Enjoy Music With A Bite And A Restless Spirit With Dead Letter From Baltimore’s Have Mercy11/9/2024 
Have Mercy
Dead Letter Rude Records Punk and alternative rock headliners Have Mercy take on the mantle of Titans once again after a brief hiatus in 2020. December of last year saw a huge smash with their back-in-business album Numb. It carried the flag for music, for rock n roll, and for Baltimore with global attention across the scene. Now, in early September, Have Mercy present Still Numb. It’s a complete reworking of the album. Released alongside two acoustic versions of Numb and Alive, from the previous record, we also get a brand-new single in Dead Letter. Returning to their original ethos of soundcraft and taking all their experience with them, Dead Letter from Have Mercy sets the ideal tone for the next stage of their exponential career. A bash of drums and a rush of guitar springs into the air as the rhythm rips up the quiet with graceful, paced, and eloquently dissected timings. The music rises on the upward currents of harmony and soul as the verse begins. A masculine vocal that’s been hammered with essence and deep feeling lets it all out in a continual rising of lyrics progress. The drumming gives the band a ramp to fly from as each bar captures a sense of urgency and dream before launching it into the spaces between thought and feeling. Progressive and full of imagery, the tight and skilled Have Mercy take Dead Letter to the skyrocket and watch it take off. You can find out more on the Have Mercy website You can follow Have Mercy on Instagram and X 
Maven Grace
No Music Helium Records The third single from their second album, Surface With A Smile, which is due out very soon, No Music sees the UK dreampop duo Maven Grace don a darker thread in their weave work. The song highlights the true heroism of artists, especially musicians, who are forced underground by oppressive and authoritarian regimes. To follow your intuitively known life’s purpose regardless of the hostility of those around you is truly brave and inspiring. There’s something about music that bonds communities together, regardless of faith or flag, a good song can soften the hardest of hearts. Maybe that’s why some people want it to go away. Co-produced with Chris “Merrick” Hughes, known for work with Adam and the Ants and Tears For Fears, and with an ensemble of collaborators to hand, Maven Grace prepare us for October’s new album with the video for No Music. Eerie folk music glistens and pours from the tipped jug of play. A sequence of strangeness curls over and reveals angelic vocals that shine with their own inner radiance. Elements of mystery join hands with strangely familiar scales from other times. The words hypnotically fuse with the melody in shimmering resonances and drifting motivations. A beautiful backdrop of femininity drapes the framework with morish colour and sensation. No Music from Maven Grace contains everything good and peaceful about the gift of music, aptly portrayed in a dramatisation of dream and purpose. Find out more on the Maven Grace linktree You can follow Maven Grace on Instagram and X 
Iglu and Hartly
Playboys Of The Western World Colorado They blasted into the mainstream only 15 years ago with their radio favourite track, In This City. Since then, Iglu and Hartly have been taking it in their stride and putting out new material with many recent memorable moments. Known world-wide for their continual shirtless appearance, I’m sure it’s sexy if you like that sort of thing, the music does the talking and puts their antics in the bonus section. Playboys Of The Western World is the video single and title-track from their latest EP. Their indie-pop sound is one of those stable go-to choices when we are looking for something entertaining, light-hearted, and with enough energy to make a difference to the room. A lot of people say that they sound like they’re from the 1980s, which is understandable seeing as they use a lot of the ideas the era is known for. They do manage to sound modern, too, which is why we should always pay attention to what they come up with next. A dream-pop vibe soars into action as the music opens into vibrant pages of multiple sensations. Epic synths resonate in harmonious symphonies as the pop rhythms bop and bump with punchy electro drums. Disco vocals swagger the stage with vibrant motifs intimately tied to the flow of the music. Elements of synthpop grab the attention from all manner of influences, a remarkable pie of mixed filling sounds savours on the ears. A continual upbeat and optimistic charisma carries the tune into the chorus and verse as the churning melodies spiral and surge through the motions. You can find out more information on the Iglu and Hartly website Follow Iglu and Hartly on Instagram and Facebook 
Arms And Hearts
