Track Of The Day: Francis of Delirium – ‘Ashamed’

A hectic blend of grungy guitar riffs and insecure thoughts; Francis of Delirium have shared their latest single, ‘Ashamed’. Released via Dalliance Recordings, the track is lifted from the Canadian-American duo’s upcoming EP, All Change, which is set for release on 19th June.

Formed of 18 year old songwriter Jana Bahrich and collaborator Chris Hewett, Francis of Delirium create swirling guitar tunes that centre around Bahrich’s personal experiences. “‘Ashamed’ is about navigating how much of yourself you should be giving out to other people and then second guessing yourself, feeling like what you’re giving out isn’t enough, feeling inadequate, being ashamed of that” Bahrich explains. It’s this sensitivity that makes ‘Ashamed’ feel so relatable. With its indecisive lyrics – “I still stopped short of what I wanted” – and frenzied guitars, the track rushes through moments of concern in search of moments of clarity.

The single is accompanied by a colourful video, created by Bahrich during self-isolation. She explains the themes and ideas behind the visuals further: “There’s one moment where I hit my head and a red circle followed by white rings appears. It’s a visual representation of both the mental self-harm that the narrator is experiencing, and a mirroring of the Talking Heads’ video, ‘Once in a Lifetime’. I’ve always interpreted the song to be about achieving commonly accepted societal goals – the beautiful house, the beautiful wife etc. – and in ‘Ashamed’ I’m beating myself up for failing to achieve that idealised version of success”.

Watch the video for ‘Ashamed’ below, and follow Francis Of Delirium on Facebook & Spotify for more updates.

Photo Credit: Lynn Theisen

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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FIVE FAVOURITES: OHMME

Formed of Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart; Chicago-based OHMME blend driving beats and brooding, distorted guitars to create their deceptively simple, catchy songs. The pair are set to release their new album, Fantasize Your Ghost, on 5th June via Joyful Noise Recordings, and it’s full of snaking riffs and restless lyrics designed to relieve the feeling of being stood still. 

We think one of the best ways to get to know a band is by asking what music inspired them to write in the first place. We caught up with Macie & Sima to ask about their “Five Favourites” – five songs and/or albums that have influenced their writing techniques. Check out their choices below, and scroll down to listen to OHMME’s track ‘Selling Candy’ at the end of this post.

1. Cate Le Bon – Mug Museum
Macie: Cate Le Bon is a new discovery for the both of us. We listened to ‘Reward’ a lot last Spring/Summer when we were touring, and then dug into some of her earlier records. “Mug Museum” really stands out as one of our favourites. The guitars weave together in this snake-like way which inspired a lot of our approach to the guitar part writing on Fantasize Your Ghost. She just has such great songs and arrangements that groove so easily and make you feel good. ‘Are You With Me Now’ is one of our favourites off of the record.

2. Kate Bush – The Kick Inside
Macie: It would be impossible to downplay how much we love Kate Bush. She has this ability to create a different universe on each record of hers, and listening to The Kick Inside woke something up inside of us. I can’t believe she was 17 when she made this record! She’s so young but her voice is so powerful and commanding, it’s really inspiring. It’s cool how this record plays with the aspect of performance in the theatre sense, she’s always embodying these characters in her songs and making them larger than life. It opens up a lot of possibilities of what a song could be.We have a dream of doing a Kate Bush cover night and performing the entirety of this record…We’ll let you know when that happens.

3. The Roches – ‘Hammond Song’
Sima: There’s something about the unison singing in the song that just cuts right through you. The Roches’ use of harmony, unison, and polyphonic singing has been very influential on us the last couple years as we play with all the different ways we can combine our voices. We also adore their songwriting; how direct and hilarious but also earnest it can be. The eponymous album that this song comes from also feels like it was written specifically for people (and maybe even more specifically, women) who are on tour all the time.

