Through the reviews I've shared of the first three singles from the album ("Ginkgo Biloba", "The Earth Spirit" and "Privileged Animals"), I hope your awareness of what Ieere's new album 'Sad Moon, Sleepy Heads'  would be about.

Now however it's crunch time as I have my review copy and the launch event is on Friday 12^th June, at The Pen Factory at 13, Hope Street in Liverpool. Should you be round that way.

Like all the most intense artistic manifestations, such moments are capable of simultaneously provoking almost diametrically opposing feelings in a reviewer. One set are vividly positive as I contemplate the breadth & depth of what I'm looking at right now, the other is near despair at doing it justice.

I'd better start with the factual as that's the easy first steps. Apart from the singles, you'll be hearing a dozen more tracks: "Clock", "Himmelsduft", "Measuring Time", "For All You Wanderers", "Das Alter", "Talismans", "Blooming", "Tender Empiricism", "Magic Man", "Sad Moon, Sleepy Heads", "On The Lake" and "(Sixty Years)". Which I think is possibly the most tracks I've encountered on an album for quite some time.

And who's made them? Well I can tell you that fairly confidently too: it's Simon Monaghan (vocals, spoken word, guitars), Claire Glasbey (vocals & handclaps), Dominic Hanway (vocals, bass, guitars, keyboards and handclaps), Jonathan Fisher (horns and spoken word), Chloë Mullet (piano & flute), John Kinane (backing vocals and spoken word) and reflections & quotations are performed by Vicki, Emmi, Felicitas and Peter.

The involvement of course of Claire and of Andie Thomson at Gighouse Studio (where  it was mixed and mastered in addition to some of the recording and programming) bring it into the catchment of this magazine.

When you receive your hard copy, the first impression will probably be of the really high production values: I'm looking at a beautifully designed case plus an accompanying lyrics/quotations/philosophies booklet. This whole artefact shouts out "class".

And so it should: as you already know, Ieere have set out to "examine some of the poetry and the thought of Goethe with reference to his concern for the nourishing power and the healing presence of nature".

If your starting point is the work of one of the most admired poets of history then you can imagine the pressures on the musicians to do justice. However, the obvious starting point for anyone setting Goethe might reasonably be classical & in particular something along the lines of Beethoven who was roughly contemporary, German and a fellow participant in the Romantic movement. That sort of thing would fit surely?

Well if you've read the three previous reviews, you'll already know that this is not Ieere's approach at all. Instead, they've sought to make his work accessible in our contemporary world.

The potential  traps here are pretty substantial: the thought of someone trying to get "down with the kids",  "translating" Goethe into what they think is contemporary street slang or rap form and other egregious and patronising behaviour sends a shudder down the spine.

But you know already that that's not what they've done. Ieere balance between the preciousness of period settings and dumbing down of the over demotic in a way which most of us might liken to tightrope walking: except they sound so confident in performing in each of the various styles they've chosen that the marriages of words to tunes comes across as totally natural (which in itself speaks to the aim of ‘Sad Moon, Sleepy Heads'). Ultimately, it may be this factor which forms the basis of authenticity and accessibility which really ensures that it succeeds.

For many of us, eighteenth century German culture can be quite intimidating. I confess that I have always considered Goethe "heavy". But then all I knew were "The Sorrows of Young Werther". I thank Ieere for teaching me a lot about his work & I've completely altered my opinion as a result. OK the only work I knew is admittedly pretty heavy but the work this album covers certainly is a different kettle of fish and as such responds really effectively to the lightness of touch which Ieere seem to be aiming for whenever possible. Forget Sturm und Drang.

As each of the fifteen songs has its own carefully crafted, customised arrangement, each stands well on its own: hence the number of plausible singles. However this is not a compilation, it's a very thoughtfully constructed album which needs to be considered as a whole. It's conceptual, so it's arguably a concept album and I could get bogged down into analogies with song cycles and considering each track to be a movement in a longer work. That would be both pretentious and I'm sure inaccurate.

However, even if you've arrived at ‘Sad Moon, Sleepy Heads' via the individual singles as I have, it's important I believe to play the whole through at least once to grasp its holistic effect: and I do think holistics are part of what Goethe & Ieere have in mind.

The fine art of sequencing is a craft which hasn't been used as much in a world of singles, EPs and streaming and I am sure that the order in which these songs are presented has been given much thought. I think that hitting ‘shuffle', though it's the listener's prerogative to do so, may be in this case to depart from something designed to maximise meaning.

But please don't interpret this as implying a series of ultra smooth transitions. The natural world of Goethe & Ieere is that of Rousseau and not Le Nôtre: wild and unpredictable, not sanitised & enslaved. Hence you get surprises as one song succeeds another and that I think is just fine. This is a record to promote thought, not to coddle.

If you don't like singing interspersed with the spoken word (including in German), or jazz followed by soul and thence New Wave into a classical piece, and straight from that into punk ("Das Alter"), then this record may be too radical for you. I think that at this point, if you've ever listened to a ‘Hot Music Live Presents' compilation or attended one of our shows, you can work out an attraction of ‘Sad Moon, Sleepy Heads' with its rampant eclecticism and playful juxtapositions.

In fact, to emphasise the continuity in question, I'd like now to quote from an interview Claire recently gave in which she spoke about Goethe's writing and  "….the rawness and truth in it. His writing feels unapologetic and honest. It was so far ahead of its time, especially considering the era he was writing in—people simply weren't ready for those kinds of truths then. And if I'm honest, I don't think we're fully ready for them now either."

