Track Of The Day: Momma – ‘Rockstar’

An effortlessly cool guitar tune that playfully picks apart the novelties of being in a band, Brooklyn-based Momma have shared their latest single ‘Rockstar’. Following on from their previous offering ‘Medicine‘, the group have announced this single alongside the news that they’ll be embarking on their first UK tour in May, with a headline show at London’s Brixton Windmill on 10th May.

Formed of Etta Friedman (guitars/vocals), Allegra Weingarten (guitars/vocals), Aron Kobayashi Ritch (bass) and Zach Capitti Fenton (drums), Momma create sounds inspired by the 90s pop and alternative scenes. Blending soft dual vocals with grunge-tinged guitars, the band seamlessly craft heady, swirling anthems focused on their observations on life, with ‘Rockstar’ being an infectious, melodic combination of these talents.

“Etta and I wanted to write a song about making it big, and becoming rock stars,” Allegra explains about the new single. “We didn’t want to take anything too seriously, lyrically, or musically. We just wanted the song to sound big. We thought it would be cool to have our own little rockumentary condensed in a 3-minute music video. It’s also kind of like a manifestation – I think we shamelessly want all of these things to happen in our careers.”

Directed by LA-based duo Batshit!, the video is a playful ode to Friedman and Weingarten’s rock music comedy favourites such as Josie and the Pussycats, School of Rock and Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny. It also features spiritual guidance in the form of a poster of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain.

Watch the video for ‘Rockstar’ below.

Follow Momma on bandcamp, Spotify, Twitter, Instagram & Facebook

Momma will be supporting Wet Leg and Snail Mail on a series of US dates and announcing additional UK shows soon.

Photo Credit: Cooper Winterson

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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LISTEN: Tess Parks – ‘Happy Birthday Forever’

Toronto-born, London-based singer-songwriter Tess Parks has announced the release of her long-awaited new album ‘And Those Who Were Seen Dancing, her first full-length solo offering since her much-loved debut album, Blood Hot, was released back in 2013. Since then, she has toured internationally and collaborated with Brian Jonestown Massacre’s Anton Newcombe in recent years (most recently the duo’s self-titled 2018 LP). Taken from the upcoming album, Parks has now shared the first single and video, ‘Happy Birthday Forever‘.

Flowing with a retro early ’90s vibe, with shades of the ’60s inspired Shoegaze and Madchester genres, it has a distinctly Happy Mondays feel to my (only slightly old) pair of ears. Those familiar with Tess Parks’ voice will find her beautifully hazy vocals perfectly suited to the track’s danceable groove and spacey beats, as a sophisticated slice of shimmering psych-pop is created.

The video perfectly mirrors the timelessness of the track; featuring home-recordings of Parks at ballet classes as a child, accompanying the immersive refrain of “get me out of here”. Both song and video are ‘en-pointe’ and an enticing taster for the upcoming album, as the single fades out with a captivating allure on the promising lines “You oughta shake your world”…


And Those Who Were Seen Dancing, the upcoming album from Tess Parks, is set for release on 20th May via Fuzz Club.

Fi Ni Aicead
@gotnomoniker

Photo Credit: Luz Gullardo

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Track Of The Day: My Idea – ‘Cry Mfer’

‘Cry Mfer’ is the title track from My Idea’s upcoming debut album. It’s melancholic with a nostalgia that simultaneously channels ’80s shoegaze and the perfect US alt-pop you’d find on ’90s teen TV soundtracks (and yes, fellow ’80s babies, I’m talking Dawson’s Creek). Yet the song’s glitchy, steadying beats give it a modern electronic twist that brings it right up to date.

The band, comprising of Palberta’s Lily Konigsberg and Water from Your Eyes’ Nate Amos, admit they were both spiralling when they made ‘Cry Mfer’; it’s a sort-of soundtrack to their collective breaking point. You can hear that sense of chaos in the bittersweet lyrics, and in the song’s urgency. However, Konigsberg’s sweet and spiky vocal that oozes atop the dreamy production still make ‘Cry Mfer’ feel like a polished pop gem.

By channelling their pain into pop perfection, My Idea has bring us a song that you can both sob and shimmy to. Now sober and – in Konigsberg’s words – “getting my life together”, the band’s future potential feels limitless. 

My Idea’s debut album, also entitled Cry Mfer, is set for release on 22nd April via Hardly Art.

Vic Conway
@thepicsofvic

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ALBUM: SEA CHANGE – ‘Mutual Dreaming’

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, Ellen A. W. Sunde aka Sea Change’s sounds ebb and flow with an altruistic spirit on her latest album, Mutual Dreaming. Released via Shapes Recordings, her new offering reflects a deeply primal desire to move through intense feelings that escape verbal or written articulation, and provide a soothing antidote for over-thinking minds.

On her previous album INSIDE (2018), Sunde navigated a personal metamorphosis through her heady electronic ruminations and club-inspired beats. Teaming up once more with co-producer and mixer Andrew Murray Baardsen, on Mutual Dreaming Sunde reflects on quieter spaces and the power of a moment, allowing both to flood the senses and then be released into the ether just as quickly. Created during a global pandemic, her new electronica ripples with emotion without ever feeling weighty or over-thought, reflecting the way she feels about music in general. This approach to songwriting gives Mutual Dreaming its wonderfully searching, yet reassuringly vacant quality, reflecting the unusual time that it was made.

At times shadowy and sparse (‘I Put My Hand Into A Fist’, ‘That’s Us’, ‘OK’, ‘Rituals’) and other times heady and uplifting (‘Never Felt’, ‘Is There Anybody There’) Mutual Dreaming is full of captivating soundscapes. Tracks like ‘Never Felt…’ and ‘Night Eyes’ compliment each other beautifully, the former blossoming from a need to separate the body from the mind, whilst the latter is a pulsing, atmospheric offering that taps into the need to do the opposite. Both are evocative reminders to loosen up and surrender to the beat when life is pressing down on you. The dreamy transition from ‘Mirages’ into the album’s title track ‘Mutual Dreaming’ further enhances the flowing feeling that permeates the record.

Sea Change’s fluctuating sounds on Mutual Dreaming provide the backdrop for a gentle aural catharsis, allowing the stresses of life to melt away into the background. An intoxicating blur of soft vocals, lush beats and ambient electronics, it’s a welcome tonic in a time of disconnection and restlessness.

Listen to Mutual Dreaming here

Learn more about the music that inspired Sea Change’s album in our Five Favourites feature

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

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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