Track Of The Day: Kidsmoke – ‘Sister Sadness’

A pensive, light-hearted retrospection on feelings of melancholy and heartache, Welsh indie outfit Kidsmoke have shared their latest single ‘Sister Sadness’. The track is full of chiming guitars and low-key vocals, which combine to make the band’s first release of 2018 an uplifting and memorable tune.

With backing on the airwaves from Steve Lamacq (BBC 6 Music Recommends Track Of The Week) alongside widespread approval from the online community (and a sync in Netflix’s Black Mirror), Kidsmoke are primed for the spotlight in the coming months with tour dates dotted across the UK.

Produced by Russ Hayes (Orange Sound Recording Studio, Penmaenmawr), Kidsmoke’s ‘Sister Sadness’ is available on all digital platforms. Listen below, and follow the band on Facebook for more updates.

Photo credit: Tom Mason

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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WATCH: Dream Nails – ‘Vagina Police’

“Your body is not your own, you are public property…”

Dream Nails front-woman Janey rages in the refrain of our favourite Feminist Punk Witches’ new song, appropriately entitled ‘Vagina Police’. Accompanied by an all-female produced new video (Guen Murroni, Kay Czuba, Georgina Orpin), it’s a witty but poignant representation of the song’s message; that women are not allowed to have autonomy over their own bodies. As we see the band dressed as police swooping in to prevent women buying condoms, taking contraceptives or visiting the gynaecologist, you can’t help but notice the truth in it – women’s reproductive rights are still being controlled and restricted (sometimes completely), in various ways, across the world today. However, the video has a happy ending, as the police are lured into a van, following a trail of doughnuts, and taken away. Phew!

Racing with the band’s trademark punk-fuelled energy, ‘Vagina Police’ packs a punch with its riotous, fist-clenching power as infectious riffs provide a driving force alongside Janey’s seething, impassioned vocals. It’s another formidable offering that proves once again just why we need Dream Nails in our lives; at times like this, we need bands like them more than ever – a group willing to combine activism and music to form a unifying force against the patriarchy. A group who create sparkling, energy-filled tracks that succeed in inspiring and motivating girls everywhere to get to the front and make our voices heard.

Watch the new video for ‘Vagina Police’ here:

‘Vagina Police’ is just one half of the new double A-side 7″ from Janey, Anya, Lucy and Mimi, with the equally powerful ‘Fascism Is Coming’ on the other side. Of the tracks, Janey explains:

“They’re on two sides of the same vinyl because they’re two sides of the
same coin. On a political level, fascism promotes nationalism and population control; on a personal level this manifests in restrictions on bodily autonomy via systemic sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, racism, classism and xenophobia. Two powerful songs with a “rough and ready DIY punk sound, because that’s who we are”

Along with the 7” (or available separately), the band have also produced
a fantastic and informative accompanying 40-page curated zine (‘Your Body is Not Your Own – Articles About Reproductive Justice’) with twenty one different contributors about reproductive justice – “Intersectional feminism is a lifelong journey of listening and solidarity, so we wanted to use our platform as a band to give space for different voices.”

100% of the proceeds from this release go to raise funds for Abortion Support Network (ASN), which provides accommodation and financial assistance to women forced to travel from Ireland to England to have an abortion. An incredibly worthy cause.

‘Vagina Police’/’Fascism Is Coming’ is out now and available to order from Bandcamp.

Mari Lane
@marimindles 

Photo Credit: Poppy Marriott

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Get In Her Ears w/ Beckie Margaret

This week Tash, Kate and Mari were all in the studio to play you some of the best new music, with tunes from the likes of Mellow Gang, Zoey Lily, Beckie & The Birds and Vulpynes. They also remembered the late, great Nina Simone and Kurt Cobain, on the week of their birthdays.

In addition to all the music, the lovely Beckie Margaret came into the studio for a chat about her songwriting, and treated us to a beautiful live rendition of her new track ‘Woman’.

Listen back to the show here:

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Introducing Interview: Freja Frances

Since the release of her debut EP Ghosts in 2015, singer-songwriter Freja Frances has received praise from various publications including For Folk’s Sake and Impose Magazine, and has charmed crowds at Sofar Sounds London, as well as supporting Dodgy at Knutsford Music Festival last summer. And now, with poignant new single ‘Papercuts’, she continues to grace our ears with her smooth, ethereal soundscapes and emotive lyrical storytelling.

We caught up with Freja to find out more…

Hi Freja Frances, welcome to Get In Her Ears! Can you tell us a bit about yourself? How did you initially start creating music?
I’ve had an interest in music from a very young age. I started writing poems and lyrics as a kid, and after a few years of piano lessons I started to incorporate that into my songs too. I definitely put the focus on lyrics when writing, I usually start with a word or phrase and then work the melody and piano around that.

Your new single ‘Papercuts’ is out now – can you tell us what it’s all about? 
I wrote ‘Papercuts’ a few years back, it was at a time when I was a lot more introverted and insecure – it’s a song about pushing people away and being aware of this but unsure how to stop doing it. The Alice In Wonderland theme emphasises the distance I felt between myself and the people around me, and my inability to feel fully present in their world.

 

You’ve been compared to the likes of Birdy and Gabrielle Aplin, but who would you say are your main musical influences?
I actually don’t tend to listen to the sort of music that I write. At the time of writing ‘Papercuts’ I was listening to a lot of alternative, rock and grunge kind of stuff – I’ve always been influenced by the music I listen to lyrically more than musically. Recently, I’ve been more into indie bands: Sundara Karma, Cherry Glazerr and Bad Sounds are some of my favourites right now, so again not really the sort of stuff I write. Having said that, Birdy’s ‘Skinny Love’ is one of my favourite songs.

How is your local music scene? Do you go to see lots of live music?
I’ve recently moved down to Brighton which has a great music scene. I already know a few bands and artists in the area who I am excited to go and see, and there are some lovely venues. I’ve played at The Bedford in Hove a couple of times, it has a great atmosphere. I used to live in London which is also great for live music, although slightly more spread out – I was living in the suburbs and my area unfortunately had no venues at all! But thankfully I was a short train journey away from the centre where there is a lot more going on!

And what can fans expect from your live shows?
My shows are very stripped down and intimate, just piano and vocals. I have a huge amount of unreleased material, so you’ll always be hearing new songs, along with old favourites.

As we’re a new music focused site, are there any new/upcoming bands or artists you’d recommend we check out?
I absolutely love Gareth Esson! I first discovered him when we played on the same night Upstairs at The Ritzy in Brixton. His music is acoustic soul, he is a wonderful lyricist and he has such a great stage presence. Definitely check out his song ‘Almost Something’ – it’s beautiful and heart-breaking!

And how do you feel the music industry is for new bands at the moment – would you say it’s difficult to get noticed?
Absolutely! In some ways it’s great that it is so easy to self-release, but of course this means that it can be difficult to be noticed because of the quantity of music available. The fact that it is far more common to stream music than buy it nowadays also makes it hard to self-sustain, so many musicians have to look for different ways to make a profit; some people do this through frequent touring, but I’m looking to get into the route of writing music on commission. I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to write for Bossa Studios’ recent game ‘Worlds Adrift’ which was a great experience, and I am hoping to be able to work on more projects similar to this in future.

Finally, what does the rest of 2018 have in store for Freja Frances?
I’m going to start working on a new EP and will have the first single from it out by the end of the year. I’ll also continue to play gigs around London and Brighton with some festivals elsewhere in the UK over summer so keep an eye on my Facebook events!

Huge thanks to Freja for answering our questions! 

‘Papercuts’ is out now via ShimmerSun Music.

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