Complete with a harder edge and fuller sound, ‘Halves’ is the second EP to come from British songwriter Rachel Myall. Inspired by extensive travel, a love of storytelling, and the unexpected passing of a collaborator and confidant, the songs explore separation, sin and unrequited love across soul, country and pop. The EP was recorded at Buffalo Studio in London with vintage sound pioneer and producer JB Pilon, with closer ‘You & I’ dedicated to David Jimenez.
‘Halves’ is a wholesome collection of country-pop tunes that display the emotional songwriting and powerful storytelling of Rachel Myall. Myall uses rich and diverse instrumentation to depict tales of love, loss and inner conflict. With twanging guitars, organ keys and warm fiddle in ‘The Gambler’, cosy cello, and intricate rhythms in ‘You & I’, the backdrops of the songs provide a satisfying and engaging flow to the EP. Myall’s rasped, powerful vocals tie the songs together. Her voice ventures from a luring and smoky tone in the mysterious ‘Save Our Souls’ to soft coos within the pop sprinkled shuffle in ‘Great Divide’, creating a diverse and expressive listening experience. ‘Halves’ gives an intriguing glimpse into the multiple facets of Rachel Myall’s musicianship while providing some enjoyable and passionate tunes to bop along to.
Irish artist and multi-instrumentalist rvstless has released his new single ‘Wanna Be Free’. rvstless is the new moniker of Steven McCann, an R&B/Soul project which found its feet throughout lockdown 2020. No stranger to the live music scene, McCann has played Electric Picnic, Body&Soul, Latitude in the UK and a whole host of festivals and tours, with his previous artist project TooFools and as an in-demand session musician. After touring extensively over the past few years as a session musician, previously working alongside the likes of JyellowL, Melina Malone, Phil Coulter, Booka Brass, Ralph Rolle (Nile Rodgers & CHIC), and Lisa Hannigan to name a few, rvstless will release a debut EP later this year.
Within ‘Wanna Be Free’, rvstless spreads infectious laid back electronics over a mellow R&B backdrop to make an ambitious and incredibly catchy new single. The song has a sleek coating with an energetic underbelly as a skipping rhythm and rippling bassline pairs well with McCann’s smooth vocal performance. Featuring a dreamy melody and carefree sun-kissed atmosphere, the song is masterfully poised and crafted to balance chic cool and emotional sincerity in one buoyant, infectious gem. Exuding jaunty guitar, echoed soundscapes, and tight grooves weaved between lush pop melodies ‘Wanna Be Free’ is the perfect summer chilled bop.
Dublin-based The Crayon Set have released their second single ‘Don’t Step Back Too Far’ taken from their forthcoming album ‘Downer Disco’ which is set for release in September 2021, supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media.The first line-up of The Crayon Set released their eponymous debut album in 2013 – it was recorded with Nick Brine (Teenage Fanclub, Super Furry Animals). It’s follow-up ‘Lost Languages’ was recorded with Gavin Glass (Lisa Hannigan, Villagers) and released in 2017 and featured Kate Dineen on guest vocals who later became a permanent member of the band.
Driving on a pulsing bassline and rippling electronics, ‘Don’t Step Back Too Far’ is a shimmering disco ball of alternative pop. The song fleshes out The Crayon Set’s lush sound with layers of palpitating synths, propulsive rhythms and a dash of Americana glimmering through on guitars. As the song progresses, it slips into psychedelic hues, creating a laid-back, carefree vibe that ebbs and flows throughout. The Crayon Set have become known for their hook-laden sound, and ‘Don’t Step Back Too Far’ follows this trend wonderfully. Press play and enjoy.
Speaking about their new single, Robert explains “I was pleased when this song came along – I think it helped signal a new direction for the band. It had more of a groove to it – and it had a melancholic atmosphere that drew you in. Lyrically it is about feeling down and losing a sense of yourself and your role in the world. It probably inspired the ‘Downer Disco’ album theme – a bit depressing, but you could dance to it…”.
