Joe Peacock - On Fire Again

 LIGHTENING STRIKES!

Out of the coldest and darkest month of the year; almost forgotten between last year's best of music lists, and the anticipation of Spring, January is often shuffled aside in forgotten to do lists, quickly broken resolutions, and plans for Summer holidays.  But despair not, the scene is industriously at work; planning, writing, recording and mastering, and out of the storm......lightening strikes! 

Birmingham's Joe Peacock lights it up and explodes out of the darkness with his powerful new single On Fire Again.  The second release since July's album Mirror Neuron Generator, a collection of eclectic electronica and haunting vocals, On Fire Again strips out any hint of over production, and brings Joe back to the gritty, the bombastic, the indie!  

Laden with proto punk energy, On Fire Again hooks you straight off with this rainy night in the city, plunky, Velvet Underground style lead riff. The chorus amps the noise and Joe leads an uptown guitar assault, filled with garage noise, reminiscent of early, moody, Sonic Youth.  

Always the  consummate storyteller, with On Fire Again Joe recounts the real life story of a man who holds the record for being struck by lightning the most times...incredibly seven! "Seven times a one in half a million chance, He didn’t want to be a lightning rod" One would be honestly enough in my opinion!  The lyrics continue to weave in imagery of life, death, and rebirth related to lightening, "A livid path is gone too fast, A sign this day could be your last, Or will you be reborn again?"

Like the Phoenix from the ashes, On Fire Again ignites musically and builds it up to burn it down, to the point where we're finally left with Joe's cryptic instructions "Watch the skies, always watch the skies...".  The January night just got a little brighter! 

LEWCA - FORGET MY NAME

 REMEMBER THE SONG, FORGOT THE NAME....

When the party's rollin' it's a blur, it's a haze, the movement, the lights, the sound.  People steppin' to you,....I wish they'd step off, yea one more round, I'm not leavin'.  

Morning always comes, tired and muddled, it always comes...Forget My Name...forget it all!  Our man Lewca bought four rounds.  Four rounds to figure out if your a rockstar or not, four rounds to walk the walk!  

So this is it, the morning after the morning after the night before, yea we bin out!  The track opens gently, acoustically, like a sliver of sunshine before the world crashes in, the world always does that. Lewca's vocal, raspy, stung and burnt.."I can't take it, I can't fuckin fake it"...a desperate showdown at the end of the road.  

The horns, charged with the electricity of a Mexican standoff, rise up to meet the vocal from Victory Flow on the chorus, like a dusty funeral procession.  Burnin' with soul, the spoken word epitaph of Victory Flow implores you, don't go insane,  yea don't forget my name! Testify!  

Once again Lewca brings in a star studded posse to the studio; Big John Mitchie, Paul Duncan, Ian Williamson, Shark Star, and the everpresent electro magic of S.O.A.P., and Ben Samama.  Underpinned by sharp piercing riffs and minimalist drum beats, Lewca finds the redemption we're all searchin' for, he ain't fading away, he's ridin' out in a blaze of glory!

This time Lewca publishes a visual to the audio.  The final single release, from the album Friday Night Rockstar, comes customized with an Orwell meets Seven Monkey's style video.  From the static monochrome of Lewca, to the redemptive technicolor of Victory Flow,  the video takes you on a long days journey into night, and out into the light of the other side.  

For anyone out of the loop the album release is weeks away, which means the heavy liftin is done.  Four singles in the span of ninety days....you've had more than enough time to figure out where you stand.  But whatever side you come down on, Lewca is a musical force to be reckoned with...

...and for those who dismiss him, he never lacks the firepower when the shit goes down!  

VAMOS!

GAZELLE - ARCADIA

SET SAIL WITH GAZELLE FOR ARCADIA! 

Where do we begin...fourth release of the year, all unique and incredible as Gazelle themselves, each distinctly unparalleled in style, but this....this is something else!    

Like a powder keg in a coal mine, Gazelle explodes down the shaft on Arcadia, a track filled with a combustible mix of raw musical energy and shadowy suspense laden drama!  This is Gazelle's signature cocktail, the masterful interlacing of music and imagery into something primal, that captures and holds your imagination.   Filled with social archetypes, Arcadia returns full circle to those everpresent  Gazelle themes of injustice, freedom, and breaking society's chains!

With a slick, glossy, stylized, Western themed production, as only Gazelle does, it's near impossible to draw the line between where the visual begins, and the musical ends.   

Ryan's vocal stalks in against the opening searing riffs; gritty, raspy, there's danger afoot. The drums and bass ignite a wall of sound, heavy, fast on the clip like rolling thunder, this is Gazelle rock n roll!  

Lyrically Arcadia captures Gazelle's passion and spirit for freedom, and the desire to take control of your own destiny.  The chorus wraps up the ethos of Gazelle with such lines as; "hey hey get off the carousel now, hey hey and speak what’s on your mind."    

Set in the reflection of a four minute Western short, Arcadia fits perfectly into the legend and lore of those who would not forsake to take their chance however slim it might be.  Gazelle are telling you that "Freedom knows her own chime", and to escape you have to find yours!   

Marseille - Freedom

 AND JUST WHAT IS IT YOU WANNA DO?  ....WE WANNA BE FREE....

After being lost in the Jungle for what seemed like a blurry, endless, hazy Summer, Marseille downshift into overdrive  and strike out for Freedom!  

With an air of invincibility that only youth, gigging, and having a Madchester remixed anthem in their arsenal brings, the band makes no shame of their new swagger as they announce; "the new era of Marseille has begun."  What Balls! ...And did I mention the new fifth member of the band?  Yea you know!   

