Track Of The Day: Zilched – ‘The Knife’

A murky grunge-pop tune exploring the unexpected emotions that continue to interrupt us after a breakup, Detroit-based musician Zilched has shared her latest single ‘The Knife’. Taken from her debut album DOOMPOP, released in 2020 via Young Heavy Souls, the track smoulders with a feeling of unrest, ushered along by reverb-heavy guitars and Zilched’s sweet yet sullen vocals.

“‘The Knife’ is about love/hate,” Zilched aka Chloë Drallos explains. Working through the simultaneous disbelief and genuine upset that follows heartbreak, Drallos’ new single fizzes was palatable yearning, reflected in the track’s accompanying self-directed video. “I wanted the video, with dancing improvised by Morgan McCaul, to visualize an inner monologue where those different emotional powers start to take over and ultimately lead to release of that power,” Drallos explains.

Inspired by 90s guitar icons like Nirvana and The Jesus and Mary Chain, Drallos channelled her influences into a collection of compelling noise-pop tracks on debut record DOOMPOP. “It’s an honest reflection of my attempts to grow up and make sense of absurdity,” she explains about the album. “I wrote the first song in my last month of high school at 18, and finished recording & producing just a month after my 20th birthday. With these songs, I wanted to go as deep into my insecurities and confusion, however immature I felt. Just write what I felt when I felt it in order to move on.”

Fuelled by her desire to move on from a difficult time, ‘The Knife’ is a cathartic slice of grunge-pop that gracefully faces up to the gritted teeth and flowing tears at the end of an intimate relationship.

Watch the self-directed video for ‘The Knife’ below.

Follow Zilched on bandcamp, Spotify, Instagram & Facebook for more updates.

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCult

Kate CrudgingtonLeave a comment

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 bandcamp, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook & Spotify for more updates.

Photo Credit: Shai Franco

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

Kate CrudgingtonLeave a comment

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

Kate CrudgingtonLeave a comment

#ThrowbackThursday: GIHE w/ Brix Smith-Start (20.02.20)

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 February 2020 show with the incredible Brix Smith-Start. She joined Mari & Kate in the studio to talk about her last three albums with Brix & The Extricated, her love for Nadine Shah and her experiences over the years as a trailblazer in the music industry.

Listen back to the show below:

Tracklist
Lizzo – Juice
LegPuppy ft. Josefin Ohrn – Secret Friend
MAITA – A Beast
DRAMA – Years
MIRI – Girls Just Want To Have Fun
MEI – I Don’t Know What’s Next
Lido Pimienta – Eso Que Tu Haces
Bad Bones – Beg
Desire – Bizarre Love Triangle (New Order Cover)
Alessi’s Ark – Woman
Shoulder Season – Clean Lines
Brix & The Extricated – Wolves
**Interview with Brix Smith-Start**
RUNAH – Same Face
Li Yilei – A Star Without Guidance
HMS Morris – Babanod
Hilary Woods – Orange Tree
Girl Ray – Friend Like That
Am.i – Millenial
Chloe Foy – Callous Copper
Charlotte Spiral – Wide Eyed
Nirvana – Heart-Shaped Box
Kate Tempest – People’s Faces

Kate CrudgingtonLeave a comment