Category Archives: New Music

Marga Lane: Undressed

Writing a music blog means that you get to listen to a lot of music, some good, some not so good and occasionally, some really good. I love bringing you new music and new voices in particular and I recently heard a lovely new voice and wanted to share it with you. Marga Lane is a music graduate from the USA who is shortly to release a new EP, Undressed which draws heavily on her ‘old school’ musical influences to display her raw, yet versatile voice.

The music is simple, pared down in style which is a departure from Lane’s previous music. In Lane’s own words (from our recent interview), “I wanted the EP to not be over produced, the intention was to be simple. My previous music was heavily produced…I love Nashville and Country music and I love how a simple melody evokes such emotion from the voice”.

Undressed is self penned and it feels as if the songs are rooted in real experiences and emotions – undressed emotionally as well as musically. I asked Lane if any of the songs were written from her own perspective and she confirmed that “yes, they are about my current relationship, I can finally write love songs. Experiencing these things personally means I have so much more emotion to put into singing them.” It seemed that this was Lane’s favourute question, in fact she declared that “this is my most fun question…I used to see interviews and think who is that song about and now I get to answer that question”!

Undressed‘s five tracks reflect a musical past shaped by Motown, blues, pop and folk and indeed, Lane confirms that her earliest influences included Motown and Michael Jackson, collectively referred to as ‘old school’ as well as The Spice Girls although it seems that this was more from a performance point of view than the music. We all had a favourite spice girl and Lane’s was Scary Spice aka Mel B. My favourite track is Forgiven as it shows a more complex song writing structure and is more thought provoking emotionally. I was left contemplating the nature of forgiveness, something a three minute song doesn’t normally do.

Lane’s road to success started when she studied music at Berklee College, Boston and one of her strategies for sharing her music is to sing before NBA games and also at fashion shows. Asked how this came about, she says “I love singing the national anthem and I reached out to NBA co-ordinators, sending them clips of me singing and a few of them invited me to sing before games. It’s nice to have that on my resume and people find out about my music”. Performing at fashion shows is slightly different in that there’s a backing track and a DJ but this apparently makes Lane feel like “a pop star…there’s more exposure there and opportunities to speak to people”.

For 2017, Lane hopes to tour the EP before going back into the studio.

Undressed is released on 2 December and is available here:

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Raphael Doyle – He Comes From Ireland

Here on thoughtsofjustafan I like to bring you new music, indeed this is the second time this week that I’m bringing you new music, and I very often find new stuff from Flo at Angry Baby. This week, I was stopped in my tracks by a hauntingly beautiful poem by Raphael Doyle, I Come From Ireland:

Autobiographical and sometimes brutal in it’s honesty, it draws the listener into the story of Doyle’s self confessed ‘messy’ life in and around the alt rock scene, encompassing pain, success, loss and love.

If you found yourself drawn in to this epic poem, then this is just a taste of what could be as Doyle is currently producing an album, titled Never Closer, together with his son Louis (Slides, The Spare Room). Here is something a little more musical, We’ll All Get Together Again:

But, Raphael and Louis need help to complete this project. Sadly, earlier this year Raphael was diagnosed with a terminal illness and is rapidly approaching the time when, for him, there will be no more music to make. Faced with this news, Raphael decided that to push ahead with his passion project, which has turned out to be Never Closer. Father and son are now racing against time to record, mix and master the album before Raphael’s 64th birthday on January 6th.

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Mariam’s Heart to Heart

What is it that makes someone who likes music and singing decide to pursue music as a profession? Is it talent, opportunity, courage or a mixture of all three? Having spoken to a number of up and coming artists I’ve decided that all the three qualities already mentioned have to be there and also that extra special something: the feeling that you really have to put your heart and soul on the line and follow that dream.

I recently spoke to a young London based singer, Mariam, who has only relatively recently embarked on the life of a musician, indeed she has only been performing publicly since 2011. Mariam says that she has “always loved singing and music”.

“Music was always something I wanted to do, I feel as if I was born to do it. I love writing as well and I knew that if I didn’t take the plunge and do it, I wouldn’t ever feel really happy.”

