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

NEW #78 - The Pill

 

The Pill are like the snotty but sparkling d-i-y punk-pop sisters of Wet Leg, or perhaps Panic Shack, with extra venom. Debut single Bale of Hay, released yesterday, is less than 2 minutes long but packs in more wit and energy than most bands manage in years. “I’m a blonde bitch. Bimbo, butthole, tits. You expect me to be a sex icon. Oh wait, I am,” they proclaim with fake surprise before storming into some chaotic riffing. It’s all brilliantly messy and lo-fi and I’m here for it.

Describing themselves as “Two girlies on vocals, bass and guitar along with Rufus on sticks,” The Pill say that they draw from dire situations, like your scaffolder seeing you naked (insert jokes about big poles here like a Viz style comic) and the woes of your hair being too blonde, which is what this song is about.

If there is a hint of Wet Leg in what The Pill do, it’s perhaps not that surprising, after all they drink and bathe in the same water supply as Rhian and Hester, as they also hail from the Isle of Wight. 

For a pretty small place the island does damn well in producing artists that gain some traction. Besides the aforementioned Chaise Longuers, over the last few years we’ve had Plastic Mermaids, Coach Party and Lauran Hibberd all doing rather well (and all covered early on by this blog!) Now it’s time for your pills. Or rather The Pill.

The band has been kicking around for a while now. I first came across an earlier incarnation sometime around the back end of 2019 and had booked them to play Dials Festival in 2020. However, something happened in 2020 (you can probably remember!) and as a result there was no Dials. They seemed to disappear for a while but now The Pill are here and ready to go.

Bale of Hay streams below and you’ll also find it on next Friday’s New Music Friday playlist. The Pill are Lily and Lottie (and not forgetting Rufus behind!) and support Big Special in Oxford on the 4th April and play Notting Hill Arts Club, London with Juno on the 5th.

The Pill - Bale of Hay

Song of the Week - Ellie Bleach - Hottest Man Alive 1995

 

The eagle eyed and observant amongst you will have noticed that there was no Breaking More Waves Song of the Week last week – due to being on holiday. However, the New Music Weekly playlist did get hastily constructed, put together in a hotel room whilst overlooking the Tyne (sadly no fog or Paul Gascoigne were present).

It’s back to regular service this week with a number of songs in contention for this post, but the one I’ve chosen opens proceedings on the playlist. Ellie Bleach’s Hottest Man Alive 1995 might sound like the title of some sort of super-sexed sweaty disco anthem but is in fact a slow burning country lament taken from her conceptual EP Now Leaving West Feldwood, a cinematic anthology of six characters and their intertwining lives.

“I’m not ashamed to say I did some light research today; I came across an image of you on a holiday. You had your arm around some blonde they said was half your age, but I know how these liberal types tend to exaggerate,” she begins and from there we’re whisked into a tale of a middle-aged woman in an unhappy marriage who obsesses about someone else. It’s like Lana Del Ray has gone to Berkshire.

A song about obsession which we can all obsess about. Excellent stuff.

You can find this song in an hour’s worth of goodness on the Breaking More Waves New Music Playlist by clicking here.

Ellie Bleach - Hottest Man Alive 1995