Tag Archives: folk

Reviews

Anthology II: Julian Taylor’s Second Collection is Just as Good as the First!

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This is an incredibly interesting release we have for you today. The second in Julian Taylor’s Anthology collection draws together tracks from his 30+ year career; from one-off new singles to collabs, re-recordings from old albums to even bringing back some stuff from his Staggered Crossing days. We’re big fans of him here at Overtone, but honestly outside of some of his bigger singles and his last release, I’m shockingly not too familiar with much more of his work. I haven’t even had the chance to check out any of his Crosses stuff, though I do think it’s very much up my street, apparently. So, with that being said, I thought this would be the perfect jumping off point for us. Though having plenty of older music, it isn’t strictly a greatest hits album, as there are still new songs on it. And hell, there was no way I wasn’t checking this out, so might as well do a feature on it!

A new song for the album, ‘Hunger’, starts everything out in perfectly chilled-out fashion. From the simple acoustic chords and the melody over the top to Julian’s effortless smooth vocals coming in over the top, it starts out beautiful and folky. Julian is such an incredible storyteller, and that is on full display right from the offset. The chorus is surprisingly catchy for how stripped-back the song is, the harmonies helping making it sound massive and even more beautiful. Lyrically it’s fantastic too, with Julian doing a great job bringing even more weight to Graeme Williamson’s already heavy lyrics. It’s a simple track, but the subtle layers to it make it still pretty grandiose. An amazing way to open the album, and an easy early highlight!

‘Don’t Let ‘Em (Get Inside of your Head)’ channels the same slower pace, but also has a slight bounce and almost attitude to it. And once again, the duel vocals/harmonies are a big high point of the track. Whether it’s the lower ones in the verse or the higher ones in the choruses, it’s all so good! Heck, it even ventures into rock territory a little with the chorus, it feeling almost Seal at times in the best ways! It has a real swaggering energy to it thanks to the infusion of blues into his sound. It’s another awesome track and one that easily makes our playlist!

The rock vibes keep running through 2025 single ‘Dedication’, definitely feeling like the most southern rock track so far. However, it still has plenty of Julian’s usual folk/Americana style through the verses. It’s a massive both pre and chorus, and I can already envision them being played to huge festival crowds over the summer! Plus, the all-female band be recorded this with honestly kick ass! So far Julian is three for three on awesome songs!

Songs like the Jim Cuddy-featuring ‘Tulsa Time’, Black Tape Levy track ‘Emily’, ‘Under Circumstances Like These’ and ‘Grow’ are all more up-tempo, rock-based tracks, and I love them all. Heck, the latter is a straight up rock song, giving off big Police or Lenny Kravitz vibes. Plus, the former is another massive highlight of the release, being so very catchy. All are amazing songs in their own right, though! In fact, all of the Staggered Crossing tracks on here are incredible, and I really hope that in revisiting them for this, we maybe get a return to this sort of sound in some capacity in his future work! Some of it is very Pearl Jam in the best possible ways. ‘A Million Works of Art’ is another late 90s pop-rock style highlight, while ‘Further Again’ is grunge greatness.

Then you have his more folky solo stuff earlier on like ‘Wide Awake’, ‘100 Proof’, ‘Stolen Lands’ and ‘Over the Moon’. Again, all are good songs, definite highlights of his more chilled-out solo career. They’re all beautiful, with the slightly more neo-traditional country based latter track being yet another highlight!

‘The Ridge’ was a track I felt like I wanted to talk about on its own. It’s the perfect blend of just about every other style on this release. It’s pretty up-tempo and blues-based, but also has elements of everything from country to rock to Americana. It feels fairly close to dark folk, almost Amigo the Devil-like. And plus, the lyrics for it are some of my favourite on the release. From them to the instrumentation to Julian’s delivery, it’s all great. Really good stuff, and another favourite new track I’ve discovered!

From ‘Ain’t Life Strange’ to ‘Weigh Down’, we have three songs that I am very familiar with, all being off the awesome 2024 release, Pathways. We reviewed that album when it dropped and loved it, so I don’t want to re-do a similar thing here. I will say that all three tracks are still great, standing the brief test of time well. The title track in particular is still a firm favourite of mine!

Overall: This is an absolutely fantastic collection of songs! Whether it’s his folky solo stuff or more alt-rock early 2000s output, it’s all amazing, and highlights just how incredible of a talent Julian is. At 21 songs in length, it surprisingly went by in a flash too, the changes of pace throughout being awesome; whoever put it together doing a great job. Whether you’re a fan of Julian’s work or not, I’d certainly recommend checking this out, it very much has something for everyone! It’s definitely made me a new fan of Staggered Crossing, I’ll be listening to them a lot more, but his solo work and collaborations are every bit as good. As a way to bridge the gap between his last couple of albums and what’s to come, it’s a really great release, and one I’ll certainly be coming back to again and again!

The Score: 8.5/10

Reviews

Angles’ Share: Does Nathan Evans & the SAINT PHNX Band’s Collaborative Effort Top Their Solo Efforts?

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The collaboration between the Scottish folk-pop icon and the Glaswegian alt-pop brothers has already proved rather fruitful before, with the massive 2024 single ‘Home’. Both have enjoyed huge success before and after that, but have since come together again not just for another single, but a whole album. Their styles mesh so well as seen by the singles released so far, and I cannot wait to hear if they keep that same vibe and quality up through a full-length release! Strap yourselves in guys and girls, this is gonna be a fun one!