And I totally agree. I often feel that contemporary society is spoonfed huge amounts of quasi-cultural content, large dollops of which are manufactured to confirm & reinforce prejudices. Goethe revolted against that, Ieere are of similar mind & this resonates with me also.

Claire expresses her own connection to the album as ".. an ode to spirituality. A gentle invitation to reconnect—with ourselves, with beauty, and with truth." I'd like to add "fun" to her list. There is so much beauty, humanity and wisdom on the record, emanating from the poet but I feel that Ieere in the settings they have devised have added that quality & surely, if one is to enjoy life as recommended, it's an essential ingredient isn't it?

Frankly anyone who can take something called "Tender Empiricism" and make such a catchy song out of it deserves some sort of medal. Of course every song is a jewel containing nuggets not just of wisdom but of deeply humane wisdom. Each has a different sound and in all my admiration for the material, I must not end this article without expressing my admiration of the band: not just for its taste in devising this project and in setting the words, but in the skill they possess in being able to play so many different ways with such a lightness of touch. As I've said, Ieere have kindly devised much in the way of supplementary materials, but despite the many words and the artwork, the concentration is on the ideas and they do not bang their own drum much at all (there is no band photo for example). Given their admirable modesty and service to the music, I think I ought to end by urging you to consider the quality of minds & hearts which wrought ‘Sad Moon, Sleepy Heads'.

Following up her magnificent "Diamonds", a song I felt took Katherine Abbott into new and very exciting artistic territory  (I still can't stop playing it)  was, without, always going to be a challenge.

As you'll know from what she's previously revealed, prior to her album she'll "be releasing a few songs I've written and recorded over the past 5 years or so which need to be set free like tiny birds who've been cooped up too long in files on my phone" , so having a strong store  from which to select is a helpful element in this sort of process. The latest candidate for liberation is "Find a Way" which bridges the gap between her more ethereal style which characterised her early releases and the more rock approach of its immediate predecessor.

Katherine has always demonstrated steel in her music, regardless of the wispiness of vocals (in fact the dynamic between these is a key part of her talent) and her songs almost always, again despite any apparent lightness of instrumental touch, are borne along by some form of groove: generated in various ways on various tracks. This time out is no exception: again the accompaniment doesn't intrude on the vocals at all, but propels the song along zestfully with a compelling rhythm enriched a series of creative chords & changes: providing yet another classic Katherine Abbott stimulating dynamic where the sense of knowing where the song is going, driven by that groove, contends with the surprises provided by the tune itself.

Having followed her music all the way from "Lullaby For Lucas" (you can find it on ‘Hot Music Live Presents Volume Nine'), it's clear to me that Katherine spends a lot of time on top of her innate ability in crafting very subtle music in this way. However just as important (possibly more so) to her is the emotional depth of her lyrics. As they tend to the allusive, I can only speculate sometimes as to any experiences she may have had which inspired these (and frankly often feel it would be intrusive to ask her: so I never do). This is no exception, though I am pleased to report that (assuming I get this right) that this is a song of positive emotions, a "can do" philosophy which embraces the possibilities inherent in the day ahead of her: consequently she comes across as happy, which is uplifting

There is a charming video to go with "Find a Way" that tends to amplify my reading of the song and which you can find at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRcxAWMg5e4

You can catch Katherine at the Cat Mead curated 'Song & Story' at Southbound in Leamington on 30^th June: tickets are available via this link:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/song-story-tickets-1990322188243

The ‘Hot Music Live Presents' fundraiser for The Tin last evening broke new ground even for a series which, apart from the main aim, tries to introduce as many people as possible to new music.

Of the four bands,  Deathsex Bloodbath, Batsch, Little Girl Screaming and Stegosaurus Sex Party, two were local cult status ones who hadn't played locally for so many years that many of the audience hadn't seen them before & the rest all dropped the entirety of their sets & released work in favour of wholly new material & different onstage instrumentation. So if you were looking for "a thrill that's new", you were in the right place. Equally the bands themselves had never played on the same bill before (and I suspect this configuration may be difficult to put together again).

Up first, Stegosaurus Sex Party retained the party mood from their previous gigs but none of the songs, jettisoning drums for a much more electro sound which was in its own way just as exciting as before. It was certainly as furious & in your face with as little compromise as ever. Targets (and the new stuff certainly is aimed directly) were added to be the righteous fury of the band for some astonishing online transphobic bigotry expressed towards Deathsex Bloodbath by a person who bizarrely purports to be a member of the local creative community. There is nothing like this sort of outrage to fuel performances & it helped I think to give the community present a sense of the necessity to stand together in the face of prejudice. Certainly DSB had their own thoughts to share later on.

Tree and Chris of Little Girl Screaming tested the water back in October as an acoustic duo at our fundraiser & it went down so well that they brought their full band back to the city for the first time in about fifteen years: few of the venues they played so often at are still around but thankfully they are. Their "new" drummer Simon has been with them for a more than a decade now yet this was still his first gig with them here: bassist Mev is a more recent recruit  but, with due respect to their predecessors, I'd suggest from my memory (and I saw them often enough), Little Girl Screaming have never sounded so powerful and compelling live. This is a really strong lineup and I hope they can play more live: it would be a waste not to. Certainly it's time they reminded people round Coventry of just what a great band they are.

