kcbobcut – Page 53 – Get In Her Ears

Track Of The Day: Penelope Trappes – ‘Nervous’

A graceful, evocative soundscape that tentatively traverses the inner thoughts of an anxious woman, Australian-born Brighton-based artist Penelope Trappes has shared her latest single ‘Nervous’. Taken from her new album Penelope Three, which is set to be released on 28th May via Houndstooth, the track ripples with a sense of mystery and disquiet, both of which are beautifully reflected in the accompanying video.

Forming the final part of her musical trilogy, Trappes’ upcoming album reflects on healing from grief while harnessing the unique power of her voice to tell tales of resilience and the restorative power of love. Utilizing her lived experiences as a mother and swiftly defying the limiting ageist and sexist industry ideas about women’s creativity, on ‘Nervous’ she masterfully layers her clear vocals over sparse beats and atmospheric electronics to hypnotic effect. “I’m digging up the underworld with visual motifs, and a mystical, gothic darkness that symbolises my struggles,” Trappes says of her new music, exhuming her feelings and finding joy and liberation in expressing the darker aspects of the emotional spectrum.

“In mid 2020 I began renting a strange and unique house in Brighton…I used the odd space and time to film the video for ‘Nervous’,” Trappes explains. “It delves inside the mind of a nervous smoking woman, which takes the form of an oppressive strange house. Inside, she is confronting the balance between the masculine and feminine within her, which take the form of two spirit characters. Outside there are expansive but liminal moments of reprieve from the claustrophobia, but she invariably gets drawn back into the anxious loop of her own mental entrapment.”

Watch the video for ‘Nervous’ below.

Penelope Trappes UK 2021 Live Dates
13 May The Great Escape, Brighton *Live Stream*
23 Sept The White Hotel, Manchester
24 Sept The Alchemy Experiment
25 Sept Future Yard, Birkenhead
26 Sept Attenborough Arts Centre, Leicester
30 Sept The Rose Hill, Brighton
21 Nov St Pancras Church, London
24 Jul SNNTG Festival, Hannover
*supporting Leifur James

Follow Penelope Trappes on bandcamp, Spotify, Instagram and Facebook

Press Credit: Agnes Haus

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

March 8, 2021March 28, 2021

Kate CrudgingtonLeave a comment

LISTEN: Daneka – ‘She’s Never Been’

A sultry, R&B infused bedroom-pop tune exploring the mixed emotions surrounding an intense, romantic attraction, Southend-based songwriter Daneka has shared her latest single ‘She’s Never Been’. Full of smooth vocals and yearning lyrics, the track is a mellow but passionate portrait of a woman who wants to be loved and acknowledged for all that she is.

“This song is about a young woman wanting a man who is taken,” Daneka explains. “The song highlights an obsessive and impulsive behaviour of the woman, but also the determination and hunger of a woman who knows what she wants and will stop at nothing to get it.” Through her extended vocals and subtle samples of hushed exhales, Daneka reflects this hunger and longing to be with the one she loves.

“‘She’s Never Been’ also highlights the imperfections of a woman with obvious mental instability,” Daneka continues. “The underlying issue is that this woman has never been ‘the hot one’, or the ‘smart one’, or the ‘sexy one’ either, but just a woman living.” Despite this underlying insecurity, Daneka’s confident voice portrays a woman who is deeply in touch with her emotions and aware of her potential, even if her efforts are directed towards someone who may not acknowledge or deserve them.

Listen to ‘She’s Never Been’ below.

Follow Daneka on Facebook & Spotify.

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

March 5, 2021March 5, 2021

Kate CrudgingtonLeave a comment

Track Of The Day: Riotmiloo – ‘Vile Butterflies’

Abrasive beats, pulverizing electronics and seething vocals mesh together on ‘Vile Butterflies’, the latest single from London-based industrial riot grrrl Riotmiloo. Released as part of Chaos Theory’s fundraising compilation album 11 Years Of Chaos, the track bristles with intense unease, mimicking the nervous twitches of the wings of the titular insect.

“The idea behind this song is to not to let negative thoughts suppress your potential. Don’t listen to your vile butterflies,” Riotmiloo explains. Due to the on-going Covid-19 pandemic, Riotmiloo and London-based music promoters Chaos Theory have been unable to perform live shows at one of their favourite venues, The Black Heart in Camden, for over a year. ‘Vile Butterflies’ is one of twenty-six tracks on 11 Years Of Chaos, a compilation album that aims to raise much-needed funds for the venue, as well as promoting many of the artists Chaos Theory have worked with too.

Currently available on bandcamp, 10% of the profits made before 22nd March will be donated to the #SaveTheBlackHeart campaign, with other profits being shared fairly between artists and Chaos Theory so they can invest in more livestreaming equipment. The alternative, genre-defying collection features tracks from heavy rockers Vodun, a beguiling Cocteau Twins cover by Maud The Moth, as well as contributions from Brigitte Handley, Kate Arnold, Prisa Mata, Årabrot, Black Orchids and more.

The album is a fierce, cathartic soundtrack for escapism, but it’s also a heartening reminder that the DIY music community provides a crucial support network for artists, venues and promoters during this unpredictable and difficult time.

Listen to Riotmiloo’s ‘Vile Butterflies’ below.

Download your copy of 11 Years Of Chaos from bandcamp.

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

Follow Chaos Theory on bandcamp, Twitter, Facebook & Instagram

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

March 4, 2021March 4, 2021

Kate CrudgingtonLeave a comment

LISTEN: Bess Atwell – ‘Co-op’

A nostalgia-tinged reflection on the different ways we seek comfort in a relationship, British songwriter Bess Atwell has shared her latest single ‘Co-op’. Released via Lucy Rose’s label Real Kind Records, Atwell gently shifts between tenses and re-traces her emotions on this charming musical snapshot, exploring what it means to truly trust someone to help you through life’s difficult moments.

“I think of this song the same way I think of a memory that keeps interrupting the current moment,” Atwell explains. Through her stream of consciousness lyrics and gentle melodies, she finds herself resting somewhere between insecurity and genuine confidence, treating everyday occurrences with a poetic poignancy – “Half your furniture we found on the street outside / Hey somebody is throwing out a perfectly good piece of mind.”

“‘Co-op’ is an illustration of mine and my partner’s life together,” Atwell continues. “The relationship seemed to provide me with some sort of permission to recuperate from family trauma, as if realising for the first time that there was a life outside of that chaos lulled me into an emotional slumber. Through the song I grapple with the desire for, and fear of, comfort. I used references to Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway to depict a vivid nostalgia and an affinity for trivialities that serve to calm when darker thoughts set in.”

The track is accompanied by a soft-looking set of visuals, co-directed by Atwell and her good friend George Ogilvie, which gently attempts to “marry two worlds at odds with each other,” contrasting “the mundane and the emotional” elements of the track with Atwell’s eccentric props, outfit and choice of setting.

“‘Co-op’ started out as a bit of a private joke, so I wanted the video to have a self-awareness and sense of humour to it too,” Atwell explains. “I think there can be a tendency, when you’re shooting a music video yourself, to try too hard to make it look professional. Instead, I wanted to lean into the fun of making it with a friend. It felt reminiscent of our childhoods, when we would make up plays or dances and perform them to anyone who would watch.”