The older ‘sister’ to her prized early single ‘Watch Me Read You’ – an arresting spoken word undressing of a non-committal partner – ‘Watch Me Go’ amplifies its sentiment of frustration with the gift of hindsight. With perspective and self assessment at the heart of the lyrics, Odette says, “This song is me trying to honour my good intentions and failings as a person.” her confessional songwriting cascades against ‘Watch Me Go’s crescendoing production. The repeated piano melody plays against the mental gymnastics of the relationship at hand. Mounting polyphonic production of strings, keys and percussion ultimately leads her to surrender.

Odette explains, “’Watch Me Go’ is a yearning to understand the rupture of a relationship and the turmoil that went down during its life. This song was written about my first lesbian heartbreak, but I know there are remnants of loss in this song from other failed relationships and people who I no longer speak to after the years where I was not okay. It is a shedding of grief, a realisation of the self and a releasing of shame as I try to break myself from ruminating on the past and accept the present.”

Blink:

1. Godsink
2. Are You Really Having Fun?
3. Watch Me Go
4. Gills
5. Cocaine Zoetrope
6. Cold Interim
7. Reverence
8. I Hate
9. Susie
10. Don’t
11. Seahorses
12. Heaven Help Me
13. AAAH!
14. Blink

The post Odette announces new album Blink alongside arresting new single ‘Watch Me Go’ appeared first on She Makes Music.

Beautiful acoustic guitar and Shaina’s gentle folk vocal initially keep things wonderfully stripped back, with soft percussion, additional instrumentation and backing harmonies gradually filling the space. The arrangement remains restrained throughout, but subtle minor chord changes introduce something more ominous underneath its warmth. Towards the end, rolling drums begin to resemble distant thunder – the threatened storm never fully arrives, but you can feel it somewhere on the horizon.

The lyric visualiser plays beautifully with that contrast, following Shaina as she leisurely pilots a speedboat appropriately named Tempest across a lake, stopping to read, play solitaire and wander along the shore. Bathed in washed-out summer sunshine, everything appears idyllic and relaxed. Much like the song, though, there’s just enough darkness beneath the surface to suggest the weather could change.

The post Shaina Hayes finds calm before the storm on ‘Tempest’ appeared first on She Makes Music.

Lucy Rose on ‘The Racket’: “I wanted my new album to end on a note of defiance and triumphant; of accepting what’s happened to me, pushing through, picking myself up and continuing life in the best way I can. I also wanted to start the song thanking my son Otis for loving me throughout everything, because really in those darkest times, it was his love that pulled me through.

“The song title nods to two things, the fact that the end of the song is an onslaught of noises and instrumentation, and also the fact that before breaking my back and receiving my diagnosis, tennis was a huge passion of mine, and I got told by my doctors I wouldn’t be able to play again, or potentially even walk. But slowly, slowly, I found my way back to the court and reclaimed that part of me.”

“And a final side note, this song was SO much fun to make, from start to finish, it brought a smile to my face every time!”

This Ain’t The Way You Go Out:

1. Light As Grass
2. Could You Help Me
3. Dusty Frames
4. Whatever You Want
5. Interlude I
6. Life’s Too Short
7. This Ain’t The Way You Go Out
8. Over When It’s Over
9. Sail Away
10. Interlude II
11. No More
12. The Racket

The post Lucy Rose announces new album This Ain’t The Way You Go Out & shares new track/video ‘The Racket’ appeared first on She Makes Music.

At the core of Surf the Sun is the ultimate discovery of freedom and empowerment. New single and album highlight ‘Rookie’, with its lazy Laurel Canyon swagger, seems built from that confidence. “I don’t know what this is, but it feels more like me / Living through the earth instead of coasting,” Drake sings.

“I was listening to so much of The Mamas & The Papas, Jefferson Airplane and Billy Swan when I wrote this tune,” she says. “I wanted the listener to experience the same sort of freedom I was feeling when I was writing this track, knowing I’m on the right path in life, and learning to trust whatever fate has in store for me.”

Speaking more on the inspiration behind new single ‘Rookie’, Eleni Drake said: “I wrote Rookie with a sense of openness and relief in mind. The song itself is actually about wanting to feel freedom, but also feeling like I had to stay because of relationships I had in and around my life, and once I gained the courage to make the decision to leave, a wave of liberation followed with it. I pulled inspiration from Billy Swan and Jefferson Airplane, with the song swimming in harmonies, but keeping the beat and structure of the song simple. When it came to the production, I wanted the song to have one guitar pretty much repeating throughout – something catchy but free flowing simultaneously.”

The post Eleni Drake releases shimmering new single ‘Rookie’ appeared first on She Makes Music.

Recorded with producer Matt Sweeney and engineer Daniel Schlett at Brooklyn’s Strange Weather Studios, I’ve Got Me was recorded and mixed over six days of intensely productive sessions during the summer of 2022. “I pretty much stayed out of Joanna’s way,” Sweeney says, “let them know they sounded great and allowed the music to happen.”