I've written before of my admiration of how Batsch have evolved successfully from a quartet to a duo and now "just" Mason. However that's barely telling the story, as he too has consigned all Batsch music from their many releases to the archives and constructed a brand new set around the persona of "Clive Batsch". Batsch fans will reasonably point out that his musical talents offer continuity (though given the new context, the music is much more spare on many songs) but this is probably not as obvious as the facets of the performance itself. And it certainly is a performance. He has crafted a strange new persona who seems to live in a 1970s type world: one rooted in a sort of semi-bourgeois suburbia with an unseen wife (Maureen), but having retired from a series of often rather odd careers with peculiar progressions, about which he sings songs. He also treats us to monologues about anecdotes relating to them in the style almost of a 1970s club comedian: so it's not surprising when many of the songs are sort of crooned ones such as people like that used to intersperse their acts. As I say, linking these to "old" Batsch tracks isn't easy, but maybe, his interest in the filmic & visual as a stimulus for his music has, in this fashion, become more overt?

He uses keyboards & guitar to accompany himself, but (in yet another surprise), he brings on star guests Nyotaa (for two numbers) and Tim Ellis (of Jackdaw with Crowbar fame) on bass for one.

It's all a delight, but in a final (and I have to say complex) twist, even this fascinating set exists within a broader context as somehow this finely imagined world of Clive Batsch has become entwined with the notoriously detailed lore of Deathsex Bloodbath. Foreshadowing pops up in the form of a leaflet posted through his door  and his reel of 1970s adverts which plays throughout is interrupted by a communique from them. Eventually they burst onto stage before he's finished as part of a coup establishing The People's Republic of Coventry.

This merging of two sets (I thank Sophie Williams for coining "Deathsex Bloodbatsch") is a first for these gigs & went down well with the audience who obviously didn't see it coming. A testament to the hard work by all concerned in making it work so effectively.

After a Deathsex Bloodbatsch rendition of the "Coventry National Anthem" (which largely concerns Coventry Market), Deathsex Bloodbath remained to tear through many of their most alluring and provocative tracks, delivered with the sort of theatricality unseen since the last Deathsex Bloodbath gig.

Sadogasm (vocals, guitar, ego and lycra), Switchblade (vocals, feathers and disinformation), Masokiss (bass, science and magic), Sororicide (drums, percussion and violence) & Justin Appropriate (leading guitar and having discarded his trademark hotpants for something even more revealing) may have been absent from our stages but like Little Girl Screaming, my feeling was they were even better than before. It might be my own delight in seeing a favoured band I never thought I'd see again: it might be part of their delight in playing again, but they were on fire. This time, having battled demonic possession and evil alternative selves in previous scenarios, they have evolved into urban guerillas, complete with fatigues etc. Except of course for Justin. It was good too to see early DSB member Caitred Alabaster in the audience.

Of course they've all been playing a lot in the years intervening (many of them having been Duck Thieves for example) so the performing skills are bound to have been enhanced. Nevertheless, you could tell the glee they had at being able to play such classics as "You are Dead! We are Deathsex!", "Been to Kettering",  "Douches (There are Too Many of Them)", "Do Better", "Tinder is the Night", "Let's Fuck!" and "Asphyxiwank" with appropriate abandon, punctuated by some reflections on bigotry and unfurling of flags including an Anti-Fascist Action one.

Once again, delightful as it was to finally see this band again, it would be a crying shame if it wasn't followed by at least occasion reunions given the amount they poured into preparing for this one: though I should point out that they will also be playing at the "It's Not a Phase Mum!" Festival at The Tin on Saturday 18^th July

So there you have it: a unique evening which it was a privilege to be at (the place was packed with some of the best people too). Passionate commitment to craft and artistic courage. You can't find it at every musical event, but it crops up frequently at The Tin. I hope you get to experience all four acts though probably not again in one place & some may require more of a wait. Massive credit to Ian Whitehead: the amount of kit and swapping things around all the magnificence just described required was the most any of these gigs has needed: and that's before thinking about the very idiosyncratic sound needs of each band.

On a more sombre note, it's worth remembering why all these great gigs are happening & why so many artists and audience members are supporting them. The economics of running independent venues, not least ones which are charities & do so much community work, are fragile. No single income stream is enough by itself to sustain The Tin and so the day before this event, they put out a plea for individual support.

Accordingly may I please draw your attention to this link:

https://www.zeffy.com/en-GB/donation-form/donate-to-support-the-tin-music-and-arts

Our next fundraiser of The Tin is on July 3^rd and features Danny Ansell, Rosetta Fire, Las Vedas and dogmarket

Advance tickets are available via this link:

https://events.humanitix.com/hot-music-live-danny-ansell-rosetta-fire-las-vedas-dogmarket

I think pretty much everyone will, however reluctantly, admit that to make it in music talent's a great asset but unfortunately luck is part of many people's stories. For many, thankfully that is positive and we get to hear of moments when fortune smiled on them.

Follow music, especially local music long enough though and you get to hear some pretty depressing stories. You get your Specials but you also get your Gods Toys: also much tipped for stardom but brought down by ill chance.

I hope you like the music of Alchemista? If so, you are probably frustrated by the obstacles they have had to deal with. If you are a band whose music demands five members & generally members are of an age when other demands on their time are likely to be greater, then losing people is more probable: and so the core trio of Caroline White (lead & harmony vocals and occasional keyboards) Colin Halliwell (drums) and Paul Jayes (piano, keyboards and occasional guitar) have found. Then when every piece seemed in place and recording could be recommenced & gigs scheduled.. well if you were there for our November ‘Hot Music Live Presents' fundraiser for The Tin, and expected to hear them, you'd be aware that three members made it though the floods but two could not. Not exactly great for any band but for one trying to get going again after a long layoff…

The next issue thankfully has been a nicer one as bassist/engineer Aaron Clews who'd finally nailed that role down for the band, became a father & understandably took time off. He'd already done some recording on "Rose From The East", (which is out on all digital platforms on 5th June) and the multi talented Emmy McKissock came in to hold the fort alongside Caroline, Paul, Colin and new guitarist Jerry Foss.

