Song of the Week - Picture Parlour - Face in the Picture

 

Picture Parlour have already ‘faced the music’ from a number of critics for allegedly being the dreaded ‘industry plant’; a meaningless and absolute b*llocks term, that becomes even more meaningless and b*llocks when the people calling them industry plants don’t seem to be explain exactly what they mean or give any evidence of them being such except vague statements like “I know they are.”

I've written about this term in the past, but to summarise, my view of this criticism is the same as the criticism when Lana Del Rey first had success with Video Games and certain loudmouths seemed more interested in talking about her lips (and debating if she had had work done) rather than the music: I couldn’t care a bit. And I don't think the majority of the music listening public do either.

Yes, there is a discussion to be had around privilege in the music industry (assuming that’s what using the criticisms of Industry Plant are actually about) but I’m not sure that simply slagging off artists on Twitter is really the way encourage productive dialogue and change. It just gets people’s backs up. Especially if your criticisms are not backed up by cold hard facts; you just end up looking like an angry child.

However, ultimately, I couldn’t care if Picture Parlour is a fictional band created by some very clever AI if the songs are good. After all I quite liked Boney M. 

Which brings us to Face In The Picture. Their new song. (That’s Picture Parlour’s new one – not Boney M's ). It’s one I shared a live clip of a few weeks ago on my Instagram Story (I’m at breakingmorewavespics for music stuff and robin_seamer for personal stuff if you want to follow). 

To cut to the chase. It’s very good. At less than 3 minutes long Face In The Picture bursts in with a searing hook and big riffs that would sound equally at home in a small underground club or a huge stadium. It’s a fists pumping the air track that aims to remind us that emotional wounds can fade as time passes, but they never truly heal. 

It’s taken from the band’s forthcoming EP. The video (below) is shot in black and white and has an old fashioned cinematic quality.

You’ll find this song on the latest update of the Breaking More Waves New Music Weekly playlist, which is released tomorrow.

Picture Parlour - Face In The Picture

Picture Parlour · Face In The Picture

Song of the Week - Sofi Tukker - Throw Some Ass

 

You may not know it butt this is what you knead. A peach of a video and a song that asks you to get off your backside and dance. If your plans have gone a rye, don’t worry, it’s impossible to feel sour when you hear this. Let’s just hope that it makes Sofi Tukker a bit of dough.

Warning: The video contains a beautiful set of buns. And some baguettes that despite being at the pool don’t get soaking wheat all over.

Right. That’s enough bread / ass puns. Song of the week, no question. Possibly tune of the summer. Come on UK, a lot of you are still way behind with Sofi Tukker, stop loafing around and get into them. The album Bread arrives this summer.

Sofi Tukker - Throw Some Ass (Video)

SOFI TUKKER · Sofi Tukker - Throw Some Ass

Song of the Week - Imogen and the Knife - Mother of God

 

Song of the Week this week could so very nearly have also fitted into an artists new / introducing type post, as on first glance Imogen and the Knife is a brand new artist, with Mother of God appearing to be a debut single. However, delve just a tiny bit deeper and you’ll find that Imogen has already released music between 2018 and 2021 under just the name Imogen, amongst them the song White Lines (no not a cover of the Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel classic ) picking up a couple of million streams on Spotify.

However, at the start of 2024 Imogen announced via socials that: ”From here on out I’ll be releasing and performing my music as Imogen and the Knife. There’s many reasons behind the name, one being the reclaiming of the surgical knife that has been a motif throughout my life and writing. But ultimately, the Knife represents the vessel for the music: the songs, the lyrics, the piano, my collaborators, my band.”

I saw Imogen support Another Sky last year and my overriding impression was someone with bags of talent who as a reference point I kept thinking of PJ Harvey, not in so much the sound, but in the sense of depth and artistry to what Imogen was doing. Now Mother of God gives us that artistry. Featuring a repeated riff, brassy stabs and (obviously) Imogen’s impressive vocals there’s a tension to this tune that gets under your skin after a few listens. A cut above the rest.

As always you can find the song on the Breaking More Waves New Music Weekly Playlist (click here)

Imogen and the Knife - Mother of God

NEW #79 - The Itch

 

This week’s track is a combined ‘Song of the Week’ and ‘New’ post as it’s a debut tune from a brand new band. It is, as always, featured on the current Breaking More Waves New Music Weekly Playlist which you can find by clicking here.

Ursula by The Itch appeared online last week and prompted a flurry of posts from all the tastemaker websites; it’s easy to see why though. For Georgia Hardy and Simon Tyrie (who are The Itch) have created something rather magnificent. An ambitious meandering piece of electronic retro-pop that hints at the likes of Depeche Mode circa Violator and Your Love by Frankie Knuckles, it’s in no rush to finish as it tells us that pain is stronger than love and builds to an early proclamation that: “We can bring down the government, we could put their heads on spikes.” 

If I didn’t know better I would have suggested that this was a song that someone had discovered on one of those lost Alternative Eighties compilation CDs, but it’s not. What it is for certain is an impressive start. Clocking in at 7 minutes it’s not one for Tik-Tokers with the attention spans of a gnat, but for anyone else this is one to dive into.

The Itch - Ursula