July 2019 Roundup Mix

Liam Doyle — Mon, 05 Aug 2019 10:44:56 +0000

Check out a playlist featuring all of the artists we covered in July 2019.

Ruth Garbus – Strash
Mauno – Vampire
Outer Spaces – Gazing Globe
Benjamin Shaw – Long Ago and Oh So Far Away
Erin Durant – Islands
Daughter of Swords – Dawnbreaker
Melissa Mary Ahern – Maria, Maria
Oscar Lush – Kind Living
Midwife – Angel
Young Elk – False Paradise
Wilder Maker – Love So Well
Big Joanie – Way Out
Secrecies – Life We Live
Beat Radio – Everyone I Know, Just Holding On
American Poetry Club – pro pic?
So Totally – sike
halfsour – Paper Window
Joyer – Here
Marbling – Wisdom Teeth
High Sunn – Grateful
Slow Pulp – New Media
Molly Drag – Out Like a Light
Van Houten – Moon
Birdspotter – Riverbed
Tender Perennial – Delivered
JR Samuels – In Brend 2
Elly Swope – Habits
Derek Piotr – The Sign
Fighting Kites – Kita Senju
Nathalie Joachim – Papa Loko (Interlude: September 24, 1918)
Kali Malone – Sacrificial Code
Kate Tempest – Holy Elixir
Little Musket – Fever Blister
Gold Baby – 500/1
Tennis Club – Stay
Young Mammals – Lost in Lima
Abe Hollow – Paradise
bdrmm – Question Mark
Briston Maroney – Fool’s Gold

Check out our previous Monthly Roundup playlists, and be sure to read or Reviews and Previews throughout the month.

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Van Houten – Moon

Jon Doyle — Fri, 26 Jul 2019 11:36:59 +0000

In blurring the divide between slacker rock and dream pop, Leeds based quintet Van Houten weave ethereal soundscapes that retain a human core, grounded by the honest writing of lead Louis Sadler. The effect is a clever one, allowing the band to fully inhabit a slightly surreal world of languid tones and washed out colours while maintaining a connection to reality, the lyrics acting as a thread that we can follow back to the recognisable, the relatable and, at times, the surprisingly dark.

The band credit producer Martin Smith as a key figure in the development of such a style, his talents allowing them to embrace a new, rich aesthetic on their forthcoming self-titled debut. “When making the album, we were able to finally sculpt the vintage Hi-Fi sound that we have always been searching for but have never been able to achieve,” Sadler explains. “The title is Van Houten because this is the first work we have created that truly represents our band. This new sound is the true sound of our band.”

Released today, lead single ‘Moon’ is here to whet your appetites for the record. The album’s opener, the song is an ideal introduction to the Van Houten spirit, kicking into easy rhythms that shift and shimmer in languorous eddies. When Sadler’s vocals emerge, their smooth tones are entirely in keeping with this style, crooned across a field of heat haze and mirages. However, the longing that becomes clear in the promises of the lyrics is in part based around looking past such illusions, trying (and failing) to seize the moment and let a loved one know just how much they mean to you before they inevitably leave.

“Moon is essentially a very personal love song,” Sadler says. “It explores the fleeting qualities of love and the desperation of wanting to give somebody anything and everything. The line ‘You always leave so soon’ describes how a crush or loved one always seems to leave before the one chasing has chance to show the full potential of their affection.”

Van Houten is out via Clue Records on the 13th September and you can pre-order it now. The band are playing a couple of dates in the UK later this summer, and you can find them below.

3rd August, Peddler, Sheffield
24th August, This Must Be The Place Festival, Belgrave, Leeds w/ Bill Ryder Jones
4th September, The Social, London

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July 2019 Roundup Mix

Van Houten – Moon