Candy’s Guilt are set to release their new single ‘Ruby Blue’ on May 7th. Candy’s Guilt is a four piece band from North Dublin. The band was founded by Sean Walsh (guitar) and John Kennedy (vocals) when they met in secondary school. The band also consists of Mark Mitchell (drums) and Pearce Fitzpatrick O’donovan (bass).
‘Ruby Blue’ is a bittersweet tune that displays the gentle and emotive side to Candy’s Guilt. The band flesh out their sound by sprinkling delicate piano between warm, steady guitar strums to create a soft and tender soundscape for listeners to indulge in.Within the track a melancholic melody is gently caressed by hushed lulling vocals and supple harmonies, which is quite comforting to the ears while lyrics such as “sometimes I get the feeling that there’s nothing to believe in and when the day came calling it was all for nothing in the end” stir emotion within the listener. Candy’s Guilt focuses on the beauty of melody and touching songwriting to create a time-stopping, nostalgic piece of music that is a wonderful example of their evocative musicianship.
Brighton duo Royal Blood have released their eagerly anticipated third album, ‘Typhoons’. Their previous two albums both went straight to #1 in the UK, in the process accumulating 2 million global sales. The duo have won the BRIT Award for Best British Group, two NME Awards and a Kerrang! Award. Their debut album was also nominated for the Mercury Prize.Not easy achievements to follow but Royal Blood take the bull by the horns in an attempt to create a body of work like no other.
Royal Blood presents an album dripping in gritty rock hues, psychedelic tones and disco for their third instalment. In true Royal Blood manner, the duo pulls it out of the bag, developing their sound into something exciting while giving us heavy rock heads something tantalizing to mosh to. ‘Typhoons’ announces a different sound for the band that is steeped in swagger and sleekness. Thirst quencher singles ‘Typhoons’, ‘Trouble’s Coming’ and ‘Limbo’ mix funky dance-infused production with gritty, heavy rock to create a resounding and ballsy wall of sound that exudes an air of refinement we haven’t seen before from the band.
As for heavy riffage, there is plenty on this album. Mike Kerr slips those beefy bass riffs into the sweltering blues-tinged ‘Who Needs Friends’ and Josh Homme produced ‘Boilermaker’ with the former taking a euphoric dance stance. The duo blend flamboyant disco elements with sleek rock, funky grooves and raw angst masterfully to create irresistible tunes for listeners to indulge in. However, among this genre fluidity, Ben Thatcher’s tight relentless drumming remains the anchor. He masterfully flexes his thunderous drums through the lighter pop smacked ‘Either You Want It’ and pounds with strutting swagger through the 70’s- esque ‘Mad Visions’. With catchy melodies and mighty instrumental builds, the songs within the album maintain hype and vigour throughout. Even the 80s slapped ‘Million and One’ which boasts flashing synths and a dazzling soundscape doesn’t feel out of place on the album.
‘Typhoons’ is brimming with anthemic chic tunes that display a more confident stance from the band. Kerr pivots the tracks around his lusty bass while his vocals slip into a sweet falsetto between warm coos. This is most apparent in the infectious ‘Hold On’ while his vocal croons lather the beautiful closing track ‘All We Have Is Now’ in tenderness. Luxuriantly adorned in soft echoes and lamenting piano, this song is immaculate. Kerr’s vocals delicately caress a tender, soothing melody that is a welcome emotional calm after the groove-infested storm of its predecessors. This song, for me, is the pinnacle moment within the album. It feels more real, earnest and emotional with less production, fuss and flamboyance, showing another facet to Royal Blood’s ever-evolving sound.
Royal Blood have shown they are not a one-trick pony. Within this catchy, upbeat and infectious album, the band push boundaries and expectations while maintaining their alternative rock edge. The rich and utterly lush production on the tracks is something to be admired and the dynamic energy within each song is irresistible. Each track warrants its place on the album creating a compelling and thoroughly enjoyable body of work.