Starting with open mic nights and progressing on to small, local gigs concentrating on just her voice and the guitar (the guitar is called Pearl), Mariam soon built up a local following and thoughts turned to recording an EP. Mariam readily admits that despite high hopes, the EP didn’t happen as, “it just didn’t sound the way I wanted it to”. A brave decision to step away but given that many a promising career has been curtailed by putting out music that the performer isn’t happy with, perhaps the right one.

Two years on and having joined the London Community Gospel Choir, Mariam has her mojo back and having written and recorded an EP that she’s happy with, released it last week. In conversation, her enthusiasm for this new project is infectious – she says that the recording “just flowed. The process came together and I knew it was supposed to sound like this”. The time spent away from music as a solo artist has meant that this time around, Mariam’s love of music has come to the fore naturally, with something new to share in the EP, Heart to Heart.

Heart to Heart begins with an upbeat track and the first single, Be There For Me, which recounts a tale of unrequited love. Lest this sound a tad bleak, the song actually charts the realisation that you can’t make someone love you and that sometimes, it’s best to walk away:

The rest of Heart to Heart talks about the themes of live and love, with the pared down Running being the stand out track. Self penned, the songs feel natural and unforced and Mariam sounds like a much more experienced musician.

For the future, Mariam hopes to make music her full time living although she hastened to say that she’s lucky enough to be able to use music in her day job too, being a creative arts youth worker in schools. Her final thoughts on the future of her music are that she wants to put out “music that inspires and encourages others. I was so fearful of taking the step and now here I am, doing it”.

Heart to Heart is available now on iTunes – click here.

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Rachael Sage: Choreographic

Regular readers will know that I love lots of different kinds of music and I especially like hearing new music from singer song writers, whether they be new or established in the music industry. I recently had the opportunity to interview New York musician, singer, songwriter, visual artist and the all round super talent that is Rachael Sage about her latest album, Choreographic and her UK tour of the same name. This is the second time I’ve reviewed and interviewed Rachael and her single Coloring Book is one of my most listened to songs on my iPod.

Coloring Book is what I call a happy tune and has a clear visual theme and Choreographic continues in the same vein. Rachael says the album was inspired by dance (she has a background in ballet and her music has been extensively featured on the reality show Dance Moms) but also refers to visual art, ie the graphic. The first track is titled Heaven is a Grocery Clerk and as a lot of the lyrics refer to visual art I assumed she was talking about her own work. However, the painting and art sung about is by an artist called Riki Chen. Rachael said of the song “he’s [Chan] kind of a kindred spirit, he went through some really tough times and bounced back but even through the tough times he never stopped creating. He told me a story that when he was homeless and hungry, heaven to him was once a grocery store clerk.” The song has a dark undertone but ultimately, the listener feels uplifted. Another song that has a darker undertone but uplifts the listener is I Don’t Believe It:

On one hand, the lyrics talk to us about someone fighting against the ‘you can’t do it, you’re not good enough’ mentality but the upbeat melody pushes against that, resulting in a song that leaves you feeling on top of the world: I CAN do this, rather than I can’t. This feeling is reinforced by the beautiful video. Rachael said of this video “Kaci King, the dancer in this video has such musicality and it was so exciting to see what she could bring to the song”. Looking at this video you can see how well the music conveys emotion through contemporary ballet as well as jazz and modern dance.

Choreographic also sees Rachael’s first ever song writing collaboration, on Home. On asked why this is the first co-write of her career, Rachael says “that I have never been one to write collaboratively, it’s not been what I wanted to do. In this case, a young girl, Fiona Harte, from Dublin was in New York and sad she wanted to write a song with me. We had lunch, learned about who she was. She’s passionately into music and we bonded on home being a place where you feel accepted for who you are”. The resulting track is beautiful, speaking about the joys and difficulties of home and being away from home so much – the life of a touring musician!

