Kate Crudgington

LISTEN: For Breakfast – ‘Mother’

A cacophony of melodic, jazzy, post-punk inspired sound; North London six-piece For Breakfast have shared their latest single, ‘Mother’. Released via DIY label Glasshouse Records, the track is lifted from the band’s debut EP Songs In the Key of O, which is set for release later this year.

Formed of Will Eckersley (drums), Joe Thompson (guitar), Sam Birkett (bass/backing vocals), Omar Zaghouani (guitar), Gail Tasker (flute), and Maya Harrison (vocals/keys), For Breakfast create spacious, alternative soundscapes. ‘Mother’ is a shining example of this; with its caressing vocals, psych-infused guitars, and manic breakdown at the close of the track. The song is inspired by “adolescent anxiety in the family home”.

The band will be celebrating the release of their new track at their headline show at The Windmill, Brixton on 19th March (event details here), so make sure you head down if you like what you’ve heard. Listen to ‘Mother’ below, and follow For Breakfast on Facebook and Spotify for more updates.

Photo Credit: Benjamin Leggett

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

March 13, 2020March 13, 2020

Kate CrudgingtonLeave a comment

ALBUM: The Wants – ‘Container’

Formed by Madison Velding-VanDam and Heather Elle from New York art-punk band Bodega, The Wants‘ debut album Container is a punchy, defiant, riot of a record that simultaneously reflects and resists anxiety, on both a personal and wider scale. With its swaggering beats, techno influences, and to-the-point lyricism; it flows seamlessly from track-to-track demanding uninterrupted listening from the offset.

The Wants began taking shape when drummer Jason Gates and Velding-VanDam met in New York in 2014, but became fully formed while Velding-VanDam and Elle were working together under the Bodega moniker years later. Realising they all had a passion for electronic music, the three began writing together, and Container is the result of this collaboration.

Instrumental opener ‘Ramp’ commands attention with its thudding kick drum, while eponymous track ‘Container’ pulses with brooding bass lines and deadpan lyrical delivery. Pounding instrumental ‘Machine Room’ bleeds in to ‘Fear My Society’. “Will you love me if I’m a failure?” agonises Velding-VanDam, over funky beats and surprisingly buoyant synths. It feels odd to dance around to a track that’s fueled by anxiety and alienation, but it’s a natural response to The Wants driving rhythms.

Making space to individually review each of Container‘s tracks feels odd, as the record is such a cohesive creation, where each track transitions smoothly in to the next. Instrumental ‘Aluminium’ blends in to the unsettling ‘Ape Trap’. “I will stay a deviant, or else I die of boredom” Velding-VanDam sings, desperate to escape his metaphorical cell. Instrumental ‘Waiting Room’ builds on this tension, until its relieved by the confessional ‘Clearly A Crisis’. “I have no intimacy, I’m never vul-ner-able” – Velding-VanDam takes care to repeat, and speak this line with intense clarity.

The funky beats on ‘Nuclear Party’ float around as the cute threat of “kiss my bombs” ricochets between your ears. The bouncy ‘Hydra’ follows, before eerie instrumental ‘Voltage’ closes the record on a somber note. It’s a striking offering, with each scratch, pulse, and echo captured clearly. The band recorded the album in their bedrooms and their rehearsal space — a re-purposed HANJIN shipping container situated in the middle of a dumpling factory parking lot — so it’s a testament to their personal, and joint production skills that these elements can be heard in the mix.

With their myriad of influences – including the literature of Jenny Holzer, the sounds of The National, and a love for techno – The Wants have created a sonic space on Container that’s somewhere between the catchy electronics of Depeche Mode, the angsty lyrics of early Sonic Youth. It’s a distracting record, in the best possible way, and deserves your undivided attention.

Listen to Container in full here. Follow The Wants on Spotify and Facebook for more updates.

