Lissy Taylor - Healer

 

LISSY TAYLOR IS: HEALER

I love it when She's a Stunner comes on when I'm driving on the freeway, and something just clicks, your heart picks up, and you can't resist going a little faster.  There's this attention grabbing, bombastic element to the opening riffs, announcing Lissy's sexy, smoky, even a little bluesy, vocal.  And yea, it's that vocal that wraps you up, you can't get away from it, it's hypnotic.  All the way through Lissy weaves the fantasy "she's a stunner, everyone wants her". And after taking a late night ride in a helicopter with Lissy, one that could easily end in passion or disaster for all involved, it only seems natural for a track entitled Healer to be the follow-up.  

Healer champions the intricate complexity of relationships, intense emotions, and the best inside all of us, stacked up against the driving beat and machine gun riffs of another banging Summer indie anthem!  With lines like; "cuz I’m a healer, I’ll give you everything I’ve got" and "I'll always be right where you need me"  this track makes you feel good, alive, and even wanting to do better. Such is the fire and desire that the track invokes.    

Lissy describes the track as "inspired by people who go above and beyond to help others, rooted in selflessness and unconditional love. Healer was written during covid, where so many people were struggling but was inspired by how many acts of kindness were done by people to help others."

Healer is a triumph, winding great riffs around powerful sultry vocals, underpinning delicate and passionate emotion.    This feels like a great song to lead us into the last romantic breath of Summer, before the colors change again.    

Being the third song of four singles planned for release in 2022, Healer  carries forward from Young and She's a Stunner, which asks with anticipation, has Lissy kept the best for last?  We'll need to stay tuned to find that part out, but regardless, Lissy has released an amazing body of work this year, and I'm not even counting the Young smooth house remix with Gab Hydes.  Healer makes it 3 in a row in 22, a year of amazing music from Lissy Taylor!

 

The Ethos of Silvi

 

ANSWERING THE ETHOS OF BEING SILVI

In the two weeks since publishing our take, Silvi's new single Burning, has been leaving an entrancing effect on all who hear it.  A day has not gone by when I have not seen tweets saying what an incredible song it its, and yes it is, or seeing it added to a new playlist of the week...you know who you are!     

Silvi has graciously taken time from her hectic schedule to give us a behind the scenes insight into everything from her influences and creative approach, to being a female musician in the scene, and what many are excited for...the follow up to Burning.   

How would you describe the music you’re working on today, and your creative process?

The music I currently make is different to my old stuff subject wise but has stayed the same in terms of how I approach it. I always write a song when I feel like something is unjust or something I feel is out with my immediate control. 

My easiest way to process that and try get on with my day is to write everything down and try create something from the feeling so it’s not a negative empty void in my life. Being able to build on it and encourage other perspectives on it through writing is where I get a lot of comfort and clarity.  

Who are some of your biggest musical inspirations and influences?

In general it would be Stevie wonder, James Morrison and LÉON. For this particular new song I drew from artists like Two Feet and Muse.

Being a female musician, what do you see as your biggest challenges and successes? 

The issue I’ve found is that people often get things because of who they know. In a male dominated industry, it encourages more males to progress. When opportunities are given out, they’re often given to friends. Such as when a male band or musician makes it big he takes all of his friends on tour with him as the supports and they’re often other males. Women are typically put on first too when nobody’s in the venue yet. I can totally see a shift at my level though, people are being so much more conscious of the gender imbalance and there’s men out there trying to make a real difference in their choices moving forward. 

Are you working on a follow up to Burning ?

I have a few songs that could be taken into the studio next, but I’ve not actually recorded anything yet! My issue is trying to balance everything, working a full time job, gigging, writing, finances, promotion, interviews, admin, keeping up with a social media presence and also trying to have an element of a real life social life. I like to go and support my friends at gigs too whenever I can, so that sometimes takes up a whole weekend if I’m also busy or gigging, then before I know it I’m back to work on Monday! Recording and the process of it can be time consuming and expensive so I need to make sure I have a decent chunk of time on my hands before I get started on something else.

Musically what’s next on the horizon for you?

I want to continue exploring this genre and the soul/rock elements of it. I have really loved the process of working on this track with my producer SERA. As soon as I have the time and money I’ll be chapping on his door begging him to work on another song for me. 

 You mentioned the upcoming gig at King Tut’s later this month, do you have any other upcoming gigs or festival appearances that you would like to plug?

Yes! I’ll make a wee list,

21st August : King Tut's

3rd September : Vibrations Festival Breakthrough Stage, Falkirk

10th September : Outwith festival, Dunfermline

25th September : Currently unannounced but it’ll be in Aberdeen if you’re about!

1st of October : Indie all Dayer at O’Rileys, Hull 

What’s the best piece of advice you ever received as a musician that you would like to pass on?

“You cannot pour from an empty cup” - Kimberley Forsyth

And there you have it, the ethos of being Silvi from the artist herself.  Haunting, passion filled vocals against a complex searing soundtrack, yes.  But behind the music a consummate artist, honing her craft while very much navigating the everyday world we find ourselves in today.  It is with baited breath we await the follow up to Burning and another installment on the journey of Silvi.  

Marseille - Jungle

 

WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE - STRAIGHT OUTA DERBY!

Four weeks since the release of Jungle, were do the days go?  In that timespan Marseille have  been on a tear through the indie scene, as everyone seems to have found their feet moovin' to this nine minute tripped out grooveathon!  

Considering that Jungle was listed as track no. 1 on Duggystone Radio's Spotify playlist Duggy's Atomic Dustbin #21 this week, and tweeted by Janice Newton as track of the month, the momentum building behind Jungle is real.  

