New Track: Moor Mother – ‘Guilty’

Following critical acclaim for her 2021 album Black Encyclopedia Of The Air, innovative artist Camae Ayewa – aka Moor Mother – has now announced the release of her 9th studio album, The Great Bailout.

Our first taste of the album comes in the form of new single ‘Guilty‘, a collaboration with Lonnie Holley, Mary Lattimore and Raia Was. Oozing a mystical energy, it encapsulates the sentiment of the album – a poignant and necessary message, bringing to our attention crimes committed by our ‘fair isle’. With a glistening splendour, layers of chiming instrumentation swirl together with vocals, intertwining to create a truly stirring anthem. As its whirring musicality provides a backdrop to lists of ‘great’ Britain’s injustices against humanity and the harsh realities of colonialism, the juxtaposition of the horror of ‘Guilty’s message with the beauty of its musicality is stark. At over ten minutes long, I urge you to immerse yourself in this hauntingly beautiful offering; one that we need to pay heed to, now more than ever. An urgent message encased in an evocative sonic grace.

Of the track, Ayewa explains:

“Displacement and its effects are not discussed enough… The PTSD of displacement should be a focus, and as we have the opportunity to learn about things happening in the world, we also have the opportunity to learn about ourselves. We’ve been through so many different acts of systematic violence.“

Watch the affecting lyric video now:


The Great Bailout, the ninth album from Moor Mother, is set for release on 8th March via ANTI-. Pre-order here. Catch Moor Mother live in London or Bristol in March, info and tickets here.


Mari Lane
@marimindles

Photo Credit: Ebru Yildiz

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Five Favourites: Montañera

Having recently released her captivating new album, A Flor de Piel, London-based Columbian artist María Mónica Gutiérrez – aka Montañera – creates innovative immersive soundscapes fusing together traditional South American musical influences with contemporary ambient electronics. Breaking through the confines of genre, the album offers a poignant reflection on Gutiérrez’s experience as an immigrant; an artist; a human being. Shimmering with a sweeping twinkling splendour and stirring raw emotion throughout, the album takes the listener on an exquisite sonic journey.

We think one of the best ways to get to know an artist is by asking what music inspires them. So, to celebrate the release of A Flor de Piel, we caught up with María to ask about the music that has inspired her the most. Read about her five favourite songs and listen to latest single ‘Santa Mar‘ below!

Sona Jobarteh – Fasiya
Sona’s album has been a great inspiration for me since the moment I became interested in Senegalese music. Her voice and kora playing were a true inspiration alongside traditional griots who carry this tradition. Her style was a referent for me when I composed ‘Me Suelto Al Riesgo’ – a song I made whilst learning about Senegalese traditional kora music with my amazing teachers Kadialy Kouyate and Lucy Duran in London. I have always found kora music to be very soothing and almost celestial, the timber of its strings captivated me right away. Sona’s album, however, allowed me to understand this tradition through a lens that was in-keeping with my own music. I really enjoy how kora music makes me feel when I listen to it; the same sensation that I was looking for when making my new album A Flor De Piel.

Lido Pimienta – Miss Columbia
I have been a massive fan of Lido’s music for quite a while now. However, when she released Miss Colombia, I really identified with her music as a singer and as a songwriter. She is one of my favourite singers, I love her voice, and production-wise, her album was a great inspiration for my music as well. I love how she blends traditional Colombian music with very fresh, fun and well written arrangements. The sonic world of her music is full of colours – I wanted to achieve something similar in my album, but through my own aesthetic, heavily constructed by synths.

Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith – Ears
This is one of my favourite Kaitlyn’s albums, it captivated me right away the first time I listened to it. Personally I think it’s one of my favourite ambient albums, her tracks are always interesting and really well crafted; they are not predictable, but allow you to flow with them, and I wanted to attain something similar in my album. I wanted to make a really carefully thought ambient album with my voice playing an important role. Her sounds and aesthetic influenced me quite a lot when composing this album with my synths, I wanted each layer to be interesting – each layer to have a purpose and not just to add sounds for the sake of it. This was also the way I wanted the producers in my album to work, and her music was also a great influence to them. Ambient is a very delicate genre, and her album was a clear reference of the craftsmanship I wanted to reach.

Marina Herlop – Pripyat
I discovered Marina not so long ago, but her aesthetic and uniqueness blew me away immediately; I felt very inspired by her from the first minute I listened to her music. She has become an inspiration not only for the making of my latest album, but also for my performances. She looks like a Goddess from the future, and her music is beyond anything I’ve heard. It seems as though she has arrived from the future, and that is how her music sounds. Her aesthetic and how unpredictable her music is have become a major inspiration for me.

