Track Of The Day: Milly Blue – ‘Dancer Teleports into Thames Mud’

A tender, sparse soundscape inspired by the lost relics of ancient shipwrecks resting at the bottom of the river Thames, Mancunian vocalist, songwriter & composer Milly Blue has shared her debut solo single ‘Dancer Teleports into Thames Mud (Kisses Fragmented Self with Tongues)’. Originally written to provide a soundtrack for London-based photographer Holly Birtles’ exhibition ‘Up to your Neck in Mud’ at xxijrahii gallery in Deptford, the track is a beguiling offering that softly spotlights Milly’s intuitive song-writing talent.

Although this is her first solo offering, Milly has been collaborating with an eclectic range of musicians since her teenage years. She provided vocals for Basement Jaxx, toured and collaborated with Andrew Hung (Fuck Buttons), and has performed alongside Beck, Kae Tempest and the Guillemots. Now, she’s applying her multi-talented approach to her own music and is preparing to release her new album, elephant, Baby, later this year. Latest single ‘Dancer Teleports into Thames Mud’ will be featured on the record.

Full of Milly’s lush vocal layers, the track soothes and unsettles in the same breath. “Holly approached me to compose a piece to accompany the end of her exhibition,” Milly explains about ‘Dancer Teleports into Thames Mud’. “Her images were abstract and disjointed, exploring the sheer number of shipwrecks in the Thames and the objects, animals and even towns that have been lost into mud, both along that river and on the coast of the North Sea.

With the track, I wanted to make something haunting and bare. Something that could be ancient and lost. The layers intermittently jar and tesselate and there is a real sense of melancholy in the music. But in a comforting sense. Like loving spirits, visiting you from the mud. Holly, after hearing the track, created a beautiful video to accompany it. I’m really happy and excited about the results.”

Watch the video for ‘Dancer Teleports into Thames Mud’ below.

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

Photo Credit: Andre Russell

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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LISTEN: Gazelle Twin – ‘The Well’

A sinister, cinematic offering that chimes with a bleak beauty, Gazelle Twin aka Elizabeth Bernholz has shared her latest single ‘The Well’. Lifted from the official soundtrack for upcoming east-end based supernatural thriller The Power, the track is a spine-tingling offering from this multi-talented electronic music pioneer. The score will be released digitally on 8th April via Invada Records, with a vinyl release to follow.

Working alongside composer Max de Wardener to curate the score for the the film, which was written and directed by BAFTA nominated screenwriter Corinna Faith, ‘The Well’ is a piece of Bernholz’s solo vision that fitted the tone of The Power so well, it was added to the track-list without hesitation. “Working with Corinna and Max didn’t feel much like work,” Bernholz explains. “It was a long haul thrill, from our field trip to the derelict wing of Goodmayes Hospital to record squeaky trolleys and smashed pill bottles, to making countless experiments with samples, voice, and electronics, pushing them in every extreme direction we could think of. The results bring me a lot of joy. I hope the collaboration continues.”

Contrasting these samples with her sublime vocals and un-nerving electronics, Bernholz has enhanced the tension and claustrophobia that permeates Faith’s Victorian-set thriller, which follows nurse Val on her first round of night-shifts in an eerie London hospital ward. The Power will be available exclusively to stream on Shudder from 8th April.

Listen to ‘The Well’ below.

 

Follow Gazelle Twin on bandcamp, Spotify, Instagram, Twitter & Facebook

Photo Credit: Victor Frankowski

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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WATCH: GHLOW – ‘Not Fit For This’

A visceral blend of distorted guitars, energetic beats and commanding vocals, Russian-Swedish heavy duo GHLOW have shared a video to accompany their latest single ‘Not Fit For This’. Taken from the band’s debut album Slash and Burn, recently released via PNK SLM Recordings, the fast-paced visuals reflect the track’s intense rhythms and jagged riffs.

“’Not Fit For This’ is a manifesto embracing raw power, materializing the energy that grows out of frustration and boredom,” the band explain about the track. “We wanted the video to translate the energy of the music and worked with our amazing friends over at Gonz TV who kept it fast paced and punky.”

Formed of multidisciplinary artists Emille de Blanche and Nikolay Evdokimov, GHLOW fuse their lived experiences and passion for genre-blending sounds into their intense, driving soundscapes. They divide their labour equally; de Blanche handles vocals, bass and the band’s art direction, while Evdokimov takes on on guitar, synths, drum machines and production duties. Through experimentation and a desire to test themselves, the pair trusted their instincts and created an album that burns with raw, ambiguous fury, and ‘Not Fit For This’ is another corrosive offering that glows with the band’s trademark electro-punk angst.

Watch the video for ‘Not Fit For This’ below.

Follow GHLOW on bandcamp, Spotify & Instagram

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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Track Of The Day: Noha Saré – ‘Lost’

An evocative alt-pop tune that embraces vulnerability and smoulders with assertiveness, Amsterdam-based songwriter Noha Saré has shared her latest single ‘Lost’. Taken from her upcoming EP which is set for release later this year, the track fuses elements of R&B and electro-pop alongside Noha’s soulful vocals to reflect the way in which our moods shift when we’re contemplating our future.

“Everybody has their own demons and it’s okay to talk about it,” Noha explains. “Almost everyone has struggled with not knowing who they are, what they really want in life or where they’re headed. I got better in finding peace with who I am, including all the ups and downs, by accepting that it is okay to be scared and insecure and it’s okay to not know where you’re heading”. Through her atmospheric beats and smooth vocals, Noha makes a musical truce with her inner turmoil and leans into the unknown with impressive flair.

‘Lost’ is also accompanied by a striking set of visuals, directed by Noha’s best friend and visual artist Izak Berman. “My internal fight is embodied by 8 female performers,” she explains. “Two of them engage in a game of attraction and repulsion. The video shows an enchanting oscillation between pleasure and pain, past and future, hope and disbelief. Within a surreal composition, which seems to be somewhere between a dream and reality, showing the obscure side of my world.”

Watch the video for ‘Lost’ below.

Follow Noha Saré on Spotify, Instagram & Facebook

Photo: Kick van Doorn

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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