Track Of The Day: Snow Coats – ‘Anyway’

The latest single from Dutch indie-pop quartet Snow Coats fizzes with promise. Taken from their forthcoming second album, ‘Anyway’ is a joyfully noisy pop gem. The band’s jangly guitars collide with toe-tapping drums and bubblegum vocals to create something incredibly catchy.

The result is polished and radio friendly. But, while ‘Anyway’ has plenty of style, there’s substance too. Front-person Anouk van der Kamp’s rich, sweet voice drips like honey as they sing about needing more from a relationship. They explain, “‘Anyway’ is a song about sometimes needing a less superficial and more sincere connection with someone, so you can be sad together.” It’s bittersweet, but bouncy too.

With their second album due out on the brilliant Alcopop! Records in early 2022, it feels like Snow Coats could be getting ready to make a more meaningful connection with the UK, too. Expect to hear more delightfully twinkling offerings from them soon!

‘Anyway’ is now available on Alcopop! Records.

Vic Conway
@thepicsofvic

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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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Track Of The Day: Companion – ‘How Could I Have Known’

A sweet musical embrace, Colorado twin sister duo Sophia and Jo Babb – aka Companion – have introduced their heavenly sound with their debut track, ‘How Could I Have Known’ – a delicious slice of indie-folk. With arpeggiated guitars, a lilting bass-line, gentle percussion, and the gorgeous harmonies which lie at the heart of the song, it is perfect for warming the cold winter mornings and nights. The duo charmingly illustrate the magic that happens between families when they create music together; the track is charged with a twinkling sense of intimacy as Sophia and Jo share the heartfelt vocal lines. 

The delicate stripped-back textures ground the song so that as you listen you are gently guided along the captivating musical journey. It feels beautifully restrained, rippling with catchy and light-hearted melodies, whilst also revealing a deep emotional core. As well as this raw sentimentality, there is also a flowing pastoral essence to the track, as it reflects on the wonder of nature and our connection to it. 

Sofia explains the meaning behind the song:

“I started writing ‘How Could I Have Known’ at the beginning of my first Autumn in northern Colorado… I quickly learned that fall is a fleeting, beautifully short time in the mountains. It takes just a few blustery days for all the yellow aspen leaves to give way to bare trees, snowfall, and early sunsets. At the time, I was engaged to my now husband. He was dealing with some concerning medical issues, and I developed an over-awareness of how quickly I could never see him again. Having lost family members without warning in the past, I became anxiously aware that just as soon as he came into my life, he could leave it, too. Though this thought, at its core, is a very scary one, when I looked beyond the fear of losing something I held so dearly, I could see the incredible gift it is to have something to hold dear in the first place…”

Directed by Jo Babb and shot by Rahul Chakraborty, a moving video tinged with sparkling nostalgia accompanies ‘How Could I Have Known’. Watch it now:

Jaz Kelly
@surfjaz

Photo Credit: Chiara Garland

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EP: BLAB – ‘Word Of Mouth’

The sound of what happens when you fully embrace your choices and lean into the raw power each moment, Southend-based musician Francis Murray aka BLAB has shared her debut EP, Word Of Mouth. Released via Cool Thing Records and formed of three previously released singles and a brand new track, BLAB combines direct lyrics with infectious riffs to push past personal and political frustrations, providing her listeners with sharply observed judgments on both.

Fuelled by her disdain for current political policies, opener ‘Eton Mess’ is a rumbling “anti-fascist anthem” that proudly sticks two fingers up to the establishment. It’s one of two tracks that see BLAB take aim at the crushing nature of conformity, with the restless ‘Insurance’ providing another dose of much needed eye-rolling at conventional ideas of power and success.

It’s on new “anti-love song” ‘If Only’ and astrology-inspired single ‘Gemini’ that BLAB is at her strongest – refreshingly vulnerable with her revelations, but still retaining her rebellious attitude. Lyrically, ‘If Only’ is littered with hetero-normative paraphernalia, culminating in the realisation that you can’t rely on someone else to be the foundation of your happiness. On ‘Gemini’, she filters the pain of unrequited love through an astrological lens, combining catchy riffs with her bittersweet lyrics to work through her mixed feelings.

On Word Of Mouth, BLAB cuts through barbed emotional moments, softens unsettling realisations and firmly communicates her anti-establishment, anti-ego message. “I’m not even really consciously trying to do anything,” BLAB comments about her EP, “I’m just doing what I want, writing what I love and talking about my life.” This approach to song-writing reaffirms the narratives of independence within her music, and we can’t wait to hear more of it in the near future.

Listen to Word Of Mouth below.

Follow BLAB on Spotify, Instagram, Twitter & Facebook

Photo Credit: James Mannion

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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