This segment features artists who have submitted their tracks/videos to She Makes Music. If you would like to be featured here then please send an e-mail to helen@shemakesmusic.co.uk. We look forward to hearing from you!
Ivy Idell
Ivy Idell is an 18 year old artist from Manchester, UK. She has been performing covers on Youtube since February 2021 when she was still in college. She has just released her debut original single ‘Conceal’. “‘Conceal’ is about my personal dealings with trauma, not necessarily the cause of it, but the aftermath of the event that you struggle to deal with,” Ivy explains. “It follows you around and messes with your brain to the point where you feel like there is no climbing out of this hole you’re in, and you’re trapped in a cycle of no thoughts, no emotions, and barely any sleep. But it comes to a certain point where you can tell maybe this won’t go away on it’s own, and you reach out for help from the people around you or from professionals. While i’m not saying that my trauma is truly gone as of yet, i’m working my way up to the road of recovery step by step. I hope this song can resonate with some people, and maybe even inspire them to reach out for the help they truly need, and know this is not their fault.” The song is produced by tristanvh and features seanxo, who in his verse speaks about his experiences in his own relationship. Listen below.
The Cancellations
Indie y’allternative band The Cancellations have released their newest single, ‘Walking With Weapons’. The track is a dramatic build from lo-fi bedroom pop into a full, fierce anthem featuring distorted guitar, violin swells, and vocal harmonies. The lyrical content is a no-holds-barred take on the fear and frustration that women and nonbinary folks face daily in society. ‘Walking With Weapons’ was written, performed, and engineered exclusively by women. The two male members of The Cancellations stepped aside to allow Ellie (vox, guitar) and Sarah (violin) to shine on the track. The song was inspired by a survey in which women were asked what they would do if men had a 9pm curfew, and the most common response was, “take a walk at night.” Listen below.
F.U.R.Y.
F.U.R.Y. is a Chicago based rapper who has performed in the Midwest since 2015. The name F.U.R.Y. stands for Finally Understanding the Real You. She has taken her ability to mix lyricism, power, and passion with socially conscious themes to become a force in her community. Her recent work has been focusing on the revitalization of Chicago’s West Side. She is an Austin resident that sees the power music and art have to not only lead a revolution, but provide representation for those that mainstream media has left out. Her latest project FURY REVOLUTION will document her journey through community work and music and how both are coming together to make an inviting creative scene for Black and Brown people in undeserved communities. The track ‘Revolution’ is about being your own light during dark times. “Many of us go through vicious cycles that only we can free ourselves from by recognizing patterns and triggers,” the artist explains. “I am all about self discovery and focusing on thriving not survival.” Listen below.
Raven Shelley
Raven Shelley is a singer-songwriter based in Manchester. She writes ethereal and poetic alt/indie-folk songs, inspired by a love of literature, poetry and visual mediums. She has a very broad range of influences, from Bob Dylan to Ani DiFranco, and Schiele to Nicolas Roeg. She grew up in a rural part of the south of France, and educated herself in English Literature from a young age by raiding her parents’ bookshelves. Reading in English became her own private world, and she went on to study it at The University of Manchester. This is what impacted her desire to create lyrics that can also be described as poetry. “I try to be honest in the music that I write; I hope that all the hurt, all the anger, all the love, everything that runs through me can be found somewhere in my songs”, she says. Her first single, ‘Sink in Solitude’ is out now. It is heavily influenced by lines from Shakespeare and Shelley, and is about time passing by without achievement. Listen below.
Anna Anouk
Singer-songwriter Anna Anouk is a Tottenham-based, Dutch artist. She has been singing and writing since she can remember, with her work ranging from poems, spoken word and monologues to song lyrics. A traumatic experience knocked her confidence and led to her mainly working as a creative behind the scenes, abandoning most of her performer ambitions. During the pandemic she started singing more again and making music to go with her lyrics. Slowly her confidence has come back and these are her first steps into reclaiming herself as a performer. Anna has aimed to capture the feeling summer days give her in her new single ‘Summer,’ hoping it will resonate with the listener too. Giving them a sense of warmth all year round, and a longing to those sunny and light days. With an organic sound, smooth vocal harmonies and a relaxed, happy beat, ‘Summer’ invites you to sing-along with the catchy choruses (‘lalala’) and emphasis on longing for those long, hot summer days to never end (‘May it never end’). Listen below.
The Strangerz
The Strangerz are an alternative, shouty feminist and punk band with a fun spin on gender norms and gender attitudes . They pride themselves on high energy sets and lyrics which are fun but highlight key issues close to their hearts. The band consists of two twins, Martha on vocals and Tom on guitar, bassist Will and Shannon on the drums. The band formed in college in Doncaster over a lunch time pot noodle with Martha and Shannon and the band have been making music together ever since. They bonded over their shared passion of music however with vastly different influences from each member creates their unique high energy sound. Their new single is entitled’“Shut Up!’ and is “a song expressing anger at being spoken over by men who frankly don’t know what they are on about, the scream representing the internal groan all women do when someone starts mansplaining. Its explicit lyrics border on the comedic and ironic side of the misogyny the girls of the band have faced, while driving in that annoyed tone. It’s our heaviest and punkiest song yet, one that became popular when we started gigging in Manchester but one that was hated when we debuted it in our hometown- in fact the first time we played it the promoter told Martha to never scream like that again because it was “funny but not appropriate”.” Listen below.
Krystal Brown
Krystal Brown is a singer-songwriter who creates and loves all types of music. She has been writing songs since she was 15 years old and is currently promoting her latest album Sugar Free. She is a native of Hampton Roads, VA. Sugar Free was recorded in her bedroom and she is the sole writer for all 15 tracks. Krystal loves animals and has many rescue animals of her own including a cat named Sylvester and a leopard gecko named Gilgamesh. Album track ‘Frankie Boy’ is a sad trap song about the death of a pet. Listen below.
Luna River
Luna River is the solo project of Omaha-based singer-songwriter and musician, Genevieve Bachinski. She spent her early days fronting local favorite ska band The Heat Machine in her hometown of Lincoln, NE, and now over 10 years after the band’s breakup, Genevieve is finally ready to branch out on her own. Her long-awaited new album, Forest City Songs was self-recorded and produced in Bachinski’s home studio in the summer and fall of 2021. The songs detail devastating heartbreak and betrayal, triumph over personal darkness, and redemption of the heart and soul after a long and perilous journey. Citing the likes of Jenny Lewis, Johnny Cash, and Eisley as her major influences, Ms. River acknowledges that her sound is the result of a wide spectrum of inspiration. “I don’t know that my music fits into one particular genre, but I’ve started referring to it as “Farm Emo”, she says. “I like to write personal, vulnerable, and sometimes low-key depressing songs, but I also love joyful, lively country, bluegrass, and Americana music. I like to think that my writing and my music lives somewhere in the middle.” Forest City Songs serves as Genevieve’s first solo effort in what promises to be a long legacy of DIY self-expression at its finest. We all experience pain in this life, and sometimes it just helps to sing about it. “‘Air Balloon’ is probably my favorite song on the record,” she says. “It is a journey song filled with whimsy and magic, and hope for the future.” Listen below.
Check out more of our recent submissions in the playlist below!