I spoke to Rachael at the end of her UK tour – don’t worry, she’s back at the end of October, click here for details – and wondered about differences between US and UK audiences. Rachael answered “[UK] audiences listen so beautifully, I love playing here. The main differences are in interaction after the show. UK audiences treat you like they’ve known you all their lives, they don’t get in your personal space. The British are great conversationalists”. This description of a British audience is extended towards what on the face of it might be a tough audience: school children. Many of Rachael’s shows are in adult only venues and to counter this, Rachael and her band performed and created workshops for young people in schools around the country. Thee show were conceived as an alternative to multiple radio interviews and, according to Rachael, were ” a lot less crazy than radio. It was interesting for the teachers to see the students interacting with us, at first they held back but became very exuberant, even the older kids”. That’s some achievement Rachael!

If you like songs that tell a story then Choreographic is for you. The album flows effortlessly through a variety of emotions but ultimately leaves the listener feeling upbeat. It’s also great to move to, whether that be dancing, running or walking!

Choreographic is available now:

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Dan and Laura Curtis: Overture

If you love a good musical tune or two then this is the post for you. Welsh musical maestros Dan and Laura Curtis are shortly to release a double album of original musical songs – ‘act’ one and ‘act’ two, if you like, of a complete musical theatre experience. Filled with classic sounding tunes, mixed in with more contemporary jazz-pop songs along the way, Overture makes sure there’s something for all lovers of all musical theatre styles.

I recently interviewed Dan and Laura about Overture and asked why they wanted to write and produce a double or concert length album. Laura said that musical theatre cast recordings have a very profound meaning for her as “it’s the closest thing to seeing a live show”. Laura went onto explain that Overture was “inspired by our trip to New York, we love Broadway and we wanted to explore a musicals themed album that transcended genres yet where each song was related”. Each song flows seamlessly into the next and with an overture at the beginning of each ‘act’, Overture the album would be a perfect concert to stage. Laura implied that her and Dan would be interested in that but not yet – they’re about to start working intensively on a big project that must, for the time being, remain hush hush.

Now you would think that an album of twenty five songs would take a long time to write and when I asked Dan the question (in case you’re wondering, Laura and Dan both did the interview but as separate times), he said that it took about a year from start to finish. Bearing in mind that they not only write the music they also record and produce everything too, that doesn’t seem like a very long time. However, the more interesting thing for me was the revelation that most of the songs were only written after they had agreed who was to appear on the album, as Dan explains: “We’re inspired by people and voices, not ideas. Although I do write bits of melodies, it’s much easier to write songs for particular voices. Our songs are notoriously hard to sing, vocal acrobatics and the best of Broadway can do them justice”. This approach means that the singers and songs are suited down to the ground:

My favourite songs on the album are Playing Games, sung by Matt Doyle and Keep Dancin’ On with Emmanuel Kojo. Perfect storytelling to accompany the music but the stand out track for me, both vocally and dramatically is Natalie Weiss on When The Curtain Falls. A look behind the glitz and glamour of the music business, these lyrics sum it up:

“When the playbill’s gone and your ego’s died, how you gonna feel… when nobody cares who you are any more”

Although Dan and Laura have already worked with some of the leading lights of Broadway and the West End, they don’t pull any punches when asked who they would like to write for and record with in the future; Audra McDonald, Seth McFarlane, Neil Patrick Harris, Josh Groban, Michael Ball and of course Alfie Boe are the names mentioned. If the calibre of songs is as high as those on Overture, Dan and Laura should have no problem.

Overture will be released on 24 October.

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Kaiser Chiefs Stay Together

It’s safe to say that Kaiser Chiefs completely wrong footed both their many fans and the world of music in general when they released the first single from their new album back in June this year. In contrast to their previous guitar led indie sound, Parachute showed a distinct pop / dance style and to begin with, a fair amount of fans were really not happy. I loved it and felt the same about the equally catchy second single, Hole In My Soul, which followed in August and vies with Parachute for best video:

The title track, Stay Together, kicks off the album and instantly showcases the rest of the album: catchy, upbeat, synth pop, dancey and something that has you singing along in no time at all. Dancing along seems to be compulsory for me at least which makes writing a review somewhat tricky – taken longer than normal as I keep having to get up and dance!