I asked last time round, what they gonna do after Jungle, and they stormed back with Freedom.  Penned as a bit of a love letter to Derby, with the hope their music could bring some spirit back to a city they believe has fallen into the gloom, Freedom delivers!  

There's something in that opening, the bass, the drums, it's familiar, it's Marseille, but something's different.  The drums are heavier, the bass crisper, the sound is tighter, faster!  This is what you get out of gigging, this is a band gelling their sound and moving forward, this is a new Marseille, I'm sold on that.  

The guitars roar in with their signature riffs, rhythm notes cascading over the low end, but the action is quicker,  the timing is spot on.  If you haven't seen the band perform Freedom on Raw Sound TV this past week then you need to now.  There's a steeliness in their eyes, they're attaching the track on all levels, the vocal's ripping it up, and not looking back!

As November rolls in, the Selectors out there begin their track of the year lists, and without getting into the ring with that monster, there's no doubt that Marseille will be taking prominent spots topside of 2022.  Freedom is an unquestionable triumph for the "New Marseille," breaking with the past and setting course on the future! 

FIRE UP THE SUN - MIBBE THINK ABOOT E

 

MIBBE THINK ABOOT...THAT FOUR ON FLOOR....

Rollin' up to the back alley on the electro side of New Music Friday is the immeasurable Fire Up The Sun with their new track Mibbe Think Aboot E.  

Diggin' deep into their eclectic musical arsenal on this release, the duo that are Fire Up The Sun, pull out 120 beats per minute of deep, dark, dubby electro house, laced with their signature social driven freestyle.  

The classic lo-fi beat drops in, and is immediately layered up with phazer effects and elemental old school rave house keyboards to set the groove. Right off this is both a very danceable and mixable set ready track.  

That distinctive Fire Up The Sun freestyle vocal slides in over the beat, urban, dark, and gritty, mirroring the world we find ourselves in today. MC Burnoot, the vocal and lyrical half of the duo lays down a view I think we can all relate to around us; "your world is turned right upside down!"  This is a track who's vocal is very much connected to our place in time, as MC Burnoot reminds us we need; "mindfulness over pridefulness," and oh yea, "only fans is for folk who can't." 

Fire Up The Sun goes out of it's way to remind us that over the beat and a night out, we've all got the power inside us to take care of ourselves, and each other just a little bit better than we are today, weather that's on the dancefloor or socially.  "Get all social media into the bin, Stay out the sun look after your skin," Mibbe Think Aboot E.

 

Lewca - Incredible

 I'M AT A PARTY.....

The original Rockstar himself returns to drop the second single release off of the new album Friday Night Rockstar, due on December 16th - Incredible.  This time our man in France morphs the axman power cords into a deep space, electro, downtempo groove.  Crusin' in a Coop de Ville, Lewca takes us uptown, across 110th street, and brings us back....to the funkiness!    

The beats and cords Lewca's partner S.O.A.P. (aka. Son of a Pitch), Parisian high frequency beatmaker, mixer, and producer, lay down, are pure pure swagger! This is the track Bootsy Collins has on  while piloting the mothership to the outer rim of funk.  

Lewca's vocal comes over the groove; smoky, dangerous, even confessional as he tells you "high as fuck I just have to sing, can't contain the diva within."  Lewca lays down the rapid fire freestyle mid track, and lets you know he ain't given up the mic.  On the edge between reality and legend in my own mind, the vocal takes you on that perfect Saturday night trip out we're all secretly craving, but it's Lewca who's livin it!   

Collaborating with Lewca on Incredible are Ben Samama, James Willows, and Ambre, proving to all who doubt, Lewca is an electromagnet of musical velocity. If you need any more proof just listen to the b-girl chorus and the backing vocals the crew drop in to balance Lewca's husky bender style mic control.  It slides in, hooks you up, and holds on for the rush! 

Incredible musically is a razor and tape, trip-a-delic testament to Lewca's genius!  He's telling you straight up, God made me funky, and I'm glad he made me that way!  

Marseille - Jungle - Vega Rally Remix

 

DEEPER AND DEEPER AND DEEPER INTO THE JUNGLE

Every time I think I've escaped it pulls me back, over and over and over again!

Yea that's the Jungle, you know it, I know it, that groove, those congas, the funkiness, it's infectious, and we're all infected.  

What happens next, damn, Fifty days after release Marseille drops the remix and that's it, we're back.  Deeper, darker, groovier and covered in acid fingerprints, it's on, it's strobin in the big room, and when the bass hits, he who feels it, knows it!

It's just that killer, one hundred percent Madchester, Vega Rally steps in and straps on the remix.  Vega lays down a heavy, and I mean heavy, drumline entry, while the psychedelic  reverb strobes over the seemingly elongated vocals, winding itself like a snake onto your eardrums!  The mix breaks down on the middle eight, and then like a nitrus rush, he unleashes it all at you, and did I say "it's on"! Phazer action on the keyboard layers over the bass and the mix goes on full rave alert.  This isn't just a remix, it's a culmination of an acid trend that's been showing up all over the scene.

I wondered aloud what Marseille would come back with after the Jungle, questioning, how are they gonna follow this up? The Vega remix comes out of total left field, the perfect hook up that I didn't imagine.  But that's what Marseille are doing right now.  They're adding a fifth member, supporting Gazelle, opening up for Jesus Jones - what -  and seemingly every week going out and accomplishing something new that I didn't imagine.  

...NEVER FIND YOUR WAY BACK...