Etaoin has released her new EP ‘Bedroom Walls’. This beautiful and heartfelt collection of tracks surges with earnest songwriting and soft instrumentation. Etaoin is a talented artist and this bittersweet EP is a must listen.
I caught up with Etaoin to have a chat about her new EP ‘Bedroom Walls’. We discuss how she crafted the tracks, finding her voice and expressing herself through her music
“I always get nervous before releasing music because it’s that thing like oh my god I just hope people like it because you really never know. You hope, but, you never know, and it’s all so personal. Everything that I’ve written on the EP is really close to my heart. I’m excited though”
Lyrically the songs on ‘Bedroom Walls’ are extremely honest. I wondered if Etaoin finds it more nerve-racking waiting to hear what friends and family think of her music as they potentially know what she is singing about or is it more daunting hearing what fans and strangers think.
“That’s a good one, because with your friends, they’re gonna bring it up… you could be at the pub and they would be like, What did you mean by this? and you’d be like, oh god! run from the conversation. But strangers too, I guess, in general, it all kind of blends into one when you release a song. I guess both. It would be hard to choose. “
“The song ‘For Her’ is a song about my old self. The idea of waiting for your old self to come back. When you go through a heartbreak. It’s not just, oh, when will I talk to this person again, it’s also like, am I actually going to get my spark back, when am I going to feel better, but I played it before, and people, especially guys would have related the song to their exes, waiting for her to come back. So it’s funny how when you release a song, it suddenly has all these different meanings to different people.”
The EP is composed of four emotionally charged songs filled with soft yet effective instrumentation and generally backed by guitar. This allows the earnest lyrics to take the main focus.
“I hate overproduction [on] songs and I like the idea of a song being able to stand on its own two feet. Sometimes production can be distracting. When I listen to ‘Someone Like You’ by Adele, it’s just her on the piano and I’ve always felt if the song is stripped back, it really allows no distraction, and also I suppose in the way I wrote the songs it was just me with my guitar, and it felt like a pretty natural thing. I didn’t want to overcrowd them, because the songs are focused on just feelings and lyrics.”
“When I think about all the music I love, a lot of it’s really stripped back. I love the idea of just keeping it bare and letting the song speak for itself, rather than relying on a trend or making it sound cool or whatever. I’d rather it just connected with people.”
Etaoin has a wonderful ability to create catchy and uplifting melodies,‘I Dare You’ has that powerful bittersweet melody that is so infectious while ‘For Her’ blends pop melodies with indie and even folk-esque tones. I wondered if these catchy melodies are a moment of inspiration or something she spends time perfecting.
“I’d say, often my best stuff would come pretty quickly. it isn’t like every time you sit down something decent comes. You sit down and you write 10 times in 10 days, you might get rubbish melodies, all those 10 days, and then on the 11th day when you’re like, oh my god this is going nowhere, something would come at an unexpected time, I’ve always been really passionate about melodies, I love hearing a melody and clicking with it. I’m obsessed with melodies, really. So that is the nicest thing in the world for you to say, that you find it catchy. But yeah it’s often quick as in when you actually write it, it’s quick, but the build up to it is like weeks of nothing.“
One striking aspect of Etaoin’s music is the raw honesty within her lyrics especially within ‘Pale Damp Cheeks’.
“Often when I write a song. I don’t even think about it. I just need to get it out. It doesn’t really even cross my mind when I’m writing it, it’s just more of a therapeutic thing rather than, Oh, I want this to be this, because they’re all about people, they’re all about situations, they’re all about things that happened to me and things I’ve experienced in my life, but it is scary because when you’re being that honest and then people ask you about it, and you’re like, Please don’t ask me that question ever, leave me alone.”
“Writing has become a bit of a coping mechanism for me and I think song writing is a journey as well. Sometimes there are going to be topics which are hard to cover and scary to cover, and you think do I want people to ask me about this, do I want this to be out in the wide world or whatever. It’s just something that is so key to writing songs, just speaking about you and what you actually feel, and not just trying to write a good song or write a pop song.”