It only gets a little more frustrating when you hear just how good the song is: one sincerely hopes this will kickstart new momentum (though in fairness they are deliberately prioritising recording this year to catch up with what's been written and taking into account the personal demands on members).

Initiated musically by Paul as far back as lockdown, Caroline seized on what he'd come up, heard an "eastern" element within it and decided to use it to channel aspects of part of Philip Pullman's ‘Book of Dust' trilogy ('The Secret Commonwealth') to describe a "journey across the Desert of Karamakan to find the mysterious red building and rare roses rumoured to be there, and maybe some kind of portal where Lyra might meet again with ‘someone she used to know' (her soul-mate and best friend, Will), or at least find her daemon, Pan, who has gone off on his own travels and is also heading that way."

No wonder nearly eight minutes are required for this epic: but then given the association of "eastern" with "timelessness", I think songs which go down that route sound better when longer ("Kashmir" after all is even longer and that doesn't outstay its welcome either). Emmy also stripped the existing recording back to what Caroline described to me as a more "analogue" feel and which I'd call more organic: which suits the song but also Alchemista too. People probably do consider them to be a traditional melodic rock band in several ways & that's fair, but given their penchant for songs which either obviously describe historical settings or at least allude towards them, it seems more natural.

"Rose From The East" is of course very melodic but it's also very hypnotic: a stately and majestic voyage with plenty of space for a proper narrative (and Alchemista's songs are mostly narratives) at a pace you can process.

What the band do is to take the more obvious elements such as the melody & words and (as their name implies), blend in senses of place, time & mood and come up with very strong & individual songs: it helps ensure that whatever general influences & experiences the musicians bring to Alchemista, you don't get a trademark sound which makes their tracks sound similar: each has the right feel and arrangement for what it is and this is really helpful for building a variety of material. This band really do serve the song.

One option for "Rose From The East" might have been an Arabic pastiche with overdubs of instruments to match, but they have gone for something more subtle: a allusive rock song. It brought to mind Squeeze's (admittedly very different) "Take Me I'm Yours" where their own song of a journey across a desert hints at the setting without descending into cultural appropriation.

Check out too the evocative video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGdAnU9C9E4 as well as the excellent cover which was designed by another very talented local musician, Laurel McIntosh.

KC Jones, that is to say Karen & Colin combined, have a new album out today, their third (after ‘Captive' and ‘Roots') and it's called ‘Collection'.

There are dark hints that it might be their last & in that light, some of the features make plenty of sense. I'm going to stick my neck out and say that they've made it for themselves and what's wrong with that?

The evidence is various: there is a definite sense of their having invited friends (such as Keith Donnelly, Bob Powell and Marion Fleetwood) to join in  and to some extent there has been a sort of rummage through their own favourites as suggested by the cover art as much as the tracklisting.

The final effect is of a miscellany ranging from the inclusion of their previously released & well received single "The Apocalyptic Horsemen", through some often radical reworkings of really well known songs (and these definitely weren't necessarily classified as "folk" in their original incarnations) to other newer songs of their own.

As I say, making sense of what they've recorded makes plenty of sense in the context of sharing their own enthusiasms regardless of genre expectations  and wouldn't it be churlish of anyone to criticise these? I hope they will continue writing and recording, but there is plenty of potential in any career for a declaration of "this is who we are". I think that one reason I've rated KC Jones has been their refusal to be restricted by the tyranny of genre, when too many people pander instead to those expectations & are duller and certainly more predictable for so doing. 

Unsurprisingly (unlike a couple of the arrangements which will definitely cause you to raise your eyebrows), the performing is top notch and you will detect plenty of love mixed in with the technique. It's probably worth saying too that although not all of the songs started their various journeys at a place called "folk", that's nevertheless where they've all ended up.

The pair are launching the album on June 4^th at the Godiva Sessions at The Humber in Coventry: I'd imagine some or all of their guests will be there to perform the relevant songs, and given that the event seems to be free, rather good value.

It's a little difficult to describe what this article is about in a few words: it's not a review certainly.

However I was impressed by not just what Sarah (who promotes & DJs under the sobriquet of Alien She) told me but by her sense of positivity & who can resist that?

I'd picked up fragments of what she briefed me on, but not all the parts nor the sense of connectivity. I'd definitely say that whenever I can write about bigger picture issues as well as the talents on individual artists, it's a particular pleasure. Having experienced the highs & lows of the local music scene over the years including dark eras of stagnation, lack of imagination and cliques, I often ramble on at how great it currently is with so many people supporting each other and delighting in each other's music.

And Sarah's tale is one of these for sure: collaboration and what she characterises as a "chain event" and these must lie at the heart of the sustainability we yearn for & the lack of which has ended previous periods of healthy scenes.

So let's start at the beginning of the chain, when Sarah invited UFO Club (from Leeds)  to DJ at the Cov Sauce Hallowe'en event  after seeing them play at ALSO Fest at Compton Verney.

Link number two consisted of UFO reciprocating and asking Sarah & Tom Something to play in Leeds alongside Isis Moray.

At much the same time, Sarah sent Ben at UFO tracks by people he'd met at the Cov Sauce gig and he passed the Paradise of the Titans material by Alice Weston onto Jade (Isis Moray) who consequently will be putting out her next release on the Holy Crow label (which has also featured Alys Rain).  While Alice will be remixing one of Ben's songs from his new EP.

