All the Latest Music News on Nagamag
The Latest
All Nagamag’s online magazine music articles in one place. Here you will find our latest posts and whole back catalog of articles.
Pillow Fite – Cellar Door
“This track in the alternative Rock genre does not bother even after a week of an endless listening cycle, sets up in a positive mood, urging to relax and in no hurry to absorb all the contents. If your playlist has little energetic, live music, then this work is for you!” (Automatically Translated with Google Translate)
“Этот трек в жанре Alternative Rock абсолютно не надоедает даже спустя неделю бесконечного цикла прослушивания, настраивает на позитивное настроение, призывая расслабиться и не торопясь впитать всё содержимое. Если в вашем плейлисте мало энергичной, живой музыки, то эта работа для вас!”
-Nagamag.com
Halifax folk-pop duo Pillow Fite celebrates the release of their debut EP, Flutter - a dynamic and binge-worthy record that blurs genre lines by pairing tender, heart-on-your-sleeve lyrics with catchy alt-rock instrumentals and folky ballads. Listen HERE or by clicking the album art above.
Drawing on the influence and emotional heft of songwriters such as Sharon Van Etten, Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Tegan and Sara, Pillow Fite's debut record solidifies a fusion of a diverse array of experiences, genres, and ideas. Flutter is a an album that is as deeply heartfelt as it is catchy against all odds. The the Halifax duo collaborated with John Mullane (In-Flight Safety, Loviet, POSTFUN) to create a project that is quiet, intimate, and full of tender moments.
Preview single "Leaves" is built on a bed of chiming guitars, four-on-the-floor drums and dreamy electric leads, and yearns for a time of young love and lost summers when uncontrollable emotion makes you do incomprehensible things. "Half Moon" presents itself as an acoustic folk ballad about grieving with a loved one as they experience the loss of someone else anchored by a mournful chorus. "Alkali" revels in its role as a break-up anthem, while debut offering "Playing The Fool" finds its footing in languid introspection.
Art Ross (they/them) and Aaron Green (he/him) come from disparate backgrounds and musical forms, meeting in the middle to comprise a band that’s tender and fierce, exuberant and gentle. Green—a veteran of the Halifax rock scene, the guitar anchor of Floodland and Hello Delaware—and Ross—a trans rookie songwriter with an acoustic guitar—started writing songs together over text, by accident.
Pillow Fite emerged publicly at the start of 2021 with its non-binary gender-subverting aesthetics already in place. Halifax, a town built on and stuck in rock music made by men, responded with supportive fervour, selling out back-to-back shows that saw the duo expand its sound with help from the scene’s most in-demand players.
Flutter is available today, Friday, June 24, via LHM Records.
https://www.instagram.com/pillow.fite/
Alex Costova – I Can’t Live ( Without You )
“With personal emotion and happy style, Alex Costova presents his fresh single. Expressive lyrics and vibrant EDM sound, make it a perfect hit for the person you simply wish to be with. Love is in the air and you can feel the heat!”
-Nagamag.com
https://fanlink.to/AlexCostova
Beau – Even If You’re Gone
“An interesting intro on this piece takes us by surprise as the powerful and delightful sounds build. There is life after the incident, the process will continue. We really enjoyed artful approach and were quiet impressed with immaculate build up that really knows how to express power. ”
-Nagamag.com
“Even If You’re Gone” is an emotional ode to heartbreak and longing. Lead singer Heather Goldin’s vocals personify the feelings of maintaining a connection with a person that has been lost to another. The instrumentals in the song ebb and flow between soaring choruses and softer, more reserved breaks, reflecting the rollercoaster of feelings a person may go through when heartbroken.
Beau says, “‘Even If You’re Gone’ is a song about losing the one you love to someone else. The song is about holding on and that even if the love of your life has found someone else, you can’t help but stay connected. This song is that connection.”
The video for “Even If You’re Gone” is a dramatic short film that, though created separately from the song, is perfectly soundtracked by the powerful new single in perfect compliment to one another. The story portrays the stress of a robbery and an illustration of dealing with deep grief, parallel to the song’s theme of missing someone you love.
https://www.instagram.com/BeauBandNYC/
Young Gun Silver Fox – West Side Jet
“This one adds that extra zip to our daily steps. Drifting on the sounds of a classic groove that is this West Side Jet. A golden tune that captures an era in its embrace of the timeless landscape. We loved the acoustic guitar solo and the rhythmic richness. ”
-Nagamag.com
"YGSF tunes are always about bringing the sunshine, so we made ‘West Side Jet,’ an instantaneous summery jam of folky disco perfection that beams brightly like the golden hour," states the duo Andy Platts and Shawn Lee, who make up Young Gun Silver Fox.
Young Gun Silver Fox, the acclaimed indie duo with yacht-rock tendencies comprising of Andy Platts of Mamas Gun and Shawn Lee (vagabond award-winning video game composer) release their 1970s-influenced pop-rock sounding single “West Side Jet,” the first taste of their fourth studio album Ticket To Shangri-La, due out this fall. The single drops on June 17th on Mixto Records and is accompanied by a fun retro style gaming music video directed by Jack Pell. Watch it at https://youtu.be/LKTKXA6U_O8.
The lead single ‘West Side Jet’ started in Shawn’s London studio and became an instant contender as the first introduction to the album. “When Andy sent me the vocals I was honestly like ‘this is the first single!’ We hadn’t even finished the album yet but it was instant.”
"Lyrically I knew I didn't want to do anything romantic,” expands Andy, “it can’t be about the dancefloor it can’t be ‘I love you, break my heart’ etc. it needed to be something different. The only musical I really like is West Side Story and I’d watched the original again recently, so it’d come back into my consciousness just how brilliant the music and writing was, so it was just a bit of a nod to my fondness of that as a piece of culture.”
Capturing the vibe of the music video, is director Jack Pell bringing it to life in an 80s video game style. Shawn adds, “We had worked with Jack on previous video’s and we were a fan of his animation style. We loved the idea of a Super Mario world for the Westside Jet video. We had a blast shooting our bits except for the part where we had to spin around. I thought I was going to throw up!” Andy elaborates, “Being an evil floating head in the video game version of your own song is one ticked off bucket list! Jack is fantastically talented - he always manages to create a world that you can dive into. Shawn’s right though - spinning endlessly on an office chair = Young Gun Silver Barf.”
The duo's fourth studio album, Ticket To Shangri La showcases a band at the very top of their game, fine-tuning their potent brew of sun-kissed pop-soul, west coast AOR and natural groove with a skill for composition and production that sees them forging ahead down a musical highway blessed with blue skies and positive vibrations. For both participants, the chance to make a new record together is always a liberating experience, as Andy explains; “I always come back to Young Gun Silver Fox like taking a drive to the coast and I just smell the ocean and the air and it’s like ‘wicked I’m back here again’ and I can just kick back and enjoy it.”
Ticket To Shangri La will be released on October 21st and is guaranteed to generate some rays of winter sun!
Connect:
https://www.instagram.com/younggunsilverfox/
https://www.facebook.com/younggunsilverfox/
https://twitter.com/WestEndCoast/
KaleX – Rude
“Jamaica representing, bringing in quality content from across the warm currents. We really enjoyed this modern spin on these island vibes. So fresh and so clean with dance music elements in the front. Excellent drumkit combined with technologically infused perfection. ”
-Nagamag.com
https://www.instagram.com/kalex_dg/
Kepler North – Self Actualize
“A grand design of what good rhythm has to offer. Smooth and deep in various ways that seem to take us away and capture our attention. We loved the breakdown where reflection can occur as the magical formless beings bring us back into the groove.”
-Nagamag.com
https://www.instagram.com/kepler_north/
Rightfield – Boys Don’t Cry (feat. JordyPurp)
“Nuskool vibes that combine genres creating their own sound in the process. This is fresh no doubt about it. Plenty of bass to shake us up and a beat that could work on a dancefloor. Cool rhymes that are brought together by a crisp chorus. ”
-Nagamag.com
"Boys Don’t Cry (feat. JordyPurp)" is the third single off of Rightfield’s upcoming sophomore album, and it’s special in more ways than one. This big, hype, gritty earworm not only features hip-hop-meets-punk-pop wordsmith JordyPurp – a fellow genre-bending rising star, and collaborator of artists like As It Is, set it off, and FEVER 333 – who absolutely crushes his emotional verse, but it also touches on a heavier perspective lyrically than listeners are accustomed to hearing from Rightfield. It’s about growing up in the south, around a certain type of show-no-emotion hyper-masculinity, where you have to be everything your dad wants you to be. The theme throughout the track centers on the toxicity of a “rub some dirt in it” mentality, but despite its loaded lyrics, the track is sonically fun, loud, and amped all the way up – sure to get Rightfield fans moshing the night away.
From Rightfield: "'Boys Don’t Cry' is about us growing up in the south around a certain type of show no emotion hyper-masculinity where we had to be everything our dads wanted us to be. When I was nine I broke two of my fingers at school but we had a baseball tournament the next day and my dad was the coach so he asked me if I was good to still play the tournament and of course, I said yes instead of getting my fingers fixed. To this day I don’t have use of one of my fingers because I thought the right thing to do was “rub in the dirt” and move on."
PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS:
- Produced by Zach Jones (Lil Lotus, FEVER 333, Nova Twins, Scene Queen, As It Is, Oliver Sykes of Bring Me The Horizon)
- 6M+ total streams across all Rightfield songs
- Sold out shows in Austin, Dallas, College Station, TX & Fayetteville, AR in 2021. In Austin, a second night was added, which sold out in less than 24 hours
- Direct support for Smallpools (2021) and joan. (ending March 17 2022) on regional dates
- This past fall (2021), completed a national tour with The Orphan The Poet and Friday Pilots Club
- Completed a western run with The Unlikely Candidates in summer of 2021
- Completed a headlining Texas tour in October of 2021 that was sold out
- Broke Top 50 at Alternative Radio in the summer of 2021
https://www.iloverightfield.com/
Anne Marie Almedal Interview on Nagamag
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Nagamag:
Which are the genres that describe your music style better?
Anne Marie Almedal:
Dream pop, cinematic, indie, female vocal, scandinavian!
Nagamag:
Few words about your musical background and career?
Anne Marie Almedal:
Former lead singer of Norwegian art-pop indie band "Velvet Belly" since the mid90's Anne Marie Almedal has beguiled listeners in her near 30 year music career. Each of her five solo albums are all landmark dream-pop releases, from "female Nick Drake" nordic noir folk-pop to the more stirring electronic comeback album "We Dance Alone". Her music has been described as "sweetness multiplied, sadness tripled, her music brings you one step closer to heaven. As fantastic as sharing the last cigarette with the one you love".
Nagamag:
Do you remember your first connection of love to music that was the right impact to be a music artist now?
Anne Marie Almedal:
Growing up in the lonely (but beautiful) suburban, southern coast of Norway, music was an essential escape and soul food. For a melancholic teenager, the voice and songs of other dreamy female artists had a huge impact on my own journey into songwriting and vocal delivery. Liz Fraser/Cocteau Twins, and of course, who else but Kate Bush...first time round:-)
Nagamag:
What are your favourite tracks for the new album?
Anne Marie Almedal:
There are naturally so many songs on my new album that mean such a lot to me, written and produced during the best-forgotten lockdown, where we were all faced with ”dancing alone”, and of my private experience of coping with, and recovering from, breast cancer. Yes, I know it’s a cliché, but music can really give us the magic to breathe, heal, smile, in dark times, and despite the tough background behind the songs, I´m proud to say that they are thankfully like little angels, moments of light. So happy to share to all who want to listen! As far as fave tracks, right now I´d say ”Freeze The Moment”...
A song for those inner moments, walking in the forest, lost in the now. I wanted to capture something both dream-poppy and vaguely post-industrial....something healing, magical, happy/sad to cope with some pretty cold, heavy feelings. Somewhere where my lonely scandi-noir could feel equally at home in some imaginary futuristic misty factory landscapes. Nothing beats the pure joy of expressing loneliness in a warm haze of drum machines, broken synths and shoegaze guitars!
and also the track ”Runaway Turnaround”
Coming to terms with distant memories of youth, distant love affairs,.. ” Runaway Turnaround” is like a burnt-out polaroid snapshot of all my favourite mystical 80’s melancholy synth-pop moments, wrapped with the (thankfully) wiser know-how of who I am today... Again, this song went against my insticts of seeking solace in the ”folksy”, when feeling low, and rather choosing to being energized and reinvorgated by some life-enhancing, larger-than-life synth soundscapes, and some direct, honest feelings.
Nagamag:
Many artists listen to genres that they are not producing music for. Which track is your favorite that is NOT similar to yours?
Anne Marie Almedal:
Edda Dell'Orso "Ennio Morricone Poesia Di Una Donna"
Nagamag:
Of Course Nagamag would love to listen also which is the track from a similar artist you admire?
Anne Marie Almedal:
Cocteau Twins Heaven Or Las Vegas
PAIR – Responsible Animal
“A real emerald, not a song, because to create such a rich, harmonic atmosphere in the framework of the genres Pop Rock, Indietronica and even Dream Pop could only a very talented person. Excellent instrumental work with a very cool vocal! We advise you!” (Automatically Translated with Google Translate)
“Настоящий изумруд, а не песня, ведь создать такую насыщенную, гармоническую атмосферу в рамках жанров Pop Rock, Indietronica и даже Dream Pop мог только очень талантливый человек. Прекрасная инструментальная работа с очень крутым вокалом! Советуем!”
-Nagamag.com
https://www.instagram.com/pairtheband/
Landry M – Be Alright
“This piece is so vocally rich in so many ways. The layering goes beyond the standard loops. Its well crafted by a highly skilled sound engineer. With that said it’s must be a pleasure to work with such a superb voice. Midtempo subtropical vibes bring it all together. ”
-Nagamag.com
https://www.landrymmusic.com/