Since Etaoin’s first release ‘Bedroom Walls’ at the beginning of the year, she has raked in over half a million streams. In the uncertain times we are in with Covid 19, that is an impressive and promising achievement.
“Yeah it’s crazy I’ve been writing songs since I was about 11 or 12 years old and I went and studied science in University. So music for me was always that thing. It was a thing that I would love to do but never gonna happen. It’s an unusual thing to happen so it’s a huge deal. I had no idea what to expect, especially with lockdown especially with everything like that. There’s no way to know how something’s gonna go. I’m feeling really lucky and I feel like I’m actually able to be myself more now, even around my friends. I was always kind of the woo girl, yeah I was ‘The Woo Girl’ . And often I was scared to show if I cared about something, but I’m able to be myself more since releasing music shows different layers [of] myself whereas before I was always a bit nervous to do that.”
Etaoin has a live show booked for Whelan’s in Dublin on November 24th. The prospect of seeing people react to her songs again in a live setting is something the singer songwriter is looking forward to
“I’m so excited. it’s been so weird because before lockdown I was gigging around London and I’d go home to Waterford and I’d be around the pubs and stuff, and so it’s been really weird not having that and not having that connection when playing a song. When you’re playing a song and you’re singing a really emotional line and can see someone’s really listening to what you’re saying and you make eye contact, just like we’re buzzing. It’s been really weird not having it but I’m so excited to get back out there. It’s crazy, I feel like COVID started out as something that was like, oh yeah COVID I heard there is a really bad bug, this is going to be over a week, and then it’s like the whole world just exploded into national pandemic.“
‘Bedroom Walls’ is about growth and renewal and it’s an extremely personal EP to Etaoin. I wondered if there was a song on the EP she was most attached to or proud of.
“I’m proud of all the songs for different reasons, melody-wise, I’m probably most proud of ‘I Dare You’ because it’s kind of an underdog song, but then I love all the songs for different reasons. ‘Bedroom Walls’ was pretty honest and explored some topics that I haven’t really explored on other songs before. like female body image, that kind of stuff. ‘Pale Damp Cheeks’, first heartbreak, so I’ve always got that connection, you never get over it. So I like all the songs. I feel proud of all the songs for different reasons.”
I wondered if Etaoin has any advice for budding singer songwriters
“ Write loads and loads of songs because the thing that stands people apart really is the songs. Practice singing and if you can teach yourself an instrument that’s great but I feel something that really sets people apart is their song, and be honest in the songs. I feel some people as I said, focus on, I just want to write a hit. That isn’t ever going to be honest and, if you’re not connecting with yourself on a different level, you’re not going to connect with other people.”
Etaoin has a warm and mature voice, there is a smoky rasp and charm to her vocals that is instantly recognisable.
“ People have always said that since I was little. I used to do Trad singing and stuff like that, and when I was 12 somebody said you sound like a grown woman. But it’s just always been like that, it’s stronger and also because I play the flute. So I guess wind control and lung control. So when you sing if you have more breathing control [there’s] probably a bit more power behind it.”
Etaoin has some exciting plans in the pipeline, we discussed what is to come in the next year and what she is looking forward to most.
“I’m recording at the moment, on the second EP to release later this year. I’m really excited to work with people I’ve really wanted to work with for quite a while. Geez, gigs later this year. So excited. and yeah hopefully getting out some video content later in the year as well. I guess we’ll see where it goes. You know I think the question, what’s next, often depends on the listener and how people respond to it, so fingers crossed people like it and good things are coming. Fingers crossed, toes crossed. My mom is already saying the Rosary for it at the moment. Not even kidding. Yeah, every time we release a song she says a week long Rosary every night. Yeah, I’m not even joking. I’m convinced that’s the only reason that it’s gone decently. I called her yesterday. I was like have you started the Rosary?. “
Etaoin is a diamond in the rough who crafts her songs meticulously to create emotion inducing goosebumps with each tune she releases and ‘Bedroom Walls’ is an exquisite example of this. Etaoin is an artist to keep an eye on.