Actually the chain analogy is getting a bit strained now with things happening concurrently so maybe a web?

The next strands/links will be Sarah & Alice playing with Isis & Ben in Sheffield in July with hopefully another reciprocation in Coventry to follow.

And this is just a start of bilateral support. No wonder Sarah is so pleased as each small & achievable step has led to another, drawn in others & looks capable of growing steadily and sustainably.

I tend to celebrate what's going on in Coventry & Warwickshire because that's what I write about in this magazine and it's about as large a catchment as a single person can even begin to monitor at any reasonable sort of depth. I often get feedback from other areas: sometimes people are a bit envious of us because their region isn't as thriving, other times I hear of people working along parallel lines.

What must be the case however is that by forging mutually supportive local partnerships, it benefits everyone. Without doubt, the most frustrating thing for me (and the artists) is when they conquer their immediate area but cannot easily break out into the wider picture: I delight whenever I learn of people managing gigs elsewhere.

A few of these manage the feat by the traditional means: sheer weight of talent & getting the break of it being spotted by someone with influence. New networks and opportunities have definitely been generated by, for example, the BIMMs which increasing numbers of our musicians have studied out. Relocation helps too: it's great to see how many London gigs both Banoffee and HomeBread are playing since they established a base there.

Festivals probably represent the single most helpful driver for breaking out of one's home area and again, I enjoy seeing artists we cover being invited to a great variety of these.

So if you add in the idea of bilateral links with other areas such as Sarah is experiencing, a bit like the concept of town twinning, deep and long term relationships can offer fairly easily the chance to catch each other's talents live & then if you manage additional benefits such as the record label support, then what is the limit to what might be achieved with imagination & openness to fresh music? Clearly ego needs to be left at the door: the mindset which builds cliques has nothing to contribute to such a relationship. The equality of giving & taking required seems obvious for this to work.

This may be a good moment to pop in a mention of Strummer Room Records Presents who put on live original music at The Apothecary Tap in Banbury twice a month plus the annual ApTap Fest and who have regularly invited Coventry & Warwickshire artists to play: and we're talking ones of the class of  Concrete Fun House, Gutter Puppy, Project Overload, Duck Thieves, The Caroline Bomb and Shanghai Hostage in the last few months alone.

This is not yet the same directly reciprocating engine as described above but it does strengthen the bonds between the two scenes and since bands of the class of Dolly Mavies and Liam Vincent and the Odd Foxes have travelled in the opposite direction so to speak, is certainly representative of developing ties.

So I really look forward to others getting involved in the existing exchange programme but also in maybe taking the model & trying it with other areas: I think the possibilities are very exciting.

Regardless of all this (though really: please don't actually disregard it), the simple fact that it has so stimulated one of the most enthusiastic promoters of our local music to tell me that  "it's the best thing I've been involved within the last year and made me think this is what it's all about" should commend it to you by itself.

Incidentally, Alien She is playing at the Coventry Pride After Party on 27^th June at The Box at FarGo.

If you enjoyed her run of three recent singles ("Fantasise With Me", "Sound of the Wolf" and "Society Anxiety") as much as I did, then you'll be chuffed to explore her new album ‘Wanderer's Lust' which not only contains this trio but eight more tracks in the shape of: "Basic Respect", "Fly and Float", "Allenby", "Come Back", "Wanderer's Lust", "Dignity, Integrity and Everything Inside Of Me", "Breadcrumbs" and "Don't Forget About Me". You've probably enjoyed her live performances of many of them given her many concerts: she is clearly a must for promoters & other artists.

Many too would point to the impact she has had on our local scene in the short time she's been part of it: not least in putting on classy gigs of her own devising. I totally agree with that but would suggest  that the relationship may be a little symbiotic given a sense of her surprise that she's made an album at all (not her original plan) and I suspect the warmth of her greeting by the local scene may have played a part. If so, she has certainly repaid that several times over.

Before diving into the songs, I'd like to test your patience with something I raise (too) often. Essentially I feel that the preference for single & EP releases over the traditional album format has been positive (I understand the financial drivers too!): each track gets much more attention, nothing gets lost in broader contexts & the phenomenon of the "filler" track has taken a welcome hit.

On the other hand, as I say from time to time, I speculate how albums of songs from artists used to devising the impact of singles might be for us to process? I sometimes fear emotional overload though I accept that taking a breather is much easier now than when vinyl LPs were the only option.

Cat, as previous reviews stated, is nothing if not an emotionally intense artist. Once again, our moral guardians have slapped the old "explicit" label on the opening track "Basic Respect" and presumably by extension, the album itself. Since I made the point already this week (in my review of the new YNES single) that being explicit is surely a virtue and that they actually mean "rude words" (by someone's definition), I'll not repeat that at length.

But this is strong, uncompromising material: not because there is a little swearing going down, but due to the depths of the human condition to which Cat escorts us. She doesn't mess around with putting her nor our sensitivities in cotton wool nor patronise us by holding back. You can have a look for platitudes but I defy you to succeed.

I'll come clean here: since the process of reviewing involves listening track by track: I've not yet played ‘Wanderer's Lust' through in one continuous listening session. I'm still not sure if I have the emotional resources so perhaps I may never do this. I don't worry about that.  If you can process all the songs one after another then I salute you. I can only imagine what Cat feels like after delivering a full set live.  of this sort of stuff.

