Remedies – Ligths Out
Remedies is an alt-rock/pop duo from Narvik in Northern Norway, formed in late 2016. The duo consists of Tor Erik Ursin (instrumentals) and Sigrid Ryan (vocals). Their music is inspired by elements from different genres, mixed together to create an exciting soundscape. Remedies compose, write, produce, and release their music independently. Following up on their EP “Delusions” from 2019, the duo is now set for their first album release on October 21st, 2022.
“Lights Out” is the title song on “Remedies” upcoming album with the same name (Out October 21st). The lyrics depict a fragile world, where world leaders are burning bridges, with the most uncertain outcome. “In the production process, we wanted to build a continuous, marching rhythm and a serious mood that compliments the text”. The song, as well as the album, is self-produced and partially recorded at home and in Kysten Studio in Tromsø, Nothern Norway.
Maya Abee – Dreaming
Maya Abee, hailing from Los Angeles, humbly offers a fresh new voice in the realm of indie singer-songwriters. Abee got in touch with her creativity at an early age, attending art classes and sitting in the audience of her father’s poetry readings. She then learned guitar at her Performing Arts High School, and as a result, began songwriting. Wearing her sonic influences proudly on her sleeve, she focuses on the disparate and often non-linear experiences of growth, and healing and channels it into a dreamy folk outlet. Her music uses the world around her as an excavation site, chipping away at the depths of what so often eludes all of us: ourselves.
Coming off of her self-released Divine EP from the Spring of 2022, Maya Abee takes a dive into the more surrealist stratum of her dream-folk realm with the forthcoming track Dreaming. Produced by collaborator Corey Gordon, Dreaming provides an addictive head-bobbing energy and psychedelic soundscape in an allegorical rock arrangement. Maya Abee’s 90’s influence is apparent in her raw and honest vocal delivery through a somewhat-sleepy nonchalance. The single’s guitar line — credited to the artist Gambee— latches into the subconscious like an intrusive thought as Abee sings of lucid dreams and haunted desires. The playful track coming in at just under 3 minutes, reveals Abee’s ability to blur time and space both lyrically and sonically — some sections echo a dream, shifting into REM sleep, or tossing and turning under the covers. An unconventional love song, Dreaming sings to a fictitious lover, figure, entity without identity, only to be seen with her eyes closed.
Tonia – Empty Conversations
Liverpool’s rising star Tonia announces her upcoming debut EP ‘Afloat’ and shares a taster with new single ‘Empty Conversations’. Growing up in a musical family, Tonia (pronounced Toe-knee-uh) found herself surrounded by pianists and opera singers, pop-lovers, and Dad rock fans. Moving to Liverpool saw Tonia take the city by storm, becoming one of Liverpool International Music Festival’s (LIMF) Academy’s “Most Promising” artists.
Building upon Tonia’s distinctive sound, candid and honest lyricism, her velvety vocal lays bare an unspoken conversation with an ex. “Empty Conversations” showcases both Tonia’s effortless ability to pen immediately relatable songs, and cements her expertise in the smooth, soul-influenced pop she has become synonymous with.
About the track, Tonia elaborates: “When I wrote “Empty Conversations” it was quite a while after the relationship had ended but it was enough time to figure out exactly how I felt about it. It is about self-assurance: the joy you can find in the moment you realise you feel no emotion towards someone that you once felt deeply for. I had moved on and grown from a past relationship and I had no hurt left. I could enjoy the comfort of happiness I found in myself instead of relying on finding happiness in someone else.”
SASS – These Days
SASS are an alternative pop 5 piece originally from Birmingham and now split between there and London, made up of Ryan Ward on Vocals, Nicky Preston on Synth and Keys, Fraser Knott on Drums, Jack Bedford on Bass and Craig Griffiths on Guitar. Drawing inspiration from the likes of The XX, Drake and Foals, they offer a seemingly relaxed take on the typical “Birmingham” sound that has developed in recent years. The tracks feature a combination of woozy electronic drums interspersed with tropical guitar, heavy bass and synth topped off with a layer of introspective R&B vocals.
Released this summer, “These Days” was recorded remotely in early 2021, with the band members sending ideas back and forth, recording and producing the track on their own. About “These Days”, lyricist Ryan Ward said: “The song is about how relationships can become muddled, and when the happens, it feels like the only way to get back on track is to talk it out.”
Low Hummer – Panic Calls
Low Hummer are a fast-rising six piece from Hull that write about their life in deepest darkest East Yorkshire and their place in a world of consumerism and bad news stories sold as gospel. Daniel, Aimee, Steph, Jack, John and Joe came together from the far corners of the city’s tight knit DIY community, established a regular rehearsal home in iconic DIY venue The New Adelphi Club and set about honing their righteous, danceable garage rock before announcing themselves in late 2019 and introducing the world to Low Hummer – a band of misfits from a town left behind.
With their newest release in late September, Low Hummer perfectly showcase their effortlessly cool yet jittery brand of post-punk on latest single “Panic Calls“. The song references the futility of mental health support by imitating generic, automated answer machines of crisis lines.