Get In Her Ears w/ Jessica Winter 27.08.20

Tash & Kate were back in the Hoxton Radio studio this week with plenty of new music tunes to fill your ears. They caught up with South London based songwriter (and queen of sad bangers) Jessica Winter to talk about her recent EP Sad Music, and what life in lockdown was like for her.

Listen back:

Tracklist
Balraj Singh Samrai, Pandit G Gavsborg, Farah Amad Khan, Shanique Marie, Tunde Adekoya, Vikaash – I Should Have Hugged You Tighter When We Last Met (Oh What a Joy)
Fran Minney – Sirens
Seraphina Simone – Hollywood $$$
Noga Erez – You So Done
Asche-Rose – Daisy
Emma Kupa – ‘Nawlins’
P-rallel x Greentea Peng – Soulboy
Arlo Parks – Hurt
CHINWE – Intoxicated
Lemon Drink – Manic
Couch Prints – Tell U
Masma Dream World – Theta
SpaceAcre – Way Over
Death Valley Girls – Hold My Hand
Living Body – I Do
Jessica Winter – Sad Music
**Jessica Winter Interview**
Dream Nails – This Is The Summer
Komang – DEWI
MOURN – This Feeling Is Disgusting
LibraLibra – Listerine
Mango – Mistakes
Portishead – Glory Box (Live)
Garbage – Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go)
Shania Twain – Man I Feel Like A Woman

Kate Crudgington1 Comment

WATCH: J. Zunz – ‘Four Women and Darkness’

Dense beats and jagged electronics combine on ‘Four Women and Darkness’, the latest single from Mexico based musician J. Zunz (aka Lorena Quintanilla). Lifted from her second album Hibiscus, the track is a haunting, minimalist interpretation of an unnerving story Quintanilla was told by her grandmother and is accompanied by a visual piece that aims to reflect the jarring nature of the tale.

“[My grandmother] told me that once during wartime in México in the late 1920’s, she and her sisters were hidden by her grandmother in a little, cold secret room,” Quintanilla explains. “She hid them there because the militia wanted to search the house. Soldiers used to look for women or girls to rape them or to kidnap them. My grandmother and her sisters stayed there in the dark room for hours until the soldiers left.”

‘Four Women and Darkness’ is Quintanilla’s addition to her grandmother’s frightening narrative, and the video for the track explores the ambiguous theme of darkness further. “I asked four close friends of mine to express their own darkness,” Quintanilla comments. “They all come from different cities and backgrounds. I instructed them with some movements remarking and reassuring the limits of our bodies, which for years have belonged to everyone but us.”

Watch the video for ‘Four Women and Darkness’ below and follow J. Zunz on bandcamp for more updates.

Photo Credit: Sofía Ruesga

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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ALBUM: Liar, Flower – ‘Geiger Counter’

Released via One Little Indian Records, Liar, Flower‘s new album Geiger Counter – the latest project from KatieJane Garside (Daisy Chainsaw, QueenAdreena, Lalleshwari) and Chris Whittingham – is a collection of songs that blend honey-sweet vocals with dreamy, beautifully produced instrumental soundscapes.

Opening track ‘I Am Sundress (She Of Infinite Flowers)’ is a hauntingly beautiful offering that gives way to the hypnotic rock concoction of ‘My Brain Is Lit Like An Airport’. The angry soundscape then transforms into the psychedelic, deconstructed ‘9N-AFE’. Its robotic, glitchy sonics make it a stand-out track on the record.

The rock-tinged stylings of ‘Mud Stars’ juxtaposed with melodic ‘Broken Light’ teases your brain with its varied range. Following track ‘Even The Darkest Clouds’ is an off-kilter banger that uses lacerating guitars and booming beats with raw vocals, throwing Geiger Counter into complete tortured disarray; essentially making it a cacophony of mismatched musicality.

In comparison, next track ‘Blood Berries’ is a slow lullaby with a foreboding touch. The pair’s brilliant production skills are shown off proudly on the post-punk sounding ‘Little Brown Shoes’. The tail end of the record is sunshine after a storm, as the instrumentals begin leaning away from the tinges of gloom, lust and loathing which have remained front and centre for most of the LP.

The sultry, seductive ‘Baby Teeth’ flawlessly blends into the country-tinged ‘Hole In My Hand’, while the light touches of title track ‘Geiger Counter’ provide a simple, yet memorable melody. Final track ‘Doors Locked, Oven’s Off’ is the perfect closer that brings together the darker sounds of the album with its airy corners, ending the record with the strongest instrumentals thus far.

A disorienting combination of loud violence and gentle caresses that keeps listeners on their toes throughout; Geiger Counter is as meditative as it is nightmarish, as mysterious as it is all-knowing. The record grows on you with each track and by the end of it, you’re ready to play it all over again.

Listen to Geiger Counter by Liar, Flower on Spotify

Malvika Padin
@malvika_padin26

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ALBUM: Hilary Woods – ‘Birthmarks’

Both an aural purge of insecurities and a powerful exploration of self-autonomy, multi-instrumentalist Hilary Woods‘ second album Birthmarks is a cohesive set of shadowy soundscapes that smolder with quiet intensity. Darker and sharper in sound compared to her debut album, Colt, the Irish musician has collaborated with Norwegian experimental noise producer & filmmaker Lasse Marhaug for this latest release on Sacred Bones Records.

Recorded over the course of two years between Galway and Oslo whilst Woods was heavily pregnant, Birthmarks feels like her most personal and powerful record to date. Inspired by field recordings, the images from post-war Japanese & wet-plate photography and the secret life of trees, Woods’ far-reaching influences are what make her art so transcendent.

Opener ‘Tongues Of Wild Boar’ is a foggy, captivating exploration of intense discomfort. From its scratchy dense intro, to its gentle blend of orchestral and electronic elements, it’s an intuitive track that scars and soothes in equal measure. “My body knows I can’t make it out” Woods muses on ‘Orange Tree’, tentatively trying to make peace with her physicality and her surroundings. This need to face her inner fears underscores the record, making it an unsettling, but liberating listen.

The tender ‘Through The Dark, Love’ feels like an intuitive guide through an ambiguous, tumultuous relationship, whilst the sparse instrumentation and the rhythmic humming on ‘Lay Bare’ is deeply comforting. The stretched out saxophone sounds, changing tempo and whispered lyrics on ‘Mud and Stones’ showcase the delicacy with which Woods crafts her songs. They all have a confessional, meditative nature, but her ability to switch from gentle to gritty within a few short seconds never fails to impress.

‘The Mouth’ is one of Birthmarks’ boldest tracks. A fleshy, twisted lullaby about personal hesitation, it’s a somber yet powerful listen, laced with melancholy strings, saxophone and distorted drone noises. The denseness of instrumental ‘Cleansing Ritual’ is unexpectedly soothing too. Its layers of drone noises and distortion cauterize the deepest of wounds. The eerie, persistent tapping of one key alongside Woods’ hushed voice on ‘There Is No Moon’ could feel desolate, but instead it feels restless, as if she is keeping herself awake with the urgency of that repeated note.

Though quiet in terms of volume, Birthmarks is an abrasive, primal, charged offering that allows Woods the space to navigate uncertain emotional territory, highlighting her strength and resilience as an artist. Though fueled by uncertainty, it’s a carefully constructed record that provides space for healing and acceptance.

Pre-order Hilary Woods’ new album Birthmarks here (released 13th March via Sacred Bones)

Follow Hilary Woods on bandcamp, Spotify & Instagram

Photo Credit: Joshua Wright 

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

Kate Crudgington1 Comment