The key to how this came together for Cat is possibly through instinct: letting her heart lead her. Consequently, the album not only wasn't planned in some calculated fashion, but has ended up including material she already had & songs she's written lately. I think what she has done is to use her taste & discretion to look through her body of work and to put together a collection which visits a range of emotional locations: which makes for an excellent structure. What I'm certain it isn't is some sort of constructed concept which while probably arriving at a similar destination, would be far less satisfying. No: each song on its own merits rings true & if there is variety, then it's not just because Cat has experienced varying emotions (most of us can claim that), it's because she is equally adept at capturing them and consequently over a period of time has written about the all.

And what a range. Many singer-songwriters seem comfortable sharing the introspective sides of their nature, but lust? No that doesn't crop up too often. Perhaps that just a bit too private for them: but not Cat. And that's fresh.

There is so much to unpack here that I'd better rein myself in a little before I end up writing one of my notoriously difficult to digest epics. So a few key points. Firstly, however dynamically she comes across on stage, she is very open about fundamental insecurities which many others might understandably keep to themselves. For example, you may remember that my first review of her was when she supported Ellie Gowers in December. At the time, I took her at face value for the talent she clearly was: what I didn't realise was that one reason I'd not encountered her before that night was that I was witnessing a key moment in her development of her self belief: in her own words "that gig was the absolute fuel to the fire for me. It felt like it was where I was meant to be". And the next thing you know she's been playing and creating prolifically. Obviously I'm pretty chuffed to have (accidentally) witnessed such a key moment but it brings into sharp perspective the frankly incredible fact that the Cat Mead we know and love has substantially been forged in an intense six month period.

I'm not sure that dynamic by itself accounts for the quality of the songs: she clearly had plenty of them before her epiphany & she obviously is a person of great reflective power in addition to her musical gifts. However can you imagine any of the releases, the singles or this album occurring without it? I frankly doubt if the urge to write so much since would have come either.

Whereas the likes of "Breadcrumbs" might well come from a perspective on the problems of low esteem, the presence of songs which not only embrace lust but anger & sorrow keep ‘Wanderer's Lust' from the pitfall of the introspective type artist which can all to easily topple into the pit of "please pity me because I feel sorrow for myself". And believe me listening to that sort of album let alone reviewing one can be pretty soul destroying.

I'd much rather listen to an artist exploring themselves than one who feels they are the complete edition. It helps that while Cat keeps it simple & real with her arrangements, with the help of producer Dan Barrie (who recorded it in Kenilworth: a someone born & bred there I'm pleased to finally write that down as I can't think I've used the town's name in many previous reviews) and neat subtle touches like her penchant for different tunings, the whole set doesn't all sound similar.

Anyone who can write a song called "Dignity, Integrity and Everything Inside Of Me" merits our respect: to me, while the three singles tend to demonstrate why Cat chose them for that format, this sort of thing is a quintessential album track: less of the immediate hooks, so it grows on you with greater stealth, nevertheless its message is complementary to the more assertive sounding songs and may, in its quieter resolve, overtake them in your mind in time.

This sense of dignified articulation is in fact another characteristic which emerges when playing through the songs. Cat maintains the higher ground in all situations by not losing her composure: her "angry" songs are surgically applied to problems & forensically taken down. Even the title track is sung this way. I can think of plenty of songs about lust (I bet you can too) but in hindsight, many of them seem to take the route of heavy breathing which can become a trifle cliched.

I think this approach is much more suited to a long term career too: Cat doesn't sound detached (far from it) but she does radiate control of her feelings & what she is conveying.

These are exciting times for her with all this progress in so short a time and in turn for us being on the receiving end of her creativity. Cat took the plunge into an extravagant journey and already has wrought change upon the world: she has been catalysed by new environments & new people and in turn sparked changes which would not otherwise have taken place. I doubt if she knows where she's going next but that's all part of true creativity & I am sure she has to go places artistically & physically that neither she nor I can imagine right now.

It's official: Massasauga's new EP is going to be called ‘This Savage World' and the lead single, "These Ghosts of Mine" comes out on 5^th June.

This also gives me the opportunity to congratulate Conrad & Adam on winning their semi-final to appear at the Coventry edition of Metal 2 The Masses.

 The song itself (and maybe the whole EP?) marks a new chapter in the story of the band. Whereas the music so far, which certainly caught & held my attention, might fairly be categorised as "cinematic" in overall style, often relating to specific movies and tending to invoke visuals: not always wholly of the hyper-realistic variety. It was an effective approach, but like all such strategies, if over-extended it could dilute the efficacy of what they've done & dull down into repetition.

Thus "These Ghosts of Mine" (and at this point I would point out that Massasauga remain a band who paint visuals in their lyrics rather than adhering to the prosaic so the words aren't necessarily clear on the matter: as they acknowledge themselves) is about the search for success in music, the associated pressures on artists and the potential meaning of "success" in their context.

If the shift in message might make all you Massasauga fans uneasy: I can reassure you that you're not getting an existential acoustic ballad here: the delivery systems are still set to "full on". However I do detect a slight evolution in the production: hitherto their trademark sound has involved compressing vocals, fuzz-guitar & drums into one primordial compound which as you'll know, was pretty overwhelming: in a good sense. This time, separation is more in evidence so each element is more discernible.

Again: I think it's a good call: the continuing total commitment to the performances means that there is no feeling of compromise and as I just suggested, without development of what they do, the law of diminishing returns is likely to kick in in they simply apply the same formula each time out.

