Kate Crudgington

LISTEN: Daneka – ‘She’s Never Been’

A sultry, R&B infused bedroom-pop tune exploring the mixed emotions surrounding an intense, romantic attraction, Southend-based songwriter Daneka has shared her latest single ‘She’s Never Been’. Full of smooth vocals and yearning lyrics, the track is a mellow but passionate portrait of a woman who wants to be loved and acknowledged for all that she is.

“This song is about a young woman wanting a man who is taken,” Daneka explains. “The song highlights an obsessive and impulsive behaviour of the woman, but also the determination and hunger of a woman who knows what she wants and will stop at nothing to get it.” Through her extended vocals and subtle samples of hushed exhales, Daneka reflects this hunger and longing to be with the one she loves.

“‘She’s Never Been’ also highlights the imperfections of a woman with obvious mental instability,” Daneka continues. “The underlying issue is that this woman has never been ‘the hot one’, or the ‘smart one’, or the ‘sexy one’ either, but just a woman living.” Despite this underlying insecurity, Daneka’s confident voice portrays a woman who is deeply in touch with her emotions and aware of her potential, even if her efforts are directed towards someone who may not acknowledge or deserve them.

Listen to ‘She’s Never Been’ below.

Follow Daneka on Facebook & Spotify.

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

March 5, 2021March 5, 2021

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#ThrowbackThursday: GIHE w/ Brix Smith-Start (20.02.20)

Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown in the UK, we’re unable to make it into the Hoxton Radio studio to broadcast our weekly live new music show from 7-9pm. Instead, we’re sharing previous GIHE radio show recordings as #ThrowbackThursday sessions, so you can still enjoy 2 hours of new music tunes & chats with some of our favourite artists each week.

Today, we’ve picked our February 2020 show with the incredible Brix Smith-Start. She joined Mari & Kate in the studio to talk about her last three albums with Brix & The Extricated, her love for Nadine Shah and her experiences over the years as a trailblazer in the music industry.

Listen back to the show below:

Tracklist
Lizzo – Juice
LegPuppy ft. Josefin Ohrn – Secret Friend
MAITA – A Beast
DRAMA – Years
MIRI – Girls Just Want To Have Fun
MEI – I Don’t Know What’s Next
Lido Pimienta – Eso Que Tu Haces
Bad Bones – Beg
Desire – Bizarre Love Triangle (New Order Cover)
Alessi’s Ark – Woman
Shoulder Season – Clean Lines
Brix & The Extricated – Wolves
**Interview with Brix Smith-Start**
RUNAH – Same Face
Li Yilei – A Star Without Guidance
HMS Morris – Babanod
Hilary Woods – Orange Tree
Girl Ray – Friend Like That
Am.i – Millenial
Chloe Foy – Callous Copper
Charlotte Spiral – Wide Eyed
Nirvana – Heart-Shaped Box
Kate Tempest – People’s Faces

March 4, 2021

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Track Of The Day: Riotmiloo – ‘Vile Butterflies’

Abrasive beats, pulverizing electronics and seething vocals mesh together on ‘Vile Butterflies’, the latest single from London-based industrial riot grrrl Riotmiloo. Released as part of Chaos Theory’s fundraising compilation album 11 Years Of Chaos, the track bristles with intense unease, mimicking the nervous twitches of the wings of the titular insect.

“The idea behind this song is to not to let negative thoughts suppress your potential. Don’t listen to your vile butterflies,” Riotmiloo explains. Due to the on-going Covid-19 pandemic, Riotmiloo and London-based music promoters Chaos Theory have been unable to perform live shows at one of their favourite venues, The Black Heart in Camden, for over a year. ‘Vile Butterflies’ is one of twenty-six tracks on 11 Years Of Chaos, a compilation album that aims to raise much-needed funds for the venue, as well as promoting many of the artists Chaos Theory have worked with too.

Currently available on bandcamp, 10% of the profits made before 22nd March will be donated to the #SaveTheBlackHeart campaign, with other profits being shared fairly between artists and Chaos Theory so they can invest in more livestreaming equipment. The alternative, genre-defying collection features tracks from heavy rockers Vodun, a beguiling Cocteau Twins cover by Maud The Moth, as well as contributions from Brigitte Handley, Kate Arnold, Prisa Mata, Årabrot, Black Orchids and more.

The album is a fierce, cathartic soundtrack for escapism, but it’s also a heartening reminder that the DIY music community provides a crucial support network for artists, venues and promoters during this unpredictable and difficult time.

Listen to Riotmiloo’s ‘Vile Butterflies’ below.

Download your copy of 11 Years Of Chaos from bandcamp.

Follow Riotmiloo on bandcamp, Spotify, Twitter, Facebook & Instagram

Follow Chaos Theory on bandcamp, Twitter, Facebook & Instagram

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

March 4, 2021March 4, 2021

Kate CrudgingtonLeave a comment

LISTEN: Bess Atwell – ‘Co-op’

A nostalgia-tinged reflection on the different ways we seek comfort in a relationship, British songwriter Bess Atwell has shared her latest single ‘Co-op’. Released via Lucy Rose’s label Real Kind Records, Atwell gently shifts between tenses and re-traces her emotions on this charming musical snapshot, exploring what it means to truly trust someone to help you through life’s difficult moments.

“I think of this song the same way I think of a memory that keeps interrupting the current moment,” Atwell explains. Through her stream of consciousness lyrics and gentle melodies, she finds herself resting somewhere between insecurity and genuine confidence, treating everyday occurrences with a poetic poignancy – “Half your furniture we found on the street outside / Hey somebody is throwing out a perfectly good piece of mind.”

“‘Co-op’ is an illustration of mine and my partner’s life together,” Atwell continues. “The relationship seemed to provide me with some sort of permission to recuperate from family trauma, as if realising for the first time that there was a life outside of that chaos lulled me into an emotional slumber. Through the song I grapple with the desire for, and fear of, comfort. I used references to Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway to depict a vivid nostalgia and an affinity for trivialities that serve to calm when darker thoughts set in.”

The track is accompanied by a soft-looking set of visuals, co-directed by Atwell and her good friend George Ogilvie, which gently attempts to “marry two worlds at odds with each other,” contrasting “the mundane and the emotional” elements of the track with Atwell’s eccentric props, outfit and choice of setting.

“‘Co-op’ started out as a bit of a private joke, so I wanted the video to have a self-awareness and sense of humour to it too,” Atwell explains. “I think there can be a tendency, when you’re shooting a music video yourself, to try too hard to make it look professional. Instead, I wanted to lean into the fun of making it with a friend. It felt reminiscent of our childhoods, when we would make up plays or dances and perform them to anyone who would watch.”