Irish singer-songwriter David Keenan has released his new single. ‘Peter O’Toole’s Drinking Stories’. The song heralds Keenan’s eagerly awaited second studio album, due later this year. Keenan’s breakthrough debut album, ‘A Beginner’s Guide to Bravery’, arrived in January 2020 and immediately ascended to #1 on the official Irish Independent Album Charts as well as #6 on the overall National Album Charts. Fueled by such finely etched tracks as “Unholy Ghosts,” “Tin Pan Alley,” “Altar Wine,” and “The Healing,” the album proved among the best-selling vinyl album releases by an Irish artist in 2020. The release of A Beginner’s Guide to Bravery was celebrated with a sold-out headline show at Dublin’s world-renowned Olympia Theatre, an unforgettable performance captured for posterity in the acclaimed documentary, Alchemy & Prose : A Concert Film
‘Peter O’Toole’s Drinking Stories’ announces the spectacular return of David Keenan. Moving on from his debut album ‘A Beginner’s Guide to Bravery’ the artist is fleshing out his sound superbly. Jangly folk elements build over a driving rhythmic instrumental as Keenan creates a vibrant backdrop full of vitality. The song oscillates from tense verses to a lively chorus with ease, immersing the listener in a rich soundscape of lush guitar, buoyant rhythms, grand strings and lively percussion. All the while, Keenan’s warm vocals maintain a commanding presence. His ability to capture and hold the listener’s attention with his eloquent storytelling, well-coined phrases, and wit is masterful and is greatly enhanced by the instrumentation. A perfect example of this is the lyric “Tiptoe towards immortality laughing into the wind” – the instrumentation quietens to mirror Keenan’s hushed tone creating hair-raising tension for the jubilant infectious chorus to follow. ‘Peter O’Toole’s Drinking Stories’ is an exciting glimpse into what Keenan has in store for us with his upcoming album, and it’s looking like it’s going to be one heck of a treat.
Watch the video for ‘Peter O’Toole’s Drinking Stories’ below.
Zach James Douglas has released his debut single ‘Something / Anything’ featuring guest vocalist Kintsuku, via ZJD records. Zach James Douglas is an indie/alternative producer and songwriter, hailing from the South Dublin suburb of Tallaght. Having previously had the pleasure of playing festivals such as Glastonbury and Electric Picnic with former band “Little One”, Douglas now steps out alone for the first time, with his debut single ‘Something / Anything’ released everywhere April 28th on ZJD Records via Faction Records.
‘Something / Anything’ is an earthy tune laced in rich electronic soundscapes and Zach James Douglas’ intricate production skills. The song has a balmy atmosphere with dance elements infused between tropical tones and warm guitar embellishments. Kintsuku’s soft vocals add sweetness and emotion to the songs fluttering backdrop as Douglas builds ‘Something / Anything’ superbly. He injects a dash of spice on percussion and elegance on keys to create a wholly immersive song for listeners to indulge in. ‘Something / Anything’ is a timeless and wonderful tune from Zach James Douglas.
About the song, Douglas says...”Something/Anything deals with the bitterness and the anger that began to engulf mine and my Ex’s relationship, as she struggled to come to terms with her own personal demons and issues at home. It documents how my role in her life began to change from one of positivity, comfort and reliability, to the new position of the perpetual scapegoat.”
Indie-pop master, Ben Lorentzen has released his new single, ‘Black Eyed Girl.’ Written for his Korean wife, ‘Black Eyed Girl’ sheds some light on the problem of Asian Hate, and Lorentzen’s love for his muse. Raising awareness is one of Lorentzen’s top priorities, but he is doing it in a way that spreads love through the form of music.Lorentzen has collaborated with a variety of big names such as Rie Tsuji (Beyonce) and Brian Hardgroove (Public Enemy).