 And this really sounds fresh. Since the band are ‘Killer Riffs R Us', "These Ghosts of Mine" is based around another one they've dreamed up, this time the song seems not to have the usual metal sent-from-Hades tone but something  related more to other parts of the Great Beyond: the guitars having been treated so that in the opening section particularly it sounds like Tony Iommi experimenting with replicating his parts on a synth: and it works. It's always a good idea to grab the listener's attention in the first few bars. It might also I suppose be a bit satirical but then reading too much into tracks is a bit of a problem with me.

And again: please don't fret: the effects are soon switched back off (they even return covered in fuzz later on). But if in the meantime, they've unsettled anyone: so much the better I say.

"These Ghosts of Mine" could & should make people sit up & listen, whether they've heard Massasauga previously or not.

You'll like this: YNES is back today with new music in the shape of her single "What Was It All For???".

Since moving to the west coast of Canada three years back, she has faced a variety of challenges & battled a variety of demons: hence we've not heard too much from her apart from a live album of her ‘Born Loser' songs and a brace of Christmas tracks

However now she's roaring back on multiple battle fronts (see below for another and they are in fact inseparable) and even if you'd never heard her full on assault on whatever the target of a particular song might be (and she doesn't spare herself in this respect) in any of her previous work, when you come to check out  "What Was It All For???" online, you'll probably spot that nervous appendage that timid platforms stick onto the more powerful songs: yes, they want you to know that it's "explicit" in case that's a turn off rather than all the more reason to play it.

Of course all they mean is that there may be expletives deployed or adult themes explored. Being explicit is hardly a fault in art is it? And YNES is always at pains (particularly here) to ensure that you understand what she wants you to & you never get meaning distorted through any sort of filter in her songs. If you're shocked by what you hear, maybe that's not her fault at all but an indication that you have some thinking still to do.

Anyway, "What Was It All For???" is prime YNES: unflinching and intense. A relentless crunchy backing grinds throughout the track, wearing down that sort of emotional resistance I just alluded to & over this YNES unloads a lot of harsh truths she has gained from her battles. I defy anyone to be unmoved by this & surely that's the point of any art? You can't ignore it: it must push at least one emotional button.

At this point, please bear with me on a slight digression which applies more obliquely to this single but which I think reinforces what I just said. The context is a wholly unsolicited bit of online abuse from a transphobic bigot aimed at our next ‘Hot Music Live Presents' fundraiser for The Tin. What he thought he was achieving is beyond me but firstly, while I was corresponding with YNES, she had independently branded the same gig as "sick" which accolade obviously far outweighs the ignorance. Thank you YNES. The second is that however much we appreciate the support & shared values of whatever cultural & ideological community we build around ourselves, there are a lot of nasty attitudes out there whether we engage with them or not & sooner or later we end up in contact with them. YNES has never been afraid to acknowledge their existence nor sweep them under a carpet & consistently has opted to wear her heart on her sleeves and to take them on. That's a major part of her creative DNA.

The subject matters are more of the internal & existential here and seem to relate to her victory over alcohol: there is an outpouring of detail and while the removal of toxicity is less of a primal scream therapy than a matter of fact delivery therapy, this doesn't lessen the strength: the rationality and control impress greatly. Even the impact of what she's been going through on her music career is touched upon. Despite not sounding very much like John Lennon's ‘Plastic Ono Band' album, it has the same cathartic nature & maybe I won't be the only one to point this out.

Even more good news: YNES will be over in the UK next month & has a launch event for Issue #1 of her new "Fair Play!" magazine which seeks to address the fact that only 8% of those working in creative industries come from working class backgrounds.  It's at The Tin on June 12^th. Expect a star studded lineup & proceeds from the PWYC entrance will be split between:

Positive Youth Foundation: Supporting young people - particularly those underrepresented or with lived experience of injustice - to use arts and creativity to influence change in their lives.

Arts Uplift: Transforming the lives of vulnerable, isolated, and disadvantaged adults, using the power of creative arts, connection and self-expression.

Women for Refugee Women: Supporting a network of over 760 refugee and asylum-seeking women to develop their confidence and skills, through creative and educational activities.

You can get your ticket via this link:

https://events.humanitix.com/fair-play-issue-1-launch-party

The overall message one might take away from these two linked enterprises is YNES' defiant sense of autonomous agency both in herself & promoting it for others.

"It's D.I.Y Ennit"

While it's always a huge pleasure listening to TwoManTing, I'd also say that it can be an education too as I end up scuttling off to check out music I'd not heard of before when they introduce it to me.

Years ago, apart from the NME & John Peel (and naturally my peer group), one area of musical education was the tapes certain artists played before their sets: they had a similar effect. Two of the best in this regard were Elvis Costello and The Clash which is a neat way of starting my review of the new TwoManTing album ‘The Lightning Feather' since they are continuing their characteristic of featuring Clash related covers: in this case Danny Ray's "Revolution Rock" which is on ‘London Calling' (you can hear their versions of "Guns of Brixton" and "Armagideon Time" on ‘Say What?' and ‘Legacy' respectively).

And the righteous thirst for justice & global equality cannot be underestimated in this duo: don't be completely beguiled by the seductive rhythms and scintillating guitar runs: Jah-Man and Jon care deeply and this is the core of their appeal. This is not an agreeable combo for the corner of your local wine bar to provide a sound track to a hipster's night out: this is for real. No wonder they get invited to all the best festivals (in fact you can catch them at this year's Leamington Peace Festival: what a great fit).

