LISTEN: HunBjørn – ‘Who Are We To Love’

Danish electro-pop artist HunBjørn – which roughly translates as “small bear” – has shared a new element of her musical universe in the form of single ‘Who Are We To Love’. It’s a dreamy combination of synths, distorted guitars and sweet melancholic vocals.

HunBjørn (aka Ulla Pihl) was the former lead singer and songwriter in the experimental pop band Lima Lima, but now she’s recording as a solo artist. She released her debut EP In Vacuo in September of 2018, and began growing her fan base on social media by using a messenger-bot called the “She Bear Bot”. It’s an interactive behind the scenes experience for her EP that fans could join, and includes personal vlogs about every song and the story behind it.

Now, HunBjørn is ready with a new set of stories on her second EP Next Summer. She produced the record herself and it was mixed by previous collaborator Brian Batz (aka Sleep Party People). ‘Who Are We To Love’ is the first single, and it’s a love song to the environment, written to remind us that taking care of it is the responsibility of all of us.

Combining both organic and digital synth textures, HunBjørn has created a twinkling track full of her soothing vocals. Speaking about the single, she explains: “For a long time, I had been wanting to write a song about the environment expressing my concerns about where we’re heading. But I didn’t want the song to be sanctimonious or a lifted finger. So instead I tried to express the double standards that I myself apply. I was planning to fly to the other side of the world, well knowing how big my CO2 footprint would be. At the same time I see myself as environmentally conscious person. So I’ve tried to express those opposing feelings in the song. How much is just words and how much do we really act? How much do we leave for our decision makers or even worse – for our kids?

The official music video for the song is directed by Daniel Charluck Garrelts from Karma Film. HunBjørn’s pregnant body is painted in gold as a picture of the earth, which is marred by black oil as a symbol of how we treat the earth and what our children are born into. Take a look at the footage below and follow HunBjørn on Facebook for more updates.

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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FIVE FAVOURITES: Lia Braswell (A Place To Bury Strangers)

Brooklyn’s A Place To Bury Strangers have been launching sonic assaults on the eardrums of their cult following for over a decade. Driving the trio’s sound is drummer Lia Braswell; who plays with a raw, punishing, and unpredictable style that’s best appreciated live.

If you’ve never experienced APTBS’s live show, you now have access to the next best thing: London’s Fuzz Club recorded a live session with the band last year and have released the recording exclusively on vinyl (available for purchase here).

We wanted to know more about what drives Lia to be the expert musician that she is, so we asked her to share her “Five Favourite” albums with us. Check out her choices below, and make sure you watch the Fuzz Club recording of ‘Punk Back’ at the end of this post too!

1. The Slits – Cut
When I first listened to this album, it changed my perspective of how punk music could sound. Primal, evocative, sensual but also very feminine. Something like an album that either came out of an imaginative shower or a communal dance around a bonfire, both introspective yet objective and literate. Initially, it was the album that I was searching for all throughout my angsty and awkward junior high school years, but didn’t find until after I was out of school. Then again, it might have inspired me to drop out before graduating!

2. Scout Niblett – The Calcination of Scout Niblett 
Simple, jagged, heavy. This album CUTS. It’s the inner snarky child who takes back their power and runs with it as an awakened grown up. After my roommate and I discovered that we have a mutual love for Scout, we busted out this record and started interpretive dancing to all the motions of fuzzed out guitar bends and primal drum breakdowns. This album brings so much raw emotion into an empowering force of self-affirming vigilance. Hell YES.

3. Broadcast – Future Crayon
Enchanting, subjective, expansive. What a beautiful masterpiece of subtle psychedelia mixed with dreamscapes that continue to resonate in the mind long after listening to the record. Such looseness in the drums, atmospheric bliss all around, and one of the most controlled and calming voices that graced this planet for far too short a life. It dials my heartbeat into a harmonious wake of contentment.

4. Max Roach and Oscar Brown Jr. – We Insist! Freedom Now Suite 
This is the album that makes jazz what it means to me. Historical, melodic, passionate, and rhythmic. What a powerful album. It is rich with so much history and depth. No matter how many times you listen, you still can’t break into it. You can’t break it down. It is still alive. It is still so real and raw nearly sixty years after it was recorded. This is the kind of album that should be explored in educational institutions and should remain to be one of the most prolific records ever to have been recorded.

5. Department of Eagles – In Ear Park
A bit out of left field here, but this album was pretty essential to my life when it first came out. The melodies, the harmonies, the rhythm of the album catches me in a way that not many other albums have. It evokes a melancholy wrapped up in a waltz of dreamscapes along a tired river. I will most likely listen to this album when I am sixty years old and suddenly memories that were long forgotten will suddenly appear as if they were of the yesterdays.

Huge thanks to Lia for sharing her favourites. We’ve got some listening to catch up on! Follow A Place To Bury Strangers on Facebook for more updates.

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LISTEN: Gurr – ‘Fake News’

Gurr‘s latest track ‘Fake News’ is a poignant observation on the world’s indifference to the opinions of others. The single is taken from the band’s upcoming EP She Says, which is set for release on 5th April. It will also be accompanied by a video shot by visual artist Shelby Sells.

The German duo – formed of Laura Lee & Andreya Casablanca – were inspired to write the song by the current political climate, as well as a recent trip to London. The pair explain further: “‘Fake News’ was a direct response to what was going on (and still is) politically at the time, and the growing gap I feel between people leaning both left and right. I think with press and algorithms, we are only fed the kind of news we already believe in and agree with, which is super dangerous”.

“The song then connects that to an experience I had when we visited the the BBC for an interview with Huw Stephens. We went inside and there was this gigantic newsroom with so many screens but no windows at all. I found that a bit disturbing: Like here’s the people making the news and they can’t look outside.”

Gurr are currently in the middle of performing at SXSW, followed by tours in Germany and USA next month. We’re looking forward to hearing their new EP, and hope the rest of the tracks are just as cutting and well-crafted as ‘Fake News’. Listen to the track below and follow Gurr on Facebook for more updates.

Photo Credit: Miriam Marlene Waldner

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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Track Of The Day: Jackie Mendoza – ‘Seahorse’

An ethereal ode to the symbiotic nature of the creatures her new track is named after, Jackie Mendoza has shared her latest single ‘Seahorse’ taken from her debut EP LuvHz (Love Hurts). Set for release on April 26 via Luminelle Recordings, Mendoza has said this track “encapsulates the EP sonically and thematically”, and it’s atmospheric beats and dreamy vocals make for an intriguing listen.

Born and raised in the border city of Chula Vista, California, Jackie Mendoza blends the cultural influences of her hometown and her motherland of Tijuana, Mexico, creating eccentric pop, Latin-driven dance beats and vibrant soundscapes. It wasn’t until she took a course for Ableton in college that she became interested in producing her own beats. These skills have taken her to SXSW this year and have assisted her in the creation of her debut EP.

Mendoza’s LuvHz is an exploration of love and relationships. She’s used her personal experiences to unravel the feelings of online unrequited love, the indecisiveness of a new romance, and the toll that being away for long periods of time has taken on her relationship with her home. The EP was recorded with Rusty Santos (Panda Bear’s Buoys), a collaborator that Mendoza quickly realized she had many parallels with. Both have lived in Los Angeles, New York, and Mexico and have an appreciation for Latin producers and Reggaeton artists.

Listen to ‘Seahorse’ below an follow Jackie Mendoza on Facebook for more updates.

Pre-order Jackie Mendoza’s EP LuvHz here.

Photo credit: Tayo Okeyan

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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