This weeks Tracks of the Week comes from the South Coast of England on the Purbeck Peninsula, so please forgive the half arsed intro, I’ve got a hangover. There’s also only six tracks because I was going to add one but I’m just having too much fun on my holibobs. Sorry, not sorry. See you next week.
Frazey Ford – The Happy Song (Dum-Dum)
Why we love it: because you must be pretty brave to take on an Otis Redding song. And then even better to make it work. But this is what Frazey Ford does with ‘The Happy Song (Dum-Dum).’ The Canadian singer-songwriter grabs the late, great soul legend’s 1968 hit and puts her own individual stamp on the song with her beautifully expressive voice.
‘The Happy Song (Dum-Dum)’ is one of three previously unreleased cover songs that will appear on the deluxe version of Frazey Ford’s acclaimed 2014 album, Indian Ocean which is due out on September 19th. These covers were recorded during the original Memphis sessions but have remained in the vault until now.
Indian Ocean was recorded with Al Green‘s legendary Hi Rhythm Section in Memphis, Tennessee. (Simon Godley)
Sabrina Kennedy – Witch of the West
Why we love it: Strange things are in the house within this latest vinyl only single release ‘Witch Of The West’ by singer-songwriter Sabrina Kennedy. All its ingredients are omnipresent for a songwriting mystic feast complete with a sense of far-flung locale ranging from Boston – her birthplace – to Notting Hill – where she is based.
Throughout her childhood, she made many visits to nearby Salem, which introduced her to an array of alternative belief systems, as well as being “a place with a very peculiar energy” that she picked up on from an early age.There is a primal sense of early punk coming full circle with a titular theme reminiscent of 60s garage bands complimenting the full-on spacey production values of Killing Joke’s bassist Youth.
It’s propelled by a Chrissie Hynde-style sneer, with little time for solos and contemplation. Part of its attraction is that it needs to be played multiple times to savour its essence. A defiant assault on the senses. On the B-Side is an acoustic version of her 2019 debut single Hold Tight – a haunting song about dealing with the aftermath of her father’s death now delivered in a captivating acoustic performance. (Humphrey Fordham)
David Byrne – She Explains Things to Me
Why we love it: because David Byrne keeps on making sense. On his latest single, ‘She Explains Things to Me’ he has been inspired, in part, by the American writer and activist Rebecca Solnit’s book Men Explain Things to Me and reflects upon the way in which men can often dismiss women’s ideas and points of view.
“Many times I have marvelled at how a friend (usually a female friend) seems to clock what is going on in a film between characters way before I do,” says David Byrne. “Sometimes I understand poetry, but sometimes I need help. Though inspired by the Solnit book ‘men explain things to me’ there is a huge difference- mansplaining is usually unasked for, in this case I am the one asking.”
‘She Explains Things to Me’ is taken from David Byrne’s first album in seven years, Who is the Sky? And the song shows he still remains in the vanguard of innovation, seeing and hearing things that others seem unable to do. (Simon Godley)
Jeanines – Coaxed A Storm
Why we love it: Jeanines, the duo of Alicia Jeanine and Jed Smith have been together over a decade now, smartly weaving together the influences of 60s folk, sunshine pop and indie pop classics. New single ‘Coaxed A Storm’ is another mighty fine example from their forthcoming new album How Long Can it Last out on Slumberland and Skep Wax. With bouncy basslines, gleaming Rickenbacker riffs and drum rolls, hoisting Alicia’s sighing melodies that artfully and wistfully sketch out taking control of your destiny, whatever happens, close your eyes and jump in, and in the process carving out a gorgeously knowing indie- pop gem.
How Long Can It Last finds Jeanines grappling with serious themes of personal and professional upheaval, adding weight to their finest set of songs yet. With lyrics that look deeply at time and its reverberations, connections and ruptures. While the themes might be heavy, the melodies and harmonies are simply heavenly, elevating these economical songs and giving each the feeling of a lost classic. (Bill Cummings)
Chwaer Fawr – Byw yn ôl y Sôn
Why we love it: Chwaer Fawr is the solo project of ‘Mari Morgan’, known for her time with Rogue Jones, Bitw and Saron. Her debut album, oxymoronically titled Diwedd (‘end’), came out recently
The lead single ‘Byw yn ôl y Sôn’ bounces along with bounding analogue synth prods and a perky yet reflective vocal. it’s catchy but also contemplates the future. Underpinned by an insistent drum machine beat, it’s an intricate and nostalgic dance that is beguiling as much as it is a playful and impish earworm. Imagine the playfulness of Tune-yards colliding with early Gwenno, and add its twist, and maybe you can begin to conjure up this slice of idiosyncratic pop that follows in the tradition of offkilter Cymru sounds.
Sung entirely in Welsh, Diwedd explores the tension between innocence and responsibility, between personal vulnerability and quiet resistance. It hints at the duality between the wonder of new motherhood and the anxiety of the modern world, threading in themes of peace, hope, and the urge to rise above it all. Birds and flight are recurring images throughout as symbols of freedom, fragility, and defiance. The album doesn’t seek resolution, but offers space to sit with discomfort, wonder and change. (Bill Cummings)
La Valentina – ASHO
Why we love it: La Valentina is a Colombian singer, songwriter, and rapper based in Paris. Immersive, genre-blurring and moving ASHO, is an invigorating new single that serves as an emotional closure and the beginning of a new chapter. It follows CRIMEN Y CASTIGO Vol. 1, the EP that introduced her alter ego RODION.
Written by La Valentina and produced by Tonio 8cho, ASHO is evocative and intimate with vivid lines about heartbreak and learning to be on your own that ripple like stones across the water. Shifting seamlessly from atmospheric, peddling with pitta patta beats and swathes of synths, through Latin rhythms and elements of r&b and hip hop, it’s a genre blurring and intoxicating reflection on “nostalgia, confusion, and the will to let go. “Acho”, in Portuguese, becomes asho, a sound that expresses exhaustion, but also clarity. Sometimes, growing means learning to be alone.”
The video, filmed in Colombia, documents her return to her roots: a visual closing of cycles and parting from what no longer belongs to her. (Bill Cummings)
Tiberius – Sag
Why we love it: Remember that time you first heard your favourite band? Remember the prickles on your neck and the rising chills and waves of euphoria that seemed to crash against each other? Remember playing that one song over and over, pausing it to catch the lyrics so you could sing along? Tiberius is your new favourite band. ‘Sag’ is that song.
‘Sag’ breezes in on a rickety banjo shuffle, then blooms into a fuzzy, hook-stuffed chorus that feels both porch-lit and city-bright. Songwriter Brendan Wright sings of measuring dreams against friends who chase bigger stages, their quiver of self-doubt trembling beneath an easy smile. The whole thing crackles with the ramshackle charm Tiberius call “farm-emo” – indie-punk grit, alt-country twang, psychedelic haze. It’s the first taste of Troubadour, the Boston group’s Audio Antihero debut out later this year, and it already sounds like home. (Trev Elkin)
