Track Of The Day: daze – ‘star signs’

Following a debut EP that raised £240 for Mind, ‘star signs’ is the new track from indie dream-pop duo daze. Written in February, the band say they’ve aimed for a mix of “sparkly guitars and warm synths” to create a perfect summer vibe.

I think they have absolutely nailed that. If nothing else, daze have proven that they are extremely competent when it comes to bringing their concepts to life. The fact that they manage to write, produce, mix and master the track entirely from their bedroom is a testament to their talent.

The different layers of the song fit together so well that it feels a lot more polished than you’d expect from even the most technically proficient homebrew. Having said that, I don’t think it’s lost any of the raw charm of DIY tunes. It has a lot of warmth and energy that only comes from a piece of art that someone has poured their heart into as they craft it.

The song itself is light and relaxed, but upbeat. The strings twinkle over the rich synths, eddying gently from riff to riff in a way that you can’t help but get carried along. Between the sparkles, the flow and the way it eventually fades away, ‘star signs’ captures the brightness and colour of summer sunsets using only sound.

It really is impressive how daze have managed to make such an evocative piece of music; a soundscape that inspires you to close your eyes and completely lose yourself in the scenes it creates. Particularly given it hit me with exactly that sensation on one of the drizzliest, dreariest days of the summer so far.

Kirstie Summers
@ActuallyKurt

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LISTEN: GIHE on Soho Radio with BISHI 02.06.21

Tash, Kate & Mari were back on the NYC & Culture channel on Soho Radio‘s airwaves for their second GIHE show! They played a mix of golden oldies and new music tunes from some of their favourite women, non-binary and LGBTQ+ artists.

Multi-instrumentalist & all round icon BISHI also joined them to talk about her upcoming WITCiH Digital Festival, the many musical projects she’s involved in and to praise the ground-breaking new Channel 4 drama We Are Lady Parts.

Listen below:

Tracklist
PJ Harvey – This Is Love
Nina Simone – I’m Gonna Leave You
Tirzah – Sink In
MAITA – Dumb (Nirvana Cover for Kill Rock Stars)
Fraulein – Pretty People
Mumble Tide – Sucker
Maeve – Sick
Circe x Sleigh Bells x Dream Wife – TRK 3 (Dream Wife Mega Mix)
Sofia Bolt – Get Out Of My Head
Krush Puppies – Slay The Dragon
Tokky Horror – Eden On Acid
Janette King ft. DijahSB – Cool Me Down
Ragdoll ft. Husk – Throwback
BISHI – Don’t Shoot The Messenger
**Interview with BISHI**
Serpentwithfeet – Fellowship
Fossa Beats – Gonna Be
Wolf Alice – No Hard Feelings
Lemondaze – 1990 nine
Kllo – Still Here
Penelope Trappes – Blood Moon
Solidarity Not Silence – This Is Sisterhood
The Bug Club – Checkmate
Lucy Dacus – VBS
Fightmilk – Hey Annabelle
Sleater-Kinney – Hurry On Home

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ALBUM: Fightmilk – ‘Contender’

Recorded in two sessions a year apart, GIHE faves Fightmilk’s second album Contender is worth every second of the wait, following 2018’s Not With That Attitude. The band’s writing and recording process has understandably changed over the past twelve months. Combined with the influence of their new bassist Healey and and an expanded musicality, their style has developed without losing any of the raw emotion at the heart of what makes Fightmilk special.

The album kicks off with an authentic false start. This, along with later interludes, makes for lovely humanising moments that give DIY bands so much charm. Then the music comes in hard and fast. From the first beat, you get big drums, powerful vocals and guitars layered beautifully over each other. The album is rich with riffs, fantastic flourishes of strings that make every song pop. Both in individual tracks and across the album as a whole, the instruments build to roaring climactic moments that launch the vocals to an impressive new reach. The band know how to use their instruments to ramp up the power of every track at exactly the right time.

The songs explore the human experience with Fightmilk’s distinct brand of unapologetic vulnerability. There are wonderfully fuzzy love songs (‘Overbite’, ‘Maybe’) and pettiness-about-your-ex songs and please-dump-your-awful-boyfriend songs (‘Hey Annabelle’). There is also a song about “a hypothetical billionaire and his hypothetical pop-star girlfriend”, which is definitely hypothetical…

The lyrics are intense and personal in a way you can’t help but relate to. Every song is evidently grounded in real experiences and so imbued with emotion. The themes don’t shy away from the darker side of reality, but examine the impact of heartache, the patriarchy or corrupt governments on your soul with a twinkling, scuzzy charm. There’s a great balance between the reflective songs and hopeful ones. It starts and finishes with uplifting tracks that beautifully frame the journey the album takes you on, concluding with a sense of scrappy DIY optimism.

The album captures the essence of 2021 perfectly, drifting easily between plague and feelings and third wave capitalism and exes. The range of powerful energetic songs and more gentle ones fit well alongside each other without jarring. The changes in tone and emotion between tracks flow together with an endearing ease. Contender is at once cathartic, validating and empowering. It’s everything I want in the music that will propel me out of the lockdown slump and into a year that makes up for every lost minute.

Contender is out now via Reckless Yes. Buy on bandcamp now.

Kirstie Summers
@actuallykurt

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Track Of The Day: Body Breaks – ‘Eyes To Brightness’

A jagged, hazy art-punk tune that meanders through the restless thoughts we have when we’re attempting to sleep, Canadian duo Body Breaks have shared their latest single ‘Eyes To Brightness’. Taken from their upcoming album Bad Trouble (We Are Time), which is set for release on 18th June, the track chronicles band member Julie Reich’s lifelong struggle with insomnia.

Formed of Reich and Matt LeGroulx, Body Breaks create sounds inspired by the likes of Pavement, Velvet Underground and Sonic Youth. Fuelled by a strong DIY & experimental ethos, LeGroulx played with quarter tone guitar scales to form his distinctive riffs on their debut album, whilst Reich mined her own personal experiences to form the lyrics. New single ‘Eyes To Brightness’ is a cohesive culmination of these efforts, with it’s striking vocals and off-kilter guitar twangs.

“I’ve always hated sleep ever since I was a little. It means the day is over, and I’ve never wanted that to happen,” Reich explains about the context of the track. “This was the first song I recorded vocals for on the album. It’s different from all of the others in terms of the recording process and how I approached it. After this I decided on an identity for the person writing these songs, even though it’s all me. The video is a 3D animation that I made mainly using SketchUp. I like to create worlds, so this was a fun exploration.”

Watch the video for ‘Eyes To Brightness’ below.

Follow Body Breaks on bandcamp, Twitter & Instagram

Photo Credit: Natalie Logan

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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