Hats off to the brilliance of pop that has COLOUR and MAGIC and isn’t beige or flatpack. Hats off to singers who have won Brit Awards and had chart success before turning their backs on it all and still fizz with ENERGY and FUN and ATTITUDE. FUN is not a dirty word in music – there’s a note to the ‘serious music fans’ amongst you. Dressing up is good. Don’t be boring, be ALIVE. HOLYCHILD X Kate Nash = A.M.A.Z.I.N.G How about a hook that says: “Do we eat or just starve ourselves tonight?”
Hats off to colourful modesty covers. If only all pop music was this bratish, sarcastic, insultingly beautiful, clever and LIFE AFFIRMING at the same time. On repeat. HOLYCHILD x Kate Nash - Rotten Teeth (Video)
One of my ‘to sees’ at this year’s Great Escape Festival that never materialised due to horrendous line up clashes was Bishop. To make matters worse I spoke to three different people who did make it along to the one show she played and all of them sung her praises to the heavens. 100% killer vocal and talent was the consensus. Damn. Her first two singles Wild Horses and its follow up River were both colossal tunes which in some ways reminded me of an artist like Rag ‘N’ Bone Man; that is to say she clearly possesses a fine set of lungs and her songs mash up a number of genres - in Bishop’s case, acoustic folk, dark electronic pop and soul. Now she’s back with a third offering and a name upgrade from Bishop to Bishop Briggs. I assume this is not as a tribute to the town on the edge of Glasgow, Scotland, although apparently her parents are Scottish, even though she was born in London and raised in Japan and Hong Kong before finally ending up in Los Angeles. The Way I Do is a gospel-choir backed belter, passionate in both its delivery and lyrical focus and may well send shivers down your spine. It’s a persuasive argument that we all need to go and worship at the church of Bishop Briggs. Bishop Briggs - The Way I Do
It took me about twenty seconds to fall in love with the sound of the Isle of Wight’s Lauran Hibberd. With a folk-pop sensibility similar to the likes of Lucy Rose or Billie Marten, Lauran manages to combine a simple acoustic delicacy with a something a little bolder that hints at a grander musical vision. Take a listen to The House I Built When I Was Small, which she describes as being about ‘between facing reality as a child and facing reality as an adult’ and you’ll understand what I mean. Quietly and beautifully magnetising, it’s a very fine start for this young singer songwriter. I’m not the only one to be immediately smitten with her music though – Lauran has already won a competition to appear at this year’s Bestival on her homeland and has received plays on both BBC 6 Music and Amazing Radio. If you shop in Harrods (!) you may have even heard her voice soundtracking your expensive spending spree as this song has made the in-store playlist there. Press play below and listen to this entrancing song Lauran Hibberd - The House I Built When I was Small
Just a really short post to bring you the video from one of my highlights of this year’s Great Escape Festival – Let’s Eat Grandma. It was my second time seeing the band live and they were just as spellbinding as the first. I’ve already written plenty of words about Eat Shiitake Mushrooms on a previous post (here), but make sure you give the video a play even if you've heard the track plenty of times - it takes you further into their world. Eat Shiitake Mushrooms is what I imagine Studio Ghibli and Dario Argento would come up with if they ever made a pop record. Disturbing, menacing but curiously uplifting, this is a record that puts a big ‘must trying harder’ comment down on the music school reports of not only 90% of vacuous mainstream pop music but so called ‘alternative’ acts who are just rehashing what has gone before. Different? Very much so. Thank god for Let’s Eat Grandma. Let's Eat Grandma - Eat Shiitake Mushrooms (Video)