Signed to ADR Records, the third single from Marseille feels like a maturing departure from their prior rhythm guitar laced formula.  With a bassline on the track that Marseille guitarist Joe Labram had in the can for four years before revealing, Jungle pays a neo-psychedelic laden homage to their Madchester influences.

Jungle unleashes the congas right off, and lays down the beat intertwined with that funky bassline.  Parsed over with groovy riffs  and their instantly recognizable vocal style; with lyrics like "My sisters up to mischief she's been caught smokin hash, she's lost inside the jungle never find her way back" it sure seems like Marseille are out there on a groovy tip!  

The B side - if you dare call it that - to the single, The Universe is Yours sees the band return to their now signature driving rhythm riffs, backed by high end percussion, and a hard bass drum on the beat!  The track opens though with an entrancing backward cymbal and bass line solo, and harkens back to some of the other dreamy  Madchester openers we all know so well!  

Jungle is if anything an arrival track, with a great sense of fluidity and elements of experimentation through out.  The jungle Marseille find themselves in is an endless overlay of loops, beats and percussion.  You can dissect it six ways from Sunday, but in the end it's an infectious beat and a killer groove, so lace up and get on up! 

MARSEILLE - ALL KILLER NO FILLER!

 

Silvi - Burning

Sparks to Flame; Burning with Silvi 

Isolation and the lack of human contact can lead down many dark and painful paths.  For Jodi Findlay, the very real shadowy paths of lockdown, experienced by so many, led to the birth of Silvi in 2020 with the release of Your Smoke. 

Considering that Your Smoke could be described as a fusion of minimal tech house, against Silvi's deeply smoldering, passionate vocals with a freestyle jungle chorus thrown in, Burning takes us in a much different direction. 

The track opens with ever so slight, haunting, almost funeral-esq  style keyboards.  Alongside Silvi's torrid breathy vocal, the electric riffs sear into the song, creating an incredibly hypnotic, entrancing effect!  

The lyrics wind down dark, twisting roads, filled with the bitterness of romance "you left my heart in the back seat of that car." The emotion that Silvi creates throughout Burning lingers long after the track ends.  It's heavy and it's everywhere, it's unescapable and will move you.  

With over 1,500 streams in the first week of release, and being added to new music playlists all over social media, Silvi and Burning are destroying expectations!   

 

Ruby J - Slick Talkin'

Queen Ruby J's Slick Talk

"An outrageous teenage talent" as posted earlier this week by This Feeling could not describe better the aura surrounding Ruby J.  With an incredible energy fusing soul funk and blues, with a modern indie twist, it comes as no surprise that her voice has been likened to a raw, youthful Amy Winehouse. But casting larger than life comparisons aside, Ruby J has been laser focused in blending a unique musical cocktail of downtown funk, and carving out her space in the scene.  

Carrying on from Ruby's previous single, the downbeat soul sizzler Try, Slick Talkin' raises the tempo and the vibe, in a Northern Soul strut.  Emphasizing the rhythm in the lyrics, Ruby's voice slides and hooks over the chorus demanding, "tell me what 'cha gonna do my love?" in her own uncompromising style.  There is a sense of spontaneity, and a hint of defiance in the arrangement of the track, reminding us that beyond the silky smooth vocal, Ruby J is a talented and accomplished guitar player in her own right.  At a tight 2'28 minutes Slick Talkin' left me groovin and wanting more, there is definitely an extended version of this song out there!  

After numerous gigs and festival appearances over the season, it's clear that the buzz around Ruby J is real and it's smoldering.  The fan base is out there, myself included, and it is abundantly clear to even the most casual scenester, that her inimitable style is a force to be reckoned with. 

Who's Talkin' that Slick Talk - Yea it's Queen Ruby - Nuff Said!

 

Laura Kelsey - Fog The Mirror

 Laura Kelsey - Fog The Mirror

The figurative meaning of fog the mirror is the act of checking for life by placing a mirror under a persons nose, and the fog that the breath of life creates, or does not.  The new double single by Canadian artist Laura Kelsey interplays on this action, as she explores our darker emotions of grief, longing, loss, isolation and ultimately acceptance, through the imagery of Winter.

Described by Laura as contemporary art-folk, or nuevo-folk, the music showcases the influence of traditional genres including blues, classic rock, and metal on the folk style.  Out of these influences Laura has written two superbly haunting songs, rising like mist from a frozen lake, etching across the mind the figurative sense of death, as only the cold can.  

The title track Fog the Mirror builds slowly from a whisper of sound, an almost faint breath, over delicate acoustic cords, setting the mood for the arrival of Winter.  Laura's voice both hush and powerful at the same time rises over the melody as it builds, backed by keys and guitars, into a crescendo of emotional release. Catching our breath, the song returns to it's gentle acoustic harmony and fades away as beautifully as it arrived. 

The second single The Cold Makes You announces the arrival of the "long months, short days" with a signature acoustic melody, paired with Laura's captivating vocals.  The imagery of the frozen lake at night, paired with electric leads and keys, reinforces the power of the season, before it again fades into dreams.  

Musically, the Summer has seen Laura playing numerous shows,  and the fall will see her opening for Matthew Good on his tour stops on Vancouver Island, Canada. 

On top of live performances she has recently completed recording a new ep, Hunting Season, with a release date for the first single this Autumn.  Plan to get this one in your sights as heat fades and the leaves turn!

We asked Laura for some parting words of artist wisdom she would like to pass on, to which she replied; to not take things too personally, in any area of life but definitely as a musician, just keep your head down, work hard and have patience, and enjoy creating. Great advice that we can all use a dose of! 

Passion in the Fog; Laura reflects the Way!