Photo Credit: Madison Carroll

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

March 13, 2020

Kate CrudgingtonLeave a comment

LISTEN: Notelle – ‘Come For Me’

Self-described as “nightmare pop”, Nashville-based artist Notelle has shared her latest single, ‘Come For Me’. Released at the beginning of March, the track is a moody, shadowy exploration of old loves and how they posses both the memory and the body.

Inspired by the likes of Nine Inch Nails and Billie Eilish, Notelle blends elements of industrial, pop, and electronic music in order to create her haunting tracks. On ‘Come For Me’, her brooding vocals combine with dense beats and exploratory “left of centre” production to produce a captivating soundscape.

Notelle explains more about the track’s premise: “I have always found the concept of ‘shadows’ fascinating, as they’re quite literally a dark sided piece of you that is intangible, yet always present. It reminded me a lot of the remnants of an old love. They’re there still, but not really. It’s a frightening concept. It’s widely accepted, at this point, that all living things are made up of energy – and I’ve been reading more and more recently about how even after a living thing has left a space, it is possible that their residual energy can linger. You can feel it, even when you’d give anything to erase it. That’s what this song is about; that shadow that haunts you, that memory that overstays it’s welcome, that person whose presence it’s still there long after they’re gone.”

Listen to Notelle’s new track below, and follow her on Facebook and Spotify for more updates.

Photo Credit: @thederricklipschitz

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

March 12, 2020March 14, 2020

Kate CrudgingtonLeave a comment

ALBUM: Hilary Woods – ‘Birthmarks’

Both an aural purge of insecurities and a powerful exploration of self-autonomy, multi-instrumentalist Hilary Woods‘ second album Birthmarks is a cohesive set of shadowy soundscapes that smolder with quiet intensity. Darker and sharper in sound compared to her debut album, Colt, the Irish musician has collaborated with Norwegian experimental noise producer & filmmaker Lasse Marhaug for this latest release on Sacred Bones Records.

Recorded over the course of two years between Galway and Oslo whilst Woods was heavily pregnant, Birthmarks feels like her most personal and powerful record to date. Inspired by field recordings, the images from post-war Japanese & wet-plate photography and the secret life of trees, Woods’ far-reaching influences are what make her art so transcendent.

Opener ‘Tongues Of Wild Boar’ is a foggy, captivating exploration of intense discomfort. From its scratchy dense intro, to its gentle blend of orchestral and electronic elements, it’s an intuitive track that scars and soothes in equal measure. “My body knows I can’t make it out” Woods muses on ‘Orange Tree’, tentatively trying to make peace with her physicality and her surroundings. This need to face her inner fears underscores the record, making it an unsettling, but liberating listen.

The tender ‘Through The Dark, Love’ feels like an intuitive guide through an ambiguous, tumultuous relationship, whilst the sparse instrumentation and the rhythmic humming on ‘Lay Bare’ is deeply comforting. The stretched out saxophone sounds, changing tempo and whispered lyrics on ‘Mud and Stones’ showcase the delicacy with which Woods crafts her songs. They all have a confessional, meditative nature, but her ability to switch from gentle to gritty within a few short seconds never fails to impress.

‘The Mouth’ is one of Birthmarks’ boldest tracks. A fleshy, twisted lullaby about personal hesitation, it’s a somber yet powerful listen, laced with melancholy strings, saxophone and distorted drone noises. The denseness of instrumental ‘Cleansing Ritual’ is unexpectedly soothing too. Its layers of drone noises and distortion cauterize the deepest of wounds. The eerie, persistent tapping of one key alongside Woods’ hushed voice on ‘There Is No Moon’ could feel desolate, but instead it feels restless, as if she is keeping herself awake with the urgency of that repeated note.

Though quiet in terms of volume, Birthmarks is an abrasive, primal, charged offering that allows Woods the space to navigate uncertain emotional territory, highlighting her strength and resilience as an artist. Though fueled by uncertainty, it’s a carefully constructed record that provides space for healing and acceptance.

Pre-order Hilary Woods’ new album Birthmarks here (released 13th March via Sacred Bones)