Track Of The Day: Arlo Parks – ‘Cola’

Newcomer Arlo Parks has shared her debut single ‘Cola’ and it’s a slow-burning, soulful track with lyrical bite. The eighteen year old poet, singer, producer & rapper demonstrates her confessional writing style beautifully here, with beats as steady as her calm, stylish vocals.

On ‘Cola’, The London-based singer tackles the relatable theme of “bad love”. Arlo explains: “‘Cola’ is a reminder that betrayal is inevitable when it comes to pretty people that think flowers fix everything”. Her sharp observations are delivered in tender, care-free style, making it easy to leave the track on repeat. Flowers may not be able to fix everything, but if ‘Cola’ is anything to go by – Arlo’s vocals certainly can.

Listen to the track below or stream it here. Follow Arlo Parks on Facebook for more updates.

Photo Credit: Charlie Cummings

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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Track Of The Day: Beckie Margaret – ‘New York’

“I’m glad if my songs help others cope. Telling my story is something that really gives me strength” explains Essex songwriter Beckie Margaret about her latest track, ‘New York’. Released via Cool Thing Records, her new single laments “the one that got away” in her trademark, heart-breaking style.

Beckie’s resilience in the face of heartbreak is what makes listening to her music so rewarding. Even in her seemingly weakest moments, her powerful, pure vocals provide an aching relief that can be felt all the way from the end of Southend Pier in her hometown, to the lonely shores of the city she sings about.

Beckie’s music has been captivating listeners on and off the airwaves, receiving support from Steve Lamacq at BBC 6 Music and John Kennedy at Radio X. However, the songwriter has a strong sense of where her latest single “fits”: “To me, it’s quite important that this track doesn’t fit in. I think the message of the song required something less contemporary than my previous songs. ‘New York’ was really painful to write and record, however, the painful expression of the song really became cathartic when I realised this awful thing I had been through, then stood as it’s own physical existence in a song. There was something strangely satisfying about that”.

Listen to ‘New York’ below, and follow Beckie Margaret on Facebook for more updates.

Photo Credit: Andrew Delaney

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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Introducing Interview: Tokyo Taboo

GIHE faves Tokyo Taboo have long been blowing us away with their immense, riotous live performances and seething energy, and so it’s with excitement that we heard they’re set to release their second album very soon!

Taken from the album, latest single ‘No Pleasure Only Pain’ rages with the band’s trademark ferocity as whirring hooks race alongside tremendous beats and the immense power of front-woman Dolly Daggerz’ vocals.

We caught up with Tokyo Taboo to find out more…

Hi Tokyo Taboo, welcome to Get In Her Ears! Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
We are Tokyo Taboo – a punk, rocker duo with weird visual ideas, lots of energy and acrobatics on stage!

How did you initially get together and start creating music?
Dolly auditioned Mickey when she was in search of a guitarist for her solo project. There was an old guy who made up his only chords, a guy who couldn’t play guitar at all and Mickey. The rest is history!

Your new single ‘No Pleasure Only Pain’ is out this week – can you tell us what it’s all about?
Dolly’s lyrics came from her realisation that she was sabotaging herself with alcohol and lusting after the wrong kinds of things that cause only pain. The song is about when you know something or someone is wrong for you but you still can’t stop thinking about how good it would feel to have it/them. Animal impulses basically that drive addiction and bad behaviour!

You’ve been compared to the likes of Deap Vally and Juliette & The Licks, but who would you say are your main musical influences?
Madonna is a massive influence for Dolly along with Freddie Mercury and Bowie. Dolly is a big believer in the importance of commanding a stage and bewitching an audience! Any performers who are compelling to watch with that sense of unpredictable showmanship are going to be a massive influence on us.

How is your local music scene? Do you go to see lots of live music?
We put on a lot of shows with other bands (especially female fronted acts). When we are putting together a line up we like to choose female fronted acts over male as the industry is so male dominated. We love to go to see live music and performance of any kind. Dance, aerialists, acrobats – all art inspires us.

We’ve been blown away by your live show many times! But can you explain what fans can expect from your live shows?
Dolly likes to push herself to the max. The last show we did in Canada involved Dolly doing a bridge (one handed back bend) whilst singing the final two minutes of the last song, high notes and all. She likes to jump on things (she climbs a lot on the bar or on high tables). She also likes to climb up poles and hang upside down off them. Our set is high energy with a lot of audience participation so it’s not one you can stand back and be detached from.

As we’re a new music focused site, are there any other new/upcoming bands you’d recommend we check out?
We are big fans of Polly Pikpockets, Yur Mum and Healthy Junkies, and are planning another show with all three in 2019! Watch this space!

And how do you feel the music industry is for new bands at the moment – would you say it’s difficult to get noticed?
The music industry sucks and will always suck for bands starting out as there are so many sharks out there that you need to blacklist and so many lessons to be learnt that you only learn from going at it! It is, of course, difficult to get noticed but perseverance is everything!

Finally, what does the rest of 2018 have in store for Tokyo Taboo?
Our single launch night is on the 29th of November at Fest in Camden. We are then releasing our new music video the following week. We have been spending a lot of time at the moment booking festivals and planning for 2019. I don’t think we’ll stop working on music until Christmas Eve. But we love it so who’s complaining?

Huge thanks to Tokyo Taboo for answering our questions!

‘No Pleasure Only Pain’ is out 30th November, and you can catch Tokyo Taboo live at their single launch at Camden Fest on Friday 29th, along with Bugeye, Thunder On The Left and HAWXX and Bled The Fifth.

 

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