Canalón de Timbiquí – De Mar y Río 
I love traditional music from all around the world, however, Afro-Colombian music has been a personal favourite for quite a while now. It was maybe fifteen years ago when I sang a traditional song from Colombia’s Pacific coast for the first time, and since then a huge curiosity and interest for this music was born. Nidia Gongora has become a massive influence for this kind of music for me – she represents the strength of the Afro-Pacific Colombian women, who are all very inspiring. I find this music not only inspiring for its musical vastness, but also for the story of resistance, resilience and joy that it carries. I feel immensely honoured to have a song in my album with one of the current marimba players, Cankita, and with the amazing Cantadoras de Yerba Buena. It was through a process of research to understand their musical practice which began this musical collaboration with them. They are a massive inspiration not only to make music with, but for life.

Massive thanks to Montañera for sharing her Five Favourites with us! Listen to latest single ‘Santa Mar’ here:

A Flor de Piel, the stunning new album from Montañera, is out now via Western Vinyl. Listen / order here.

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WATCH: The Menstrual Cramps – ‘Body Politics’

I’ve been waiting a long time for new music from Bristol-based punk legends The Menstrual Cramps, and now it’s finally here! Following 2019’s Free Bleedin’, and fresh from a run of dates supporting Isle of Wight punk trio Grade 2, They’ve now shared new single ‘Body Politics‘, released via the loveliest of labels, Alcopop! Records. 

Sounding as vital as ever, with ‘Body Politics’ The Menstrual Cramps draw on American philosopher Judith Butler’s idea of gender performativity (from her book ‘Gender Trouble’), and rally against the ways in which gender constructs are forced upon us all under capitalism to benefit the patriarchal structure. Seething with their trademark ferocious energy, and building to a fierce RATM-esque climax, it’s a perfectly empowering and cathartic explosion of necessary rage. 

With their return, The Menstrual Cramps continue to deliver their utterly necessary message with an immense impassioned drive; creating a perfect balance of unifying joy and rage that has never felt more urgent.

‘Body Politics’ is accompanied by a homemade new video, capturing front person Emilia’s experiences of growing up in the early noughties, surrounded by gender stereotypes in the media. They explain:

“I wanted the video to be a kind of letter to my younger self, who didn’t have the vocabulary to express everything they felt in their messy teenage brain at the time, and had minimal queer people in the media to look up to… the music video is a loop, so the end of the music video is also the start of the music video my younger self watches when turning on the TV in the bedroom. Metaphorically, it’s letting myself become who I wanted to be, or finally being happy with who I am—being inspired by myself to relive my younger years with that expressive freedom.”

Watch it here:

‘Body Politics’ is out now via Alcopop! Records. Catch The Menstrual Cramps live tonight at Oslo, Hackney for Rock Against Violence, or next Spring on a run of UK dates – details here.

Mari Lane
@marimindles

Photo Credit: Dory Valentine

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INTERVIEW: Smoke Fairies

Having been friends since childhood, Katherine Blamire and Jessica Davies – aka Smoke Fairies – were not only the first band to sign with Jack White’s imprint Third Man Records, but have sold out countless UK tours and recorded many acclaimed albums over the years. Now, following fifth album Darkness Brings The Wonders Home, the duo are working on an entirely independent basis; funding their recent sixth release through fan support on a Patreon page.

A truly poignant reflection on time and how it feels to get older, new album Carried In Sound showcases the glistening folk-strewn musicality and rich harmonious vocal layers that we’ve come to know and love from Smoke Fairies, with an added raw emotive depth, exuding a stirring shimmering splendour throughout.

We caught up with Katherine from the band to find out more about the album, live highlights over the years, and egg boilers… Have a read and make sure you treat your ears to the beautiful new album!

Hi Smoke Fairies! Welcome to Get In Her Ears! Hope you’re well. The two of you have known each other since childhood, which is quite impressive! Are you able to tell us a bit about how you initially met and what inspired you to start creating music together?
We met at school when we were twelve and started singing together when we were thirteen. We were interested in harmonies and recognised there was something interesting about the blend of our voices, but it took years to hone the sound into something properly intertwined. It feels like we are still honing it now. When we were kids we just loved playing together and being the centre of attention at school whenever possible; we were probably quite annoying, getting our guitars out at every opportunity. We dreamed of being on tour mostly, imagining it to be an experience where you drive around in a ’70s bus looking at sunsets and rocking up in small towns to wow crowds of people in leather jackets. Realistically, you are in a transit van surrounded by crisp packets driving on various ring roads and getting angry at the sat nav. It’s still great though and I hope our younger selves would be pleased!

I really love your rich folk-strewn musicality and luscious harmonious vocal layers, but who would you consider to be your main musical influences?
Thank you! I get lost in film scores and any form of dark choral music, psychedelic music and melodic moving songs. I’ve just had a new record player in my flat, so it’s nice to explore the old records again – like Nick Drake and Joni Mitchell, who were more formative influences. But nowadays, I feel like one of those boring people that says they “like all kinds of things”… For example, I was running to the Pina Colada song this week and had a really great time.

