Track Of The Day: Sea Change – ‘Never Felt’

An intoxicating blur of soft vocals, lush beats and ambient electronics, Norwegian artist & producer Sea Change has shared her latest single ‘Never Felt’. Taken from her upcoming album Mutual Dreaming, which is set for release on 11th February via Shapes Recordings, the track is a heady extension of an improvisation the musician originally created whilst performing live.

“This was the very first song I wrote for the album,” Sea Change aka Ellen A. W. Sunde explains. “It started as an improvised live version first performed at the Oslo release show, but it was in Luft Studio last fall that it really came to life and became what it is now. This slow-paced, feverish track.” This natural evolution and attention to the detail of the moment is mirrored in many tracks on Sea Change’s upcoming record.

Equally as inspired by the club music of LA and Berlin as she is by her current quieter surroundings in the southern coastal town of Kristiansand in Norway, Sea Change’s sounds ebb and flow with a tranquil, yet deeply primal desire to move through an intensity of feeling that sometimes escapes verbal or written articulation. Previous single ‘Night Eyes’ explored the need to separate the body from the mind, but on ‘Never Felt’ the two feel connected, and the result is an altruistic, captivating soundscape.

Listen to ‘Never Felt’ below.

Follow Sea Change on bandcamp, Spotify, Twitter, Instagram & Facebook

Photo Credit: Victoria Nevland

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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WATCH: Witch Fever – ‘Bully Boy’

A thunderous, ruthless assertion of autonomy that spits in the face of misogynistic behaviour, Manchester four-piece Witch Fever have shared their latest single ‘Bully Boy’. Taken from the band’s recent EP Reincarnate, released via Sony’s Music For Nations, the track is a cathartic, brutal takedown of the toxic men who repeatedly push women to their limits.

Full of thumping beats, gritty riffs and Amy Walpole’s visceral vocals, ‘Bully Boy’ is a scathing reflection on the misogyny that Witch Fever have experienced first-hand. “We wrote this song after we played a gig where the guitarist from one of the support bands shouted at us on stage to take our tops off,” Amy explains. “For us ‘Bully Boy’ is our combined rage about these experiences funnelled into one track. The alternative music scene is still very much a ‘boys club’ leaving female and non-binary people vulnerable to misogynistic and sexist behaviour, and we are always challenging this.”

Aware of the track’s heavy context, Witch Fever decided to put a dramatic but playful spin on the accompanying visuals for the track. Directed by Sam O’Leary, the video’s concept was “The Witch Trials meets drag queens and CBeebies”, which Sam and Roma Allenby helped the band create. “The video is different to anything we’ve done before,” Amy continues. “The lyrics are quite brutal so we thought it’d be fun to turn it on it’s head and create something that on the surface is colourful and fun but has a dark undercurrent.”

Fusing their rage with a darkly comic twist, Witch Fever’s mantra “Off with his head!” is one that listeners can scream in unison together, channelling their rage through an empowering and fearless sentiment.

Watch the video for ‘Bully Boy’ below.

Follow Witch Fever on bandcamp, Spotify, Twitter, Instagram & Facebook

Photo Credit: Debbie Ellis

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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LISTEN: Blue Loop – ‘Kodama / Pan’

Inspired by the conflicting states of mind she experienced during 2020’s winter lockdown, London-based producer Blue Loop has shared two new singles, ‘Kodama’ and ‘Pan’. Following on from her debut single ‘Before It Begins‘, the double A-side marks a progression in Blue Loop’s sound, venturing into new sonic territory but retaining her polished and considered approach. Both tracks were mixed by Omni Collective’s Joy Stacey and mastered by Stephen Kerrison at Tall Trees Audio Mastering.

Named after the forest spirits of the Studio Ghibli film Princess Mononoke, ‘Kodama’ is a soothing, graceful composition. The track fuses electronic and orchestral elements together – including clarinet improvisations by Rose Ford – to provide a tranquil tonic for tired minds. Second track ‘Pan’ is designed to awaken and distract, with its Jungle/Drum & Bass inspired beats and choppy, techno synths. Opening with samples of street drummers and cathedral bells which Blue Loop collected in France and Portugal in autumn 2020, the track’s pulsing, driving rhythm is complimented by her use of intermittent atmospheric synth patterns.

Together, ‘Kodama’ and ‘Pan’ represent the duality of experience. Blue Loop explores the space in between “light and dark, motion and stillness, tension and release” through these new soundscapes, and she does so with effortless flair.

Listen to ‘Kodama’ and ‘Pan’ below.

 

Follow Blue Loop on bandcamp, Spotify, Twitter, Facebook & Instagram

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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Track Of The Day: ACTRESE – ‘It Might Be About You’

A buoyant synth-pop tune that’s laced with bittersweet realisations about heartbreak, London-based songwriter ACTRESE has shared her latest single ‘It Might Be About You’.  Following on from her previous single ‘LOLA’, this latest track sees the songwriter release the tension of holding her tongue via heady beats, direct lyrics and clear vocals.

“After my last single, which felt very thought through, planned and executed in the same way, I needed a change,” ACTRESE explains. “‘It Might Be About You’ feels like something that was on my mind and needed to get out of my system. It is personal. It is candid to the point, it is impossible to describe as anything else than the truth. It comes from a place of anger and frustration of coming to conclusions in the aftermath of heartbreak when I didn’t even realize there was something to be broken. And then the anxiety. The anxiety of not being able to speak my mind and heart for various reasons.”

Pushing through her uneasy feelings and finding confidence in her new sound thanks to producer William Baxter, ACTRESE is letting go of the pain that held her back, embracing a new way of writing and creating her alt-pop sounds.

Listen to ‘It Might Be About You’ below.

 

Follow ACTRESE on Spotify, Twitter, Instagram & Facebook

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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