LISTEN: Marbee – ‘Music Box’

A nostalgia-tinged reflection on remaining faithful to your childish heart, Jakarta-born Melbourne-based musician Marbee has shared her debut single ‘Music Box’. Self-described as “a free-spirited bird with a punk collar around her neck,” Marbee blends dreamy melodies and soft vocals to create alt-pop tunes that shimmer with gentle optimism.

Proving that your imagination can flourish in young adulthood if you continue to nurture it with the same tenacity you do throughout childhood, ‘Music Box’ is Marbee’s musical statement about freedom of expression. “I intend to awaken happy and nostalgic feelings from childhood, mixed with shades of ‘rain and thunder’,” she explains, acknowledging that life isn’t always as sweet as her vocals suggest. “The repetitive melody imitates the cyclical tone of the music box,” she continues, “evoking the protective, albeit fragile shelter of human relations, as well as the enchanting and lulling attraction of music in its simplest mechanical form.”

Marbee’s appetite for exploration took her to a 100 year-old building to capture the “ancient atmospherics” of the xylophone that features on the track. Her playful outlook, attention to detail and willingness to try new things makes her debut offering ring with a simple, joyful charm.

Listen to ‘Music Box’ below.

 

Follow Marbee on Spotify, Instagram & Facebook

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

#ThrowbackThursday: GIHE w/ The Baby Seals (06.04.17)

Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown in the UK, we’re unable to make it into the Hoxton Radio studio to broadcast our weekly live new music show from 7-9pm. Instead, we’re sharing previous GIHE radio show recordings as #ThrowbackThursday sessions, so you can still enjoy 2 hours of new music tunes & chats with some of our favourite artists each week.

Today, we’ve picked our April 2017 show with Cambridge riot grrrls The Baby Seals. Kerry, Jasmine and Amy joined Tash & Kate in the studio to talk about playing their EP launch at The Shacklewell Arms, getting glittered in the face at a Brighton gig and peeing wherever the hell you want to. They also performed live versions of their tracks ‘Nipple Hair’ and ‘Yawn Porn’.

Listen back here:

Tracklist
X-Ray Spex – Oh Bondage! Up Yours!
Sink Ya Teeth – If You See Me
Mavi Phoenix – Adventurer
Nirvana – Dumb
Swine Tax – Chronic
GHUM – Shallows
Dead Lavender – Seasons Change
The Big Moon – Formidable
HAVVK – Ghosts
Carl Luis & Froder – Come With Me
ShitKid – 666
Kaleida – Think
PINS – Bad Thing
**The Baby Seals Interview & Live Session**
ESG – Dance
Champdogs – The Whirl
Look Blue Go Purple – Cactus Cat
Sakima – What I Know Now
Dream Wife – Somebody
Noga Erez – Off The Radar
J. Bernardt – Wicked Streets
Usless Cities – New Feelings
Aye Nako – Nightcrawler
The Wild Things – Tell Me Why
Nirvana – About A Girl

LISTEN: Noga Erez ft. ROUSSO – ‘Story’

A spirited exploration of the way our personal history affects our behaviour when we’re in a relationship, Noga Erez has shared her latest single ‘Story’. Lifted from her highly anticipated second album KIDS, which is set for release via City Slang on 26th March, the Tel Aviv-based musician works closely alongside her creative & life partner Ori Rousso on this slick new offering, which shows the pair taking life’s challenges on the chin together.

Erez & Rousso have been busy working on new music since the release of her debut album Off The Radar in 2017. In 2020 & 2021, they released a string of superb singles including ‘NO News On TV’, ‘You So Done’ and ‘End Of The Road’, and now the duo are set to blaze their unique trail once again on upcoming LP KIDS. “These are songs about what we inherit from past generations, how we pass things on,” Erez explains about the album. “KIDS talks about humanity’s potential for both beauty and destruction.” This outlook is epitomised on new single ‘Story’, which shines a spotlight on both the grit and the glee that comes from being in a long term relationship.

“Everyone brings their past experiences to the relationship even if things are great. Sometimes past situations come in and take over,” Erez eplains about the new track. “ROUSSO is my partner in music as well as my partner in life. This is the first time we tell a story about our relationship in a song and video. It’s a song about a couple fighting and how, in that situation, sometimes what you hear the other person say is not what they actually said. The making of this video was a 10-day couples therapy session for us. As we rehearsed the pretend fighting and martial arts moves we knew that, at times, one of us would get punched just a little too hard. It was so intense and interesting to live in this world, where our relationship comes alive in the most physical way.”

Accompanied by a stunning new set of visuals directed by long-time collaborator Indy Hait, ‘Story’ is another witty, playful offering from this unique duo who have a instinct for crafting intensely memorable alt-pop tunes.

Watch the video for ‘Story’ below.

Pre-order new album KIDS here.

Noga Erez has also announced two shows to be live streamed on 1st & 2nd April.

Follow Noga Erez on bandcampInstagramTwitterFacebook & Spotify for more updates.

Photo Credit: Shai Franco

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

Video Premiere: GracieSouz – ‘Before, An Apparition’

Following the sweeping sounds of ‘Brian Cox’, and having been charming our ears for sometime as front woman of GIHE faves KIN, Grace Strickland de Souza – aka GracieSouz – has been establishing her reputation over the last few months, with over 200k streams on Spotify, and has now shared a poignant new single.

Propelled by a soaring, haunting majesty, ‘Before, An Apparition’ explores themes of memory, transient moments and perseverance with a glistening, emotion-strewn splendour. As pulsating beats build with an industrial, glitchy energy to a frenzied, cinematic climax, the stirring celestial grace of the vocals create a truly captivating shimmering allure. An exquisite slice of electro-driven brooding alt-pop, this latest offering showcases GracieSouz as an innovative artist on the rise.

‘Before, An Apparition’ is accompanied by a beautifully handcrafted new video offering a stirring visual highlighting the poignancy of the track’s lyrical content and the sweeping majesty of its unique soundscape. Watch the video, for the first time, here:

‘Before, An Apparition’ is out tomorrow 5th March, ahead of the release of GracieSouz’s upcoming EP Better In Space – pre-order here. The track is produced and with additional music by experimental electronic producer Alexander Comana (Miedo Total, Casi Wyn) and mixed and mastered by Nicholas Alexander (Battles, Dead Slow Hoot).

Mari Lane
@marimindles