has been heard. She’s marched in support of Black Lives Matter, pledged numerous song royalties to charities, and leant her voice to a video about documenting ICE agents. Now, the Fetch the Bolt Cutters singer has given a playful endorsement to Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden in a new voting PSA. Posted by her friend/roommate Zelda Hallman on Instagram, the clip sees Apple singing George and Ira Gershwin’s “Biddin’ My Time”, a song from their 1930 musical Girl Crazy. As she sings the ditty, she gives a not-so-subtle nod to Biden by whipping out her “I Voted” sticker right as the chorus hits. With a smile and a nod, she slaps on the sticker like an eye-pat...
Bright Eyes Share Planned Parenthood Benefit Single “Miracle of Life” featuring Phoebe Bridgers: Stream
This weekend, Bright Eyes are set to take part in “Village of Love”, a livestream concert supporting Planned Parenthood. Ahead of Sunday’s virtual event, the band has shared a new, guest-heavy benefit single for the nonprofit called “Miracle of Life”. The song is a dark country mosey, courtesy of drumming from Queens of the Stone Age’s Jon Theodore and bass from Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Flea. Better Oblivion Community Center collaborator Phoebe Bridgers also contributes, her vocals echoing alongside Conor Oberst’s with the unholiness of the lyrics’ narrative. They sing of a couple who try to drive out of state for a legal abortion, only to find themselves forced into a dangerous situation. Of course, the immorality isn’t in their goal, but in the roadblocks in their way. “Lay down on th...
Briston Maroney Unveils Sweeping New Single “Freeway”: Stream
Indie folk singer-songwriter Briston Maroney has released new single “Freeway” and its video, and it’s a breath of fresh air in these dark timelines. The 22-year-old artist takes us on a dazzling journey down the Maine coastline, with caving expeditions and a blissful boat ride from a first-person POV. For a few precious minutes, we can pretend like we’re not locked in our apartments! The clip was directed by Joey Brodnax, who has worked with Maroney in the past. In it, Maroney is every bit the young, curious twentysomething, exploring the gorgeous scenery with dynamic enthusiasm that can’t help but uplift. There are witty moments, too, like when he can’t can’t a hitchhiking ride, and you feel his humor in his lyrics. “Consider this my confession/ Your love’s my obsession/ Go ahead and sen...
Marika Hackman Covers Elliott Smith’s “Between the Bars”, Beyoncé’s “All Night”: Stream
Next month, English indie rocker Marika Hackman will release a new covers album featuring takes on Radiohead, Grimes, Sharon Van Etten, and more. As a preview of the simply titled Covers, Hackman is now sharing her version of the 1997 Elliott Smith song “Between the Bars” and Beyoncé highlight “All Night”. “When it comes to covers, I like to pick songs which I have been listening to obsessively for a while,” the 28-year-old Londoner noted in a statement. “It gives me a natural understanding of the music, and lets me be more innovative with how I transform it.” Hackman just might be underselling herself with the word “innovative”, as her reworks of Smith and Queen Bey are quite remarkable. And not just for their unique arrangements, but also the fact that such contrasting covers somehow exi...
Shura Remixes Becca Mancari’s “Lonely Boy”: Stream
Back in June, Becca Mancari released her excellent debut album, The Greatest Part, via Captured Tracks. Today, our former Artist of the Month has shared a remixed version of the single “Lonely Boy” by none other than our former CoSign, UK electro-pop artist Shura, Although The Greatest Part was produced by Paramore’s Zac Farro, Mancari’s sound has more roots in indie music than pop or pop-punk. The original version of “Lonely Boy” is a catchy indie rock track with a bumpy bassline and a dreamy hook, but there’s a spaciness to the song that translates really well in Shura’s dance-pop context. In the remix, the main hook of the tune remains intact, but Shura adds some clubby flair and an epic drum breakdown that transitions into a dazzling synth melody. In their respective press st...
M. Ward Announces Billie Holiday Tribute Album Think of Spring, Shares “For Heaven’s Sake”: Stream
M. Ward, photo by Holly Andres M. Ward released his latest album, Migration Stories, back in April of this year. Now, he’s already set to return with more new music — well, new takes on old music, at least. Ward has announced a Billie Holiday tribute album called Think of Spring, due out December 11th via ANTI-. The collection is a reimagining of the majority of Holiday’s 1958 record Lady in Satin, along with the classic “All the Way”. Ward previously performed all the Lady in Satin tracks during a Los Angeles show in 2018. That concert was done with a quartet, but for Think of Spring, he deconstructed the songs for acoustic guitar using alternative tunings and recorded mostly to an analog Tascom four-track. “I first heard Lady in Satin in a mega-shopping mall somewhere in San Francisco,” ...