Apologists Thousand Island Records Written about holding people accountable for their actions, especially when they are in a trusted position, Apologists was a catharsis for singer Steve Millar. After forming the band Arms and Hearts in 2015, the band went on to release an acoustic oriented album. The Distance Between took their Manchester sound and pushed it into international acclaim. Now with another record on the calendar, October 10th will unravel to offer The Future Is Not Bright. Shifting the genre in many subtle ways, the band embark on an exploration of what it means to deal with the struggles of life, from the boss to mental health and everything else between them. When your surroundings insist that you give up hope and you refuse to do it, is the future bright? Perhaps it all depends on the Apologists. A punky vocal begins with a smoothness that gives room for the building guitar. Chugging chords with palm-muted rhythms kick off the song as the voice begins. A few bars in and the band rev the engine, drums and distortion are freed from their painting and become real before our ears. The uplifting melody of the song greets vibrant guitar parts that twinkle and whisper with aptitude and free-flowing groove. With a continual evolution of riff and drive, the rhythm keeps the chopping guitar to the measure with every twist of the drama held among the lyrics. You can find out more on The Future Is Not Bright website You can follow Arms and Hearts on Instagram and X 
Bard
Dread Not The Ferryman New Jersey Undertaking a journey into the realms of mystery, folklore, and wyrd action at a distance, the New Jersey funk-rock outfit show us how they Dread Not The Ferryman. Bard a.k.a The Bard Band take us to the underworld to meet its guardian of repute. We’ve likely heard of him before, the spiritual dimension’s gatekeeper, the one we must put our faith in as we embark into the next world. If we’ve lived a good life and earned the respect of the Ferryman, he’ll take us to eternal peace. If not, we may be cursed to wander lost forever, in between the two opposing worlds, devoid of flesh but racked with emotion. A testimony that points towards October’s new album, Angels Got His Back, Bard’s Dread Not The Ferryman exerts itself as a force and a weathervane pointing due North. A rockabilly riff punches the track open and a lush funky drive streams from the cracks in all directions. Sweet vibes and uplifting atmospheres cling to the tight-knit drumming that fuses jazz and rock together with a disco sense of emotion. The guitars own the framework, leaping around the key changes with virtuosity and class. As the vocals offer the body of work, we become enthralled in the story eloquently portrayed by the tuneful and expressive singer. The band manage to remain in a world of their own among the classically smooth drumming, pushing the boat out with licks and groove that only the gods of old can inspire. You can find music from Bard on Bandcamp Find out more on the Bard website You can follow Bard on Facebook and X 
History Of Guns
Drug Castle Hertfordshire The UK Industrial group History Of Guns are back, not with just another song but with a short film set to music. It’s a huge undertaking, moving images and great sounding songs don’t magic themselves into action. Their recent videos include No Longer Earthbound, When You Don’t Matter, and What’s Buried (Will Rise). Each title smashed the boundaries while raising the bar and gaining all the right attention. This new film has been directed by Howard Gardner and makes use of not only Drug Castle from the new Half Light album, but it also captures Survive The Night. Named after a 1960s UK facility where patients were subjected to unethical and experimental psychological procedures, keeping the crosshairs on the shadows it’s History Of Guns with Drug Castle. The ocean takes the lead as the crashing of waves on rocks opens the score for us. Eeriee noises like metal on metal and chirping birds in long-forgotten chimneys break the natural vibe before an open-minded voice begins to talk. Huge atmospheres lurch across our vulnerable heads as the sonic architecture looks onward in uncompassionate nonchalance. Squealing sounds and loud exclamations of personal poverty find an odd stage within the poetic backdrop of scenario and solitude. As the music finds an orchestral angle, it clings on in a desperate rise for life and it’s greeted with slow tribalesque drums. The tension increases and the voice begins to dive into the realms of mania. As the pressure drops momentarily, a plucked string melody begins to repeat. At first, it’s soothing but as the voice returns the harmonics and timbre twist and pivot into discord. The plucks become bow sounds with a melody making vague attempts to assemble itself. The sound vanishes and out comes a solid guitar, with a tune that has character and blues. The vocal returns with a clearer and more stable song. An emotional twang still manages to drag the energy of the vocal into pools of wallowing yet the motivation to continue remains. You can find out ore on the History Of Guns website You can follow History Of Guns on Facebook and find music by History Of Guns on Bandcamp |
Keep Scrolling
Sound Read Six
AuthorFrom AlternativeFruit.Com - Your donations really make a difference. Connecting great music with great listeners. Thank you to everyone.
 
From the author of Sound Read Six
From the author of Sound Read Six
Archives
September 2024
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed
