Written is several locales across Canada, Alexander says the song is based on the “profound episodes in life that swell from one moment to the other.” A change in direction from Harland, the song feels less like an adventurous travelogue and more a sincere attempt at self-expression. The mumbled vocals and lazy beats give things a somnambulant air, like one of those days where you sit around in your pyjamas and don’t leave the house. But that doesn’t stop Alexander conjuring some pretty striking images, soft and gauzy and dreamlike, but infused with real emotion all the same.

“clouds are my friends when I’ve been on drugs
moss is the place that i know and love
a bridge that meets the garden wall
ancient oak trees a hundred feet tall”

It appears that this will be a continuing them on the new album, which he made “to soothe and reconnect with parts himself, to attack head on the patriarchal conditioning that so much our culture functions on.”

Spill Kid is due for release at the end of the week, but until then you can get ‘Tiny Bricks’ from the Harley Alexander Bandcamp page.

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Alexander is back with Harland, a new eight-track album to be released this week on Sports Day Records. The record, at least partly inspired by trans-Canadian travels which included stops at an isolated Quebecois cabin and tree planting near Vancouver, is a mellow, earthy brand of pop music which expands upon his first release. Packing together the excitement and anxiety and loneliness of new beginnings, he manages to create smooth music without compromising on depth, the sharp edges removed but not forgotten. Serving as a great introduction to the album, single ‘Staring at Photographs’ is a track that’s “both weary of and attracted to nostalgia”, balancing the comfortable respite memories can bring but all the while aware that time is linear and we’ve got to keep on moving forwards. While this may suggest an anxious itch, the song is in fact a laid-back jam. Rather than hanging around to become troublesome, you get the sense that the emotions here are flowing evenly and constantly away from their source, a gentle eddy that might never stop but looks serene and pretty under the right light.

Harland is set for release on the 22nd of July via the good folks at Sports Day Records. You can pre-order via the Harley Alexander Bandcamp page. Harley Alexander is heading out on his first US dates this summer too, so have a gander below to see if he’s stopping near you:

Art by Selina Latour

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Whomous and Westway bring a slinky little pop number in ‘So Vain’, all auto-tuned vocals and laid back vibes, while Lion Bark’s ‘Poolside’ is a chilled out love song. The feel is continued with Static Animal’s warm-weather instrumental track, ‘Easy, and ‘Carrie’ by London-based songwriter Nicko Franklin, a gentle and kindly pop song. Seattle’s LUWUM bring a little more lo-fi rumble to things, although as garage rock goes its still honey-smooth, before a brand new track from Harley Alexander (a familiar face here at WTD), which closes side A with their trademark suave and summery psychedelics.

Side B see a stylistic shift, with things getting hushed and acoustic and to me even better. First up is ‘No Mistake’ by Fake Laugh (which retains some of the A-side’s saunter), before Arthur Shea gets much more hushed and intimate), Clare Cottrill (which I like a lot – bedroom pop in the vein of Kissing Fractures or the solo Florist stuff) and Girlpool‘s Cleo Tucker (another quiet acoustic track with a metronomic beat).

The final track is ‘Kaleidoscope’ by Arbes, which utilises clattering percussion to enhance a song that falls somewhere between the laid back pop and quiet bedroom acoustics that appear on the compilation as a whole. A fitting end then, to a great showcase. If you’re anything like me then this taster will make you want to dive into the back catalogues of both the featured acts and the label itself. I’m sure there are tonnes of great things to discover.

So as the nights draw in and the air gets a chill, do yourself a favour and keep summer alive in your soul with RELAY. You can get it on cassette or digital download via the Sports Day Records Bandcamp page.

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Yowler

“Water permeates the record in all of its guises, in rain and in blood and in sinks, in rivers and seas and oceans, in sheet ice and snow melt and the film over an eye” – The Offer by Yowler gives Maryn Jones a chance to create something intensely personal.

Samantha Crain

“Music has the power to change minds and to nudge humanity down a different path but for the most part I feel like most music just wants to follow the mass around asking what they like and what they want from them. There are bigger things going on, music and art needs to direct attention towards those injustices.” – We chatted to Samantha Crain her forthcoming album Under Branch & Thorn & Tree.

Late Night Music in the Museum

“The evenings showed that museums can be innovative, adaptable and welcoming to all, centres of the community rather than simple tourist novelties…What better way to ensure the survival of an institute than to make it central to the lives and well-being of the people it serves?” – We were left feeling inspired by recent events at the National Museum in Cardiff.

Fevered Press, Fevered Certainty

Cool people cover cool songs by cool bands for a cool zine. What’s not to like? The Epoch Fanzine from Fevered Press, Fevered Certainty.

Right Away, Great Captain

“The journey is an epic one, written in novelistic detail that surpasses the overwhelming majority of albums – tracing the sailor’s time at sea…and his return to land” – Andy Hull’s Right Away, Great Captain release entire catalogue in one anthology.

Harley Alexander

“Just the right blend of luminous and languorous to occupy your headphones during the summer (or dreams thereof)” – Glorious summer vibes from Harley Alexander on Gold Shirt.

Fazed On a Pony

Fox Food Records continue their hot streak with this slice of “raucously rad” indie rock from Fazed On a Pony.

Star Horse

“Keepin’ it dreamy with yearning vocals and a resounding crystalline shimmer” – A few words about ‘Slower Now’ by Star Horse, which premièred on No Fear of Pop earlier this week.

May Roundup mixtape

If you missed the chance to read everything we posted during May, do yourself a favour and catch up with all the cool bands via this handy mixtape.

Introverted Stars

“When I hear Alessia [Cara] valorize her love of staying at home, it feels like an affirmation that my preternatural quietness is a bearable tic rather than a curse. She wants to be alone in her room, and she has the courage to tell it to the whole world” – Molly Long wrote a fantastic piece for The Fader about being introverted and shy… while also being a pop star.

Mark Kozelek Being Offensive Pt. XXVI

“He can use sexually violent language to reduce female critics to the status of groupies, knowing that while male musicians’ misogynist acts are examined for nuance and defended as traits of “difficult” artists, women and those who call them out are treated as hysterics who don’t understand art” – Laura Snapes wrote about her recent run-in with Mark Kozelek for The Guardian…

“Maybe a feminist reimagining of popular music doesn’t just involve putting more women onstage. Maybe it includes creating spaces without stages: where power is fluid, where no one can play god, where art can be shared without elevating artists three feet above their audiences” – …and Sasha Geffen wrote a great piece for Consequence of Sound about Kozelek’s recent behaviour and how he is far from the only example.

Sufjan or ETs?

If you’re like me then you quite like Sufjan Stevens, and you ABSOLUTELY LOVE UFOs and all that weird stuff. Test your knowledge (of either category) with this fun list from Mandala Laura over at McSweeney’s.

Jenny Hval

You can stream the new Jenny Hval album over at the New York Times:

Titus Andronicus

And Titus Andronicus unveiled another track from their forthcoming album ‘The Most Lamentable Tragedy‘:

And Finally… the 8tracks Playlist of the Week

This week’s winner is this gem from Badical Turbo Radness.

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Opener ‘Lookin for Love is a good introduction to the record, with it’s easygoing  charm and grateful lyrics backed by radiant instrumentation and peppered with psychedelic oohs and aahs reminiscent of Evangelicals. ‘Running Thangz’ is more cosmopolitan, the soundtrack to the coolest 80s crime show never written in which both the good and bad guys wear shades and leave one too many buttons undone on their shirts.

“No, I own this floor – this dance floor is my home
Paint your world the colour that’s gonna make you twirl

OoOoOoOohhh we in the same zone
trust your body leave your mind peacefully at home”

‘Baby Blue’ sounds like the more recent Damien Jurado releases, while ‘Trust’ ramps up the tropical ambience and ‘Beautiful Brian’ takes us even further afield to a cosmic paradise, opening with a sound-clip declaring “the only thing I believe up there is the UFOs.” ‘The Finest Scent’ follows the planetary theme with spacey drone before evolving into a joyful pop song that could grace any commercial radio station.

Harley Alexander makes bright music with the sharp edges removed, doped, loose-limbed pop songs, dreamy from a lack of responsibility and washed out from too much sunlight and salt water. This is the sort of music you want to listen to during those small, glorious moments when Real Life backs off to allow an elated contentedness to settle, where the smallest things give you a sense of wonder and joy.

You can buy the album now from Harley Alexander’s Bandcamp page.

P.S. the artwork is by Sophie Wonfor.

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January was a bit of a scrappy month in terms of regular posts, but we still managed to cover some excellent artists. Why not catch up with any you missed with this tailor-made mixtape? Click the artist names in the tracklist to be whisked off to the review.

Tracklist:

1. Jesus in the 70s – Siskiyou
2. 2 Broke 2 Old – Gorgeous Bully
3. Another Way To Go – Adeline Hotel
4. Scene Sick – Diet Cig
5. Dog Burial Theme – Dicktations
6. Up the Academy – Mike Pace and the Child Actors
7. Con/ A Sewer/A Cat – Amateur Love
8. The End is a Vicious Thing – Puzzlecuts
9. Manic Pixie Dream Girl – Furnsss
10. Party Girls – Gleemer
11. Soft Reputation – Unlikely Friends
12. Passing Through – Harley Alexander
13. Coward’s Luck – Hip Hatchet
14. Memphis – The Wandering Lake
15. How a Resurrection Really Feels – The Hold Steady
16. Fire in My Eyes – Yours Are The Only Ears
17. Traffic is Okay – Sitcom
18. Gold & Rose – Dear Sister

Also make sure you check out our mammoth collection of our Favourite ‘Free’ Music of 2014. Finally, if you enjoy long, rambling pieces that try and draw connections between my favourite music and my favourite books, check out this piece on The Hold Steady’s Separation Sunday (Craig Finn said he enjoyed it, so it carries his stamp of approval).

January 2015 Roundup from Wake The Deaf on 8tracks Radio.

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