I opened this review by saying that Stay Together is a completely different sound for Kaiser Chiefs and yet…it’s not. Strip the synth pop sound away and most of the tracks would sound like the guitar led KC sound we all know. I suppose this is not a surprise as they are an extremely well honed band live and several of these songs have already been played live at KC shows so far this year. My favourite songs are Hole In My Soul, Press Rewind, Indoor Firework and High Society, the latter for the novelty value of hearing Ricky sound more like Mika than Mika! I hasten to add that I could have chosen most of the other songs too.

Kaiser Chiefs’ previous album, Education, Education, Education and War was a blistering return to form after the departure of Nick Hodgson and certainly their most cohesive album since their early releases; Stay Together continues in that vein. Despite a difference in sound and subject matter (Stay Together speaks throughout of the tricky business of relationships – which relationships, it’s up to the listener to decide), this sixth album is very definitely to be taken as whole rather a collection of disparate songs. If you’re not keen on your favourite bands taking a new direction then this album might not be for you but you’ll definitely be missing out. Can’t wait to see where Kaiser Chiefs go next.

Stay Together is available here:

Here Comes the Summer Playlist #2

Following on from our first Summer Playlist, here are four more artists brought to you by Flo at Angry Baby and this time it’s all about the girls – don’t forget to download your free music from Angry Baby at the bottom of this post.*

Kelly Oliver, Bedlam

Being a fearless storyteller is a great starting point for any contemporary folk singer. Add to that the creativity to build stand-out instrumentation topped by a voice that is uniquely sweet and complex and you have all the ingredients you need for a breakthrough folk album. That’s what I found in Kelly Oliver’s Bedlam, released on boutique indie label Folkstock Records on 6 March 2016. It’s no surprise that she is already a favourite with the UK’s Folk Radio station and legendary music presenter Whispering Bob Harris.

Kiirstin Marilyn, Out of Control

At first listening, her new EP, Ghosts could be just another electro-pop offering. The vocals are sweet and tuneful, the arrangements energetic and the production tight. But it’s way too demanding to be background music or something to dance along to. This is a collection of songs that tap you on the shoulder. Think you might drift away? check your texts? tweet? Not while this music is playing, you won’t. It wants all of you and it accepts nothing less than your full attention. It’s the voice that does it. Kiirstin may deliver a sweet vocal, but there is an urgency to her delivery too. An ‘I’m-singing-this’because-it-matters’. A ‘listen-up’. A ‘get-with-it’. Her activism occupies her tone and campaigns through her phrasing. This is a songbird for social justice. [love the intro to the music video. Jane]

Lorna Dea, Stay the Same

Sometimes all you need is pop. For just those moments, meet Lorna Dea. Bubbly and up-beat, Lorna’s sound channels all-time favourites from across the decades – The Supremes, Bananarama, The Bangles, The Spice Girls, Little Mix – into a one-woman girl-band.

Rachael Sage – English Tea

Rachael Sage is a singer songwriter whose music I’ve loved the for some time now, so I was thrilled when she agreed to do an interview. Her music is incredible, but I’ll let you see how she describes it in the piece below:

I first really started developing my style when I was a ballet student. I would come home from ballet class in my pre-teens and I would sound out all of this beautiful classical music by ear, and then in my own way I would kind of mash it up and I eventually started composing my own music. The first building block for me musically was definitely classical music, so there’s a lot of melody and a lot of arpeggiation in the piano. Then of course I absorbed just about everything I heard, from Top 40 in high school, to later on a lot of more organic folk music and socially conscious music that I heard in college. So it was a mix of influences. I do get compared a lot to songwriters from the seventies, and I always take that as a compliment because I really try to tell stories in my music.

Thanks to Flo at Angry Baby for sharing her music with us – I really loved the intro to Kiirstin Marilyn’s music video. Also Rachael Sage is an artist featured on thoughtsofjustafan last year – love her music.

Click on the links below to get your free downloads from Angry Baby and add to your Summer playlist

Kelly Oliver – Bedlam

Kiirstin Marilyn – Out of Control

Lorna Dea – Stay the Same

Rachael Sage – English Tea

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*must be subscribed to thoughtsofjustafan

Here Comes the Summer Playlist

Even if Summer has yet to really arrive in the UK this year, we can dream about it and while we’re doing that, we need a Summer playlist which is where I come in. This summer, I’m teaming up with Angry Baby to share our Summer playlist; not only that, Angry Baby is also giving away lots of lovely free music for you to download, so keep reading all the way to the bottom to get your free music links*.