Sternberg pulls heavy weight on the album opener, ‘I’ve Got Me.’ Atop their own instrumentation (they masterfully wrote and played every instrument on the record’s 12 songs), Sternberg dissects their own shortcomings with sobering accountability: “And all my faults and flaws and lies // are no one’s fault but mine. // Between self-hatred and self-awareness // is a very small thin line.” Of ‘I’ve Got Me,’ Sternberg says: “I do not remember if I wrote this song before or after reading the poem ‘Oh Yes’ by Charles Bukowski, but the song is definitely meant to reflect the same sentiment. I also have the poem tattooed on my right arm!”

I’ve Got Me:

1. I’ve Got Me
2. I Will Be With You
3. People Are Toys To You
4. Drifting On A Cloud
5. Mountains High
6. I’ll Make You Mine
7. Stockholm Syndrome
8. Right Here
9. The Love I Give
10. She Dreams
11. The Human Magnet Song
12. The Song

The post Joanna Sternberg announces new album, I’ve Got Me & releases the title track/video appeared first on She Makes Music.

A love song to a previous partner, ‘Strawberry Moon,’ paints a picture of bliss and connection with an old-school soul ballad feel, while soothing rain sounds sit in the background. “I went on a moonlight walk with my partner down to the sea, and the moon was so big and red, like something I’d never seen,” Drake explains. “When nature gives you something so beautiful for free, and you get to share it with someone you love, you gotta pay your respects.”

Speaking more on the lyrical inspiration of new single ‘Strawberry Moon’, Eleni Drake said: “When I was writing ‘Strawberry Moon’, I wanted the listener to feel the warmth the song evokes within me. I chose warm analog, vintage sounds to compliment the story I was telling, and I created synths lathered in reverb and phasers so the listener felt a sway, almost wave-like, making them want to dance along with it. It was written for my partner at the time – we had gone on a moonlight walk, and there was this huge dark pink moon shining directly above us on the beach, where we spoke about life – dreams, insecurities, loss, happiness.”

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Speaking on the new single Izzy shares, “I wrote this song during winter break of my senior year in high school. It was during a time when the excitement of my last year in school and new relationships were starting to fade. Nothing was “new” anymore. I remember grieving friendships that started to dissolve and accepting that the next season of life was going to look very different. I thought of the first line when I was driving home from a school event, “I wish the shade of us was just as vibrant as when I first met you”. I let that one sit on the shelf for a few months before I let myself surrender to the uncomfortable reality that sometimes relationships fade when it’s no one’s fault. It’s as heart-wrenching as a breakup and as upsetting as a friendship fallout: the slow steady dissipation of two people going on different paths. There’s something beautiful about that as well. Endings are never fun, but without knowing, we are writing chapters of each other’s memoirs just by being present which I think is pretty cool.”

The post Izzy Mahoubi shares new single & music video ‘Torn In Two’ appeared first on She Makes Music.

Centred around Gena Rose Bruce’s distinct vocals, ‘Harsh Light’ is one of the more up-tempo songs in the collection with Bruce confessing, “Originally I wrote this song as a ballad, and visioned it as quite a slow song. It wasn’t until we got in the studio that we realised it needed to be 5 times the tempo! I’m a huge Beatles fan and I think this song really shows that.”

The track is the fourth single from her much anticipated second album, following ‘Misery and Misfortune’, Bill Callahan co-writes ‘Foolishly In Love’ and ‘Deep Is The Way’.

The post Gena Rose Bruce shares ‘Harsh Light’, the final taster from her upcoming album appeared first on She Makes Music.

‘Misery And Misfortune’ is a slow tempo, vulnerable cacophony of guitars and synths. Bruce opens up on the subject matter explaining “This song is about feeling grateful and appreciative for when you can actually feel your feelings. Even if some of those feelings may not be positive, at least they turn on all your senses and remind you that you are still alive”.

‘Misery And Misfortune’ is the third single from her sequel, following ‘Foolishly In Love’ – a co-write with the iconic singer-songwriter Bill Callahan.

The post Gena Rose Bruce offers another look at her second album with new single ‘Misery And Misfortune’ appeared first on She Makes Music.

On expansive lead single ‘Mystic Light,’ which arrives alongside an official video, Cat Clyde takes on existential matters over chiming bells, percussive guitar and melodic vocals that warmly envelop listeners. “It’s a song about wanting to understand my journey and purpose,” she explains. “I’m exploring feelings of adriftness, asking for the mystery or magic of life to show her face so I can remember what it’s all for.” Down Rounder indeed sounds like the work of someone who’s found themselves artistically and holistically. The new collection also represents a bold leap forward for Clyde as an artist, cementing her place on the map as a nourishing and essential voice in today’s musical landscape.

Down Rounder is Clyde’s first proper solo album since 2019’s spellbinding Hunters Trance, but she’s also been plenty busy between now and then. In 2020, she released Good Bones, a set of acoustic reimagining from Hunters Trance as well as her 2017 debut Ivory Castanets; last year, Clyde joined up with fellow Canadian country singer-songwriter Jeremie Albino for the stellar collab LP Blue Blue Blue.

Down Rounder:

1. Everywhere I Go
2. Papa Took MyTotems
3. Not Going Back
4. The Gloom
5. Mystic Light
6. Real love
7. I Feel It
8. Eternity
9. Hawk In The Tree
10. Send Your Love

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