‘Black Eyed Girl’ is a bright, refreshing guzzle of indie-pop that displays the catchy musicianship of Ben Lorentzen. This charming tune radiates sun-soaked vibes with shimmering synths injecting glimmers of scintillation through a groove-laden backdrop. Lorentzen surges a sugary sweet melody over an effervescent soundscape to create a dreamy and charming tune that is sure to brighten your day. With a catchy chorus, smooth vocals, and heartfelt lyrics, ‘Black Eyed Girl’ is an infectious tune brimming with loving lyrics, blissful melodies and lush instrumentation.
NEOMADiC have released their new single ‘WAVES’ featuring shiv alongside announcing the release of their EP ‘AFTER DARK’ due to be released this summer. I caught up with Yake Loga to discuss the new single, working with shiv and how they create their sleek tunes.
‘WAVES’ features the amazing soulful vocals of shiv. Yake tells me how this dream collaboration came about.
“I was a fan of her music before we had touched base or contacted each other. We had been working on this track ‘WAVES’ and felt that it needed something else to really maximize the potential of the song, and shiv was a no brainer. As you said she has an amazing voice. So we hit her up and luckily, she liked the song enough to jump on it with us.”
WAVES is slightly more bright and mellow in comparison to the songs on NEOMADiC’s previous EP ‘The Neomadic Tape’. The duo have a laid back lush style with smooth vocals, abstract wordplay and sun-kissed, hazy productions. This seemingly effortless and chill sound took them some time to craft.
“A little bit yeah.The Neomadic Tape was back in 2017 and in the year 2018 we moved over to Vancouver in Canada for a couple of years, and we weren’t actively releasing then. During that time we were working on music and developing it. It’s always been a goal to not limit ourselves to a certain style and continuously evolve it so it’s just a natural progression of time. There has been a good amount of time since the last release so the music has developed quite a lot.”
NEOMADiC have their own refreshing style and sound that effortlessly flows into the ears. I wondered what sparked Yake’s decision to venture into the music industry, was there a specific moment that made him decide to get into music
“I don’t know if there’s one specific moment but maybe a combination of a few, just from creating it and doing it, performing it and how much I’ve always had a very big passion for music. I studied music after secondary school. So yeah, from 16 or 17 I definitely knew that’s what I wanted to do in some form or another, whether it’s performing or being in the studio or anything like that. “
Within ‘WAVES’ NEOMADiC uses introspective lyrics to detail personal issues along with subtle spiritual and pop culture references. Their raps flow fluidly throughout. These precise lyrics are due to practise and learning what works with each release.
“Yeah, definitely. Just over the years from writing and releasing.When you release something and you see how people like it and you’re able to step back from it and then you can analyze, then the next time you go back and you try and improve. Anything you do, the more you do it, the better you get at it. Myself and Dyramid have spent a lot of time even just messing around, you know freestyling with each other, back and forth so I find our chemistry on tracks together has come a long way.”
The duo’s lyrics are honest and very natural; there are no harsh or blunt phrases; they use precise tact to deliver eloquent lyrics through clever phrasing. “I’ve been working for tips, with lyrics on the tip of my tongue, I’m at the tip of my cliff, I got a tip I should jump”.
“Yeah, I think towards the beginning it was probably more blunt and as we’ve progressed, we’ve tried to just evolve the writing where it can mean a lot of things,double entendres and more metaphorical and all that.”
“Writing songs could be from a certain thing that happened that day or that month, certain emotions have been triggered. The EP [‘AFTER DARK’] in particular is kind of written through the pandemic. We had been working a bit. Just minimum wage stuff over in Canada to pay rent and stuff so there’s some themes on society and how it can be very difficult if you don’t want to fit into the normal school, college, job pyramid there is in society at the moment. So I think there’s a bit of a rebellious theme/nature to the EP coming up.That’s kind of where we are in our lives at the moment, so generally our music just translates over from whatever we’re personally experiencing, normally pretty genuine. “
NEOMADiC’s new EP ‘AFTER DARK’ is due to be released this summer.This 7 track EP comes after the pair spent a couple of years living in Canada, it is a culmination of their experiences over the past couple of years and an expression of what they have to offer. The duo manage to capture the chill nighttime vibe really well, especially within ‘WAVES’. The song transports you to a setting of summer nights created entirely by the duo’s immersive musicianship. Yake tells me how the album was crafted and what we can expect from the EP.