I'm afraid, despite all the various labels that online platforms attach to them, I can't improve on "World" since they roam unfettered across it. Of course there is African music on here & naturally Caribbean but I've literally never come across any of those very many World Music compilations which includes a Welsh themed track ("Tan Y Bwlch") alongside more exotic sources. There is also the delightful  "Tinap Gidigbh" (which after some research I'm tentatively identifying as Yoruba in its roots) and that's simply the start of a circumnavigation. ‘We are all one world" they are saying, with breathtaking diversity within this, but which does not at all mean there is not, and should not be, parity & equality of mutual esteem.

They play these songs with love as well as dedication to cultural fidelity and the concept of love keeps on surfacing in the words: I guess one might write a book about cultural appropriation (and of course plenty have) and it must be a tightrope for sensitive artists to walk. Insensitive artists just rip the cultures off & profit. However they do tend to write songs using stolen music which appeal to Western commercial instincts. TwoManTing's songs instead celebrate the cultures in question: quite explicitly in fact as the words as well as the sounds reference.

Actually, you may have heard two of them before as "Gbangbaode" and a cover of Peter Tosh's "Can't Blame the Youth" were released as a single back in 2020: but that was in the middle of lockdown so you can be forgiven if you were a bit distracted at the time. We did review it of course.

Apart from the two covers mentioned above, there is a third, "Cost of Living", originally by Ebenezer Calender and His Maringer Band (West African calypso!) which again had me taking an agreeable wander online. Thank you.

Otherwise the other eight songs are originals, including an instrumental, "Tune for Kev"  which is an exquisite solo piece which sits astride classical & jazz & I'd guess is a tribute to a specific person…a most moving one.

Played through, the songs segue seamlessly into one another (nice sequencing work) and could I suppose be taken as one whole piece made up of varying movements. Personally I enjoyed each one & I have no desire nor capacity to pick "favourites". However my main concern is people will take the embracing & soulful sound at surface value (yes, that has been the fate of far too much "World Music") and not take onboard what TwoManTing mean, intend and are saying. To the shallow listener, I'll therefore like to draw attention to the album's title: an object of softness containing something of great potency and vitality.

Lachlan Bryan returns to London with his longtime band The Wildes for a night of unforgettable songs, sharp storytelling, and the kind of live performance that turns first-time listeners into lifelong fans. Over years of touring together in various incarnations, Lachlan & The Wildes have built a reputation as one of Australia's most compelling live acts — equally capable of breaking your heart or making you laugh in the space of a single verse.

Lachlan truly thrives as a live act.  He and The Wildes have built a devoted audience at home in Australia and also in Europe with their captivating performances - which have drawn comparisons to artists as disparate as The Bad Seeds and Wilco. As a solo act Lachlan slips effortlessly into troubadour mode, reminiscent of the Texas singer-songwriters who first inspired him. 

If you haven't caught Lachlan on his own or with the band, you may have seen him on the road as piano-player and co-conspirator with his friend Henry Wagons - the two have most recently been supporting Canadians The Dead South in theatres and arenas across the USA, Canada, the USA and Europe. Failing that, you may have heard the multi-award-winning Dream of America album which he co-wrote and produced for Muscle Shoals Southern Gothic Queen Hannah Aldridge. In any of his guises, Lachlan Bryan brings a warmth and wisdom to the stage and studio that wins over fans for life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_qrU07g63w&list=RDW_qrU07g63w&start_radio=1

Before telling you something in order to whet your appetite for the new Robert James Grey single "Fire Doesn't Care" which is out tomorrow, I'd better first let you know something about his four previous singles ("This Town", "All Through Space", "Paradise is Burning" and "Past Lives") which I omitted from my reviews of all of them: in my defence because he's only just revealed it to me.

While not quite constituting a conceptual quartet, he considers that they "live in the same universe" and that there is "a thematic and sonic journey happening between" them: from loss to spiritual rebirth across the series of songs. Clearly passing this revelation onto you is important in order to increase your understanding of what he was doing with them, but also because he is emphatic that the new song is not an addition to the sequence but stands on its own both philosophically and in its musical style.

I'm sure part of leaving the reveal until now was useful so that both I and you could absorb each of the excellent songs entirely on its own merits and to be honest his more allusive & poetic lyrical approach means that divining the meanings of each was hard enough without considering linkages.

And so it is with "Fire Doesn't Care"…. you can certainly enjoy and appreciate this one, relishing the intensity of the thoughts it stirs up, without recourse to where it might sit within Robert's body of work, though fans will definitely appreciate the nod towards an earlier triumph in his own brief note upon it: "what happens when a hot headed narcissist and a fire starting avoidant meet? Chaos!"

Robert sings so confidentially & with such obvious honesty that there always seems deep autobiographical roots in all his songs: you are clearly peeking into his life & psyche without his needing to provide precise details: in that way he not only shows sensitivity & discretion but allows the listener to be able to relate his songs to their own circumstances. I am willing to bet that one of the protagonists is the writer himself though.

He just gets better & better at this sort of thing though: this one smoulders strongly due to the combination of adroit composition, intimate singing & his usual great taste in keeping the accompaniment simple & stark. He's one of those artists whose individual songs leave one sufficiently emotionally drained that one wonders what an album might sound like: you do rather need a breather after his tracks to take it in & recover.

In terms of the sound, the progression he cited actually increases the instrumentation a little beyond his trademark haunting piano: but certainly not to over doing it. There are emphatic touches of percussion & sweeps of strings to deepen the story in places.

Where I really lift my hat though is in the climax: there isn't one. A lesser artist would have built "Fire Doesn't Care" up to some cliched theatrical peak with a few operatic stylings, but Robert hasn't written a formulaic power ballad here: it's a steady remorseless burner as the narrator is engulfed by a force beyond his power to resist.