4. The Mystery of Bulgarian Voices
Sima: I grew up singing in a choir and was introduced to Bulgarian Women’s Choral singing at a young age and I always loved it. I love any singing where you can sing full-throttle – sacred harp, gospel – it just pulls your guts right up through your throat and I love that. A few years ago on tour, Macie put on the album made by this group and we we’re both just really excited about it. Its one end of the spectrum of singing that we love to indulge in and you can hear it pretty directly influence moments on Fantasize Your Ghost.

5. Neko Case – Star Witness
We’ve both loved Neko for a long time; her voice, her music, but especially her poetry. We sing this song sometimes together when we’re sitting around with acoustic guitar. Neko has an incredible ability to convey a mood without saying exactly what or who she is always singing about. The sound of her words works so well with how her melodies leap and bound around each other. This album came out at a time when we were coming of age as songwriters and is therefore immortalized in our brains forever.

Thanks to Macie & Sima for sharing their favourites with us.
Follow OHMME on Spotify and Facebook for more updates.

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WATCH: Moon Palace – ‘Who You Are’

Gratitude, acceptance, and a beautiful message of hope underscores Moon Palace‘s latest single, ‘Who You Are’. Created during lockdown, the Seattle-based band have shared an accompanying video for the track which shows how they’ve been supporting each other during this uncertain time.

“Do you ever share who you are?” they tentatively ask throughout the song, cautiously challenging listeners to be vulnerable and to let others connect to their thoughts and feelings. “‘Who You Are’ is about navigating difficult or volatile relationships” the band explain. Moon Palace navigate this difficulty via direct lyrics and tentative guitar sounds.

The single’s accompanying visuals act as a “Quarantine Time Capsule” for the band, who came up with the idea during isolation. They explain further: “Prior to the pandemic we were listening to a lot of Sonic Youth, The Gossip, Talking Heads, Duran Duran, Big Thief and sending each other text messages with their songs so that we could listen to sounds that inspired us at practice together. Social isolation has brought a new challenge in collaboration. Cat, Jude, and one of their best friends and video editor Lindsay Martin sat around on a sunny spring day during a socially distanced backyard hang, and talked about creating a video to show their experience in Seattle during the pandemic.”

“We asked our friend group to send 10 second video clips that portray their experience in isolation. We hoped to gain clips documenting our collective reality to show joy and bring comfort and delight to viewers. We also felt nostalgia for playing live in our favourite music venues such as The Tractor Tavern, Clock-Out Lounge, The Wildrose and so many more. Shut down venues and the incredible murals have centre stage in this video.”

Hopefully, Moon Palace will be able to return to these Seattle venues to play their optimistic, shimmering sounds for a live audience soon. Watch the video for ‘Who You Are’ below and follow Moon Palace on Facebook and Spotify for more updates.

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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LISTEN: Sunflower Thieves – ‘Hide and Seek’

Charming vocal harmonies and soft guitar sounds blend delicately together on Sunflower Thieves‘ latest single, ‘Hide and Seek’. Self-released by the Leeds-based duo, the track is a nostalgic musing on what it was like to be a small child, blissfully unaware of the troubles of the wider world.

Sunflower Thieves’ musical offerings blossomed out of Amy and Lily’s sixteen year friendship. The pop-folk duo craft tentative tracks with personal narratives, and ‘Hide and Seek’ is another example of their ability to create reassuring sounds.

“‘Hide and Seek’ was written on a little writing trip we took to Norfolk in January” the band explain. “We stayed in a little beach-side house with a log fire and had a lovely, creative time. That definitely influenced the song. ‘Hide and Seek’ is about childhood memory and ignorant bliss. We all wish we could escape back to a time when we felt safe and other people would take care of us, when life becomes a little difficult.”

“Most of the instrumentations (guitars, strings, bass, etc) have been recorded remotely during lockdown. Lily produces all of our music, so we’ve taken advantage of the concentrated creative time lockdown has given us to get it sounding exactly how we wanted it to. Production and songwriting are both hugely inspired by Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Rose for this song, and we feel it’s our best yet.”

Listen to Sunflower Thieves’ new single below and follow the band on Facebook and Spotify for more updates.

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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