You’re about to release your sixth album, Carried In Sound, which is very exciting! Are there any specific themes running throughout the album?
The songs explore time and how it feels to get older – looking back on your past experiences from a more confident place and then looking ahead to the future. There are so many changes we go through as we grow, and Jessica and I have known each other since we were young, so there’s also been a constant in our music and friendship. That’s why Carried in Sound felt like a good title, as music has been a tide we’ve been riding all the way through ups and downs. Also there are themes of grief; loss not only for others, but also the things about yourself that you lose on the way. There’s also a hopefulness about finding a new sense of home and love, and being in a place to receive it.

You recorded the album at home with the volume turned down – are you able to tell us a bit about this process and what it was like for you?
It felt really important to shut out the world and focus on our own sound in our own space and on our own terms. The record is about quite personal thoughts, so it felt right to use the spaces and things around us to make it. Even when the narrative is more character driven, they are characters who are quite insular. The process meant we could hone the songs over time, whereas we are normally restrained by studio time, so that was quite liberating. We’ve released quite a few albums now, so this one needed to dive back into what it means to be a duo and put the voices at the front and give the guitars a lot of space to be heard. We needed to try to do it on our own, perhaps to prove something to ourselves but also to remain pure to the vision we had.

And how would you generally say the album differs from your previous releases?
There was no other motivation other than to create something really beautiful, so there’s no songs that are for the radio or for specific audiences – it’s just entirely us. Sometimes it’s just good to lock yourselves away and work out what you really feel and want to say. This record feels like it all has the same vibe and tones, all coming from the same wellspring.

It’s being released independently, and you’ve garnered lots of support through your Patreon page in the run up to its release – what triggered the decision to do this rather than release via a label, and what’s the experience been like for you?
The patreons have been great. It’s been amazing to have such a strong connection to your audience. It’s helpful to know it means something to people, otherwise you can feel too isolated and become negative, and it’s so encouraging to know that people are happy to receive the songs and waiting for them. It’s given us more confidence to do this independently, and obviously provides funding to help support the release of the record, including touring, promotion etc.

You’ve played and sold out numerous UK and international tours over the years, but is there a particular concert you’ve played that stands out as a highlight?
It’s very hard to remember them all. I do recall playing inside a tent at Latitude festival at an evening slot and it started raining and the crowds came into the tent for shelter and it felt like we created a real atmosphere to warm them. It was in the ‘Film And Music’ tent, so there was an old black and white 1920s film of The Naughty Smoke Fairies playing behind us, and the rain was beating down on the tent canvas; it felt very magical. We always wish our music could be used on film soundtracks as we always strive for something quite filmic with our sound. I liked that night because it felt like everything came together.

And you’re setting out on an intimate tour of special venues and churches to celebrate this album release – what inspired this decision?
This album requires focus and patience, so we wanted to play it in venues that naturally encourage audiences to listen. Churches are unique spaces that give harmonies a natural resonance with built in reverb, while also taking you to a place of stillness and thought. Some songs are really are quite hymn-like, so it felt apt to play them in a space where hymns have been sung through the ages.

When out on tour, are there any particular essentials that you like to take with you to keep you going when away from home?
A pillow, to either rest my head on or scream into depending on what’s happening. Jessica once brought an egg boiler with us, it was truly horrific because she kept making eggs in the van for breakfast. That has been banned now.

As we’re an organisation keen to support new artists, we just wondered how you feel the industry is for new artists at the moment? And do you feel much has changed over the years in its treatment of female and queer artists?
So much has changed in terms of an artist’s ability to work independently, which I think is hugely positive in a world where there is such under-representation at every level for women and queer people across the music industry. Learning how to record and produce opens up a freedom to create work on your own terms, build confidence, ignore the pigeon holing and just get on with what you want to do. Under-representation can create imposter syndrome if you don’t see yourself reflected, but now people can learn skills and push their art forwards without needing to get past so many gate-keepers. A lot of change is still needed of course, and the biased structures need to be addressed to really create an equitable playing field. But I think the rise in independently produced and released music is a testament to people finding their own ways to challenge these systems. We all need to make a living somehow though and it’s tough when you always have to find your own strength and motivation, without the backing of a bigger entity. I wish there was more support available for artists making strides on their own, then we would start to see so much more interesting music being produced from many more perspectives. Releasing an album independently is a lot of work, but it’s worth the sense of independence I think.

And are there any particular new artists you’d recommend that we check out?
Dear Pariah supported us last year and has a great sound and very pure voice.

Massive thanks to Smoke Fairies for answering our questions!

Carried In Sound, the new album from Smoke Fairies, is out now. Buy here. And catch Smoke Fairies live at one of their upcoming intimate dates – more info here.

Photo Credit: Annick Wolfers

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