Thanks to Flo at Angry Baby for sharing her blogs with me here:

In Hoodies, She Got Caught:

When I first heard She Got Caught, I instantly fell in love with it, in fact this is probably one of my favourites of all of the songs I have given away on Angry Baby. Everything about the song makes it something I’d want to listen to all the time, as different aspects work well in different moods. The melody is quite relaxing and calm, but there is a certain quality to it that is more than that, and it adds another level to the music entirely. I can’t quite put my finger on what it is, but you can listen for yourself and see what I mean!

Jay Woodward, Blue Sky Blue:

At first what stood out to me about Jay’s music was the relaxing melody, but when I listened to the song a few times I noticed the meaningful lyrics. Jay’s songs are based on his real life experiences of death, bereavement and grief and so the words are very poetic and deep. His vocal style is distinctive – intimate with an overlay of blues on a backdrop of folk. I found myself leaning in to listen more, absorbed by the mood.

Albert Man, Cheap Suit

What comes first, the music or the words? – its one of those ‘chicken and egg’ questions, but Albert Man knows his answer:

Lyrics are so important to me. I always have a theme I want to write about first and try to get a title. I then write the lyrics before I start adding any music or melody. I will re-write the lyrics so many times too until I get something I’m happy with.

His new album, Cheap Suit doesn’t disappoint. A mix of quirkiness and pathos, it provides social commentary, viewed through the small stuff. Things that happen and thoughts that arise, unremarked and fleeting, are given a moment of deeper reflection, conjuring up a response of “ah yes!” and “me too!”

Danielle Lewis, I’ll Wait

Danielle’s voice has been compared with Karen Carpenter and, although her tone is lighter, the effortless emotion that merits this comparison is apparent in the second track of the EP I’ll Wait. In complete contrast to Anywhere is Home, this is a soulful ballad that exudes romance and demands to be heard in the arms of someone special. Lovers of female vocalists will applaud the purity and control that flows from phrase to phrase, supported by the simplest of strings.

Hugh Kelly, Give Me All Your Love

Britain’s blue-eyed soul scene has been in resurgence recently, thanks to artists like Adele, Sam Smith and Joss Stone. But wouldn’t you like to hear a voice with a more lived-in quality? Hugh Kelly leaps out of the speakers with a tone that growls with the gravitas of life experience, reminiscent of Leonard Cohen or the late Joe Cocker. If we believe what Harry Chapin told us, back in the 70s, maybe it’s the drinking he did on his last big gig that make his voice go low? That’s not far off the mark. Hugh puts the strength of his voice down to time spent in pubs and bars, but as a singer, not a drinker. That, together with busking unamped in the streets of his native Edinburgh, built the power in his vocals so he could be heard above the crowd. Take a listen and I guess you’ll be as amazed as I was to find that Hugh isn’t some long-standing musician with a back catalogue stretching through generations of music making. No, he is a 21-year-old newcomer, doing it all by himself (with help from dad, Tom) and already receiving accolades from local music press and radio.

Thanks Flo for sharing some of your favourite new music with us, love the voices of Hugh Kelly and Albert Man especially!

In order to get your free music from Angry Baby, just click on the links below and start creating your Summer 2016 playlist!

In Hoodies – She Got Caught

Jay Woodward – Blue Sky Blue

Albert Man – Cheap Suit

Danielle Lewis – I’ll Wait

Hugh Kelly – Give Me All Your Love

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Beth Ford’s Voyage

Almost exactly a year ago, I blogged about Beth Ford’s debut single, If I Could Escape, which reached number 3 on an iTunes chart. Following a year in which Beth has performed live with People’s Soprano Rebecca Newman and tenor Jonathan Antoine as well as recording a duet with Michael Boe, I’m thrilled to be able to bring you the news that this wonderful single is being followed by a three track EP, to be released on Wednesday 13th July.

