by Dave Bertram and Philip Moss
Iron and Wine – What Hurts Worse
Iron & Wine are following up their 2018 Grammy-nominated full-length, Beast Epic, with the aptly titled EP, Weed Garden.
The new six-track collection, recorded at Wilco’s Loft Studio in Chicago, pulls together the left overs of the last LP, the tones and themes of which all feel part of the larger narrative.
Lead single, What Hurts Worse, is streaming now, while Weed Garden is due for release on 31st August 2018 via Sub Pop. Purchases made through the Sub Pop Mart and indie record shops will be pressed on a limited Loser Edition amber coloured vinyl.
Blood Orange – Charcoal Baby & Jewelry
Producer, multi-instrumentalist, composer, songwriter and vocalist, Devonté Hynes, returns with his fourth album as Blood Orange- and to whet our appetites, here’s the first two singles, Charcoal Baby and Jewelry.
Hynes’ career began as a teenage punk in the UK band, Test Icicles, before releasing two baroque pop records under the Lightspeed Champion moniker. Since then, he has released three records as Blood Orange, firstly in 2011 with Coastal Grooves. His last album, Freetown Sound, came out to huge critical acclaim in 2016, receiving comparisons to the likes of Kendrick Lamar and D’Angelo.
Of Negro Swan, Hynes said, ‘My newest album is an exploration into my own and many types of black depression, an honest look at the corners of black existence, and the ongoing anxieties of queer/people of colour. A reach back into childhood and modern traumas, and the things we do to get through it all. The underlying thread through each piece on the album is the idea of HOPE, and the lights we can try to turn on within ourselves with a hopefully positive outcome of helping others out of their darkness.’
Negro Swan will be released on Domino on August 24 2018,with a double gold vinyl pressing available through Domino Mart, and an orange LP version available through indie record shops.
Still Corners – The Photograph
Ahead of their fourth album, Slow Air, Still Corners return with the deeply atmospheric precursor, The Photograph.
To write the record, Tessa Murray and Greg Hughes left their native England behind for the rural hills of Texas. Murray stated, “we wanted to hear beautiful guitar and drums and an otherworldliness, something almost indefinable along with a classic song writing vibe. We’re always trying to get the sound we hear inside of ourselves, so we moved fast to avoid our brains getting in the way too much. The name Slow Air evokes the feel of the album to me, steady, eerie and beautiful.”
Still Corners will be on tour in Europe throughout November, including four UK dates. Slow Air will be released 17th August via Wrecking Light.
Kate Teague – Good To You
Kate Teague has followed up debut single, Low Life, with new track, Good To You, which sees the Mississippi-based singer songwriter tackle her struggles with relationships and compatibility.
Guided by her precise, emotive guitar lines and disco-infused rhythm, this slice of Americana dream-pop is a rumination on our self-examination.
Good To You is out now on Muscle Beach (an offshoot of Fat Possum Records), with the debut album expected early next year.
Sarah Nixey – Coming Up For Air
Ex-Black Box Recorder front woman, Sarah Nixey, is back with the first single – Coming Up For Air – from her new record, Night Walks.
In the six years since her last record, Nixey has struggled with insomnia, resulting in Night Walks being written in the early hours – documenting the themes of teenage mental health illness and parental love. “I discovered that the best time to write songs was in the middle of the night, and without any interruptions,” Nixey stated. And once the demo process was completed, Nixey enlisted her husband, producer, Jimmy Hogarth, to complete the record at their studio in North West London.
Night Walks is due out on 5 October via Black Lead Records.
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