“A lot of it’s in the title, it was written over the summer, last summer, just those late nights with people, good friends and special people to you. So the themes are around that. Then on top of that there would be that trying to make a living out of music, and not rely on other avenues for income.
“It took a while. So generally we work with producers and there’s just two on this EP. So with ‘WAVES’ and a few other tracks we kind of linked with Subroza from America and managed to get in touch just through social media and he gave us a couple of beats to mess around with. We just worked back and forth over a few months, nailing out the structure and different instrumentation and all that together so for this it was a lot better than ‘The Neomadic Tape’ where it’s more of a mixtape and we just took a bunch of random beats and rapped over them so this was a lot more crafted”
There are some great artists in Ireland at the moment in all genres but Hip Hop in particular is gaining a lot of traction and the quality of tunes from artists such as NEOMADiC, Denise Chaila, JYellowL and God Knows is setting the bar really high. I wondered if Yake thinks the Irish Hip Hop scene is finally getting the recognition it deserves.
“ I think it’s been slowly brewing for maybe the past half decade even a bit longer. But in the last five years, it’s definitely been more of an explosion onto the scene. Yeah it’s starting to get noticed a little more internationally, especially over toward the UK. So that’s a good first step. I can only just see that continue to grow to more people”
NEOMADiC have had headline slots at festivals such as Electric Picnic and KnockanStockan, as well as support slots with hip/hop legends Souls of Mischief and Pharoahe Monch and like all musicians at the moment, Yake is itching to get back to those live shows.
“Yeah, definitely. I’m a little anxious at this point because it’s been such a long time. Probably a bit rusty, but it depends on the mind state. We’ve just looked at it as an opportunity to build up a nice catalogue of music for whenever that day returns that we’re able to then perform it with people and share with people so we just have to keep a positive mindset and see the opportunity, the silver lining in anything.”
NEOMADiC pack a lot of meaningful lyrics into each second of their songs. It can be difficult to remember lyrics during a show. I wondered if the duo find it difficult to remember their lyrics and do they stumble sometimes.
“ Personally I seem to do a lot more than Dyramid would, not too sure why. If you’re not regularly rehearsing and practicing you may be risking the chance of slipping up lyrics. Myself, I just really enjoy improvising and freestyling so sometimes that might distract me a little bit. Back in the day we would always do a little freestyling towards the end [of shows], let the crowd pick a few words for us to rap with and stuff like that it was a nice way to round off the shows.”
‘AFTER DARK’ is an exciting EP to look forward to and Yake tells me it has been keeping the duo busy over this pandemic and giving them something to look forward to as well.
“Yeah a lot more than normal, because of the pandemic, and the way we crafted the EP. A lot of it was done and recorded before I left Canada last summer. So there’s just been a lot of waiting and anxiety to get it out and with the pandemic there hasn’t been too much else to look forward to so it was a nice big relief to have ‘WAVES’ out. It’s just something to feel good about in these tough times. Hopefully the next single will be out on the 7th of May. Then two weeks after that on the 21st of May the full EP is out. So for the next month, that’s our main focus, just pushing and promoting the releases.”
NEOMADiC are an ambitious and talented duo. ‘WAVES’ displays their melodic prowess, sleek raps and raw skill through a mellow and blissful tune. They create dark, lush soundscapes with soul and pop elements enhancing the duo’s refreshing hip hop sound. NEOMADiC are ones to keep an eye on.
Stream ‘WAVES’ below
Author : Danu
Indie: (n) an obscure form of rock which you only learn about from someone slightly more hip than yourself.