The Voyage comprises the title track, How We Love and Follow Your Dream and all three tracks showcase the improved maturity and strength of Beth’s voice. Last year I was struck by how much Beth had improved since I first heard her sing (on Alfie Boe’s Bring Him Home tour, with Alfie himself and Flo Bannigan) and a full twelve months on, I’m again struck by a much richer tone in her voice.

My favourite track is Chris Broom’s Follow Your Dream which sums up the performers mantra of believing in your dreams. Beth herself says “This sums up so perfectly what I believe in, nothing is impossible if you pursue your dreams…The lyrics of the song are simply perfect ‘your star will shine if you follow your dream‘”.

All three tracks flow seamlessly, telling a story of voyage, adventure and following your dreams which is what Beth seems to be doing quite successfully at the moment. Indeed, this weekend saw Beth sit at the top of amazon’s movers and shakers chart, thanks to all the pre-orders so far – an amazing achievement.

To order your download of The Voyage, just click on the image below:

If you click through now, you will also receive a musical gift from Beth to say ‘thank you’ and the chance to grab a special edition CD which features two bonus songs not available anywhere else. Having heard these extra two tracks, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend pre-ordering now. How do you get your hands on this? Once you have pre-ordered, just email freemusic@angrybaby.co.uk with ‘The Voyage Bonus’ in the subject line – then you sit back and wait for your download and free musical gift to arrive. Hurry – you only have until Wednesday to get this exclusive special offer!

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Lánre’s Human Soul

As you know, here at thoughtsofjustafan I like to bring you new music and lately this has tended to be indie or folk in nature. This week, however, I’m bringing you the unique sound of soul and folk combined in the form of British Nigerian singer songriter, Lánre. If this sounds bizarre, trust me, it works.

Human is the third release from Lánre and is a four track EP detailing the trials and tribulations of what it means to be human. In particular, I felt the title track contained some powerful, inspirational lyrics that describe the process of living and making relationships work. I discussed this with Lánre recently and it turns out that this was exactly her thought process upon writing the song. She said “life’s not about getting it right all the time, doing the same things again and again reaffirms that we are human”. The song was not written specifically with young women in mind but it seems like the perfect song for young women to listen to and hear that life is not about perfection but about being yourself and enjoying the ups and downs we all go through. The stand out lyric, inspired by Leonard Cohen is

we’re all broken so that light can come in

which sums up perfectly what the song is about, accompanied by Lánre’s powerful soul voice and folk based instrumentals.

Talking to Lánre, she appears to be a pragmatist as evidenced by the reason to release a second EP rather than a full album; she was collaborating for the first time with new musicians and folk instruments and wasn’t sure if the results would warrant committing to a full album. Furthermore, when writing songs that will be played live, she doesn’t always have the luxury of a band around her so the songs need to work as solos as well as with a band. She also admits to being a bit of a “control freak” (her words) as she self produces all her music which she also writes. Asked if self producing is a conscious choice, Lánre says that “in time, I don’t know what will happen but now it’s working for me…I understand what my sound is and it’s a better fit at the moment. I’ve had meetings with record labels but the control freak in me doesn’t think it will work”. All this was said with much laughter and more than a bit tongue in cheek I suspect.

As always when I interview songwriters, I’m interested to know about that process – what comes first, how do the ideas come? For Lánre, who has always sung, rather than played instruments, the lyrics and the sound pf the vocals come first, followed by guitar chords and the melody before being shared with the musicians she is collaborates with. Describing this process, Lanre again mentions her tendency towards control, “I never played an instrument so I always had to rely on other people for that which brought out more of the control freak”.

Although Lánre acknowledges this posed something of a dilemma in her songwriting, she says that it took the sudden death of her father to push her to learn to play her guitar. Her father was a musical person in that he listened to music a lot but never played an instrument and that pushed her to “go out and do what I want. Go for it, never waste time”. This pivotal moment in her life also prompted the decision to leave the safety and security of the six piece voice collective, GK Real and turn solo, again “doing what I wanted to do” although she admits it has been hard, “when you’re working with a band you have that support system but you have to do everything yourself when you go solo”. On the evidence of Human, I’d say it was a pretty good decision.

Human is available now on iTunes:

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