The albums namesake opens things up; a simple acoustic guitar and catchy vocal line setting the pace perfectly. The rest of the instrumentation builds in amazingly, the bass drum and some slide guitar and subtle strings coming in more and more through the verse. It all then explodes fantastically into the chorus, the harmonies making it sound MASSIVE and somehow making it even more catchy than it already would have been! It gives off vibes of everything from Mumford & Sons to Dan Davidson to James Bay, that big Americana/folk-country sound that blew up a decade or so ago and has been going strong since. It’s a simple track but an absolutely phenomenal way to open the track and introduce people to the trio’s sound! Absolutely a highlight this early on!

‘Arabella’ leans even more into the band’s folk stylings, and the Scottish really shines through here immediately. The slower opening leads into a faster, infectiously catchy chorus, and the bouncy, up-tempo folk keeps up throughout. It’s a surprisingly short song at just 2:17, but packs such a punch regardless, and feels like the perfect length for the music crafted. It’s the perfect blend of old, traditional folk and a modern pop leaning, and it makes for such a fun listen. Another amazing song!

‘Milarrochy Bay’ has more of that pop-folk sound to it, almost giving off slight Ed Sheeran vibes. However, those perfect vocal harmonies in the choruses are inherently country, giving off big vibes of Parmalee or Restless Road. It’s a huge, arena-filling chorus, and one that’ll be stuck in my head for days to come. It’s another big highlight track, and one that easily makes it onto our playlist!

Things slow down a bit with ‘Happy Place’ rather needed to break down the album a little, keeping it interesting. It feels more like an anthem, more ballad-like, yet is still catchy and a lot of fun. The lyrics here are also incredible. It’s also the first track to hit the three minute mark so far, it definitely feeling like a great radio-hit. It’s just a damn good, well written song that feels impossible not to love given how many bases it hits. Another one off this release that is a must-check-out!

‘Islay’ keeps the slower pace, kinda giving me ‘Iris’ vibes, if it was more folk and more Scottish. It gives off a similar vibe to the previous song, but also reminds me a little bit of The Pogues, for some reason!

Tracks like ‘The Tide’, ‘Blood and Bone’ and ‘All Roads’ have a similar slower pace and vibe, even if the former does have the trios rather typical faster chorus. None are bad tracks at all, and are spread pretty perfectly through the album that it breaks up the pace well. However, if I didn’t lump at least a few together here somewhere, I’d repeat myself a bunch and look like a crazy-obsessed fangirl! So yeah, check these tracks out if you like some slower folk!

Of course they’ve done their own version of ‘Cotton Eye Joe’. And, of course, it kinda slaps! A slower, more folk take on the classic bluegrass track is a genius idea, and has also finally taught me the words! It fits the collaborations’ style perfectly, but also still carries the same energy as the original. It’s a song I love anyway, and this is a great take on it which is a lot of fun, and definitely worth a listen!

‘The Wedding’ has a great bounce to it, being a short but sweet track based around the (maybe slightly overused these days) Arabian Riff. Make no mistake though, this is still a great, fun song! Meanwhile ‘Drinking Song’ is so very traditional folk in the best possible ways. I love that sort of style with a modern product on it, it feeling massive alongside being written amazingly. It’s another big highlight, and another one that easily makes it onto our Spotify.

The closing track is another short, simple folky track, and draws the elements of the album together perfectly. It’s chilled-out, acoustic and light-hearted, and incredibly catchy thanks to those vocal harmonies. At barely two minutes, it’s rather indicative of the album as a whole, and all the instrumental build is so good. Definitely a pretty grandiose way to close things out!

Overall: This is a really awesome collaboration and release from start to finish! Every song is amazing in its own right, while it all flows together pretty perfectly, making for a really easy, chilled-out listen. And, as I’ve said already, the trio work so damn well together, to the point where if I didn’t know any better, I’d assume they’d always been a full band. If you are at a fan of either artist, or just a folk/Americana fan in general, this is well worth checking out. It’s not normally my sort of style, but I found myself loving it from start to finish, and will definitely be spinning it again in the weeks and months to come!

The Score: 8.5/10

Reviews

Human Herds: Are UUHAI the Next Big Mongolian Metal Band?

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The debut album from the Mongolian folk-rock-metal band has been rather highly anticipated, as they have been gaining a lot of momentum lately. The singles that have dropped prior have all been great, and I am so curious to hear if the rest of the album lives up to them. They’re already signed to a major label so clearly are doing something right, and I’m sure this release will show just how earned that shot is!

The opener perfectly builds everything up, starting ominous before adding in more strings, more drums, and their incredible throat singing as it goes. It sets the tone perfectly and epically, and leads so fantastically into the title track. Speaking of, ‘Human Herds’ goes hand in hand with ‘Beginning’ to make an excellent introduction to the album, and to the bands sound for anyone jumping on board with this debut album. The two different vocals, the low and high, work so well together. They somehow root the band in their throat-singing style while also giving it a melodic, catchy, almost power metal edge. Plus, the harmonies between them are awesome, too! And not only that, but we get a pretty metal bridge, with some amazing string soloing. It’s am amazing song from start to finish, and I love that it follows the traditional song format; being radio-friendly while also still having plenty of Mongolian folk stuff. An excellent start to the album and a track that easily makes the playlist!

‘Ancient Land’ picks up the pace and rockiness a little, definitely feeling closer to a traditional metal song. However, it still has plenty of their folk stuff infused too, particularly with the string focus and throat-singing vocals. It all builds to an awesome chorus, being surprisingly catchy still despite it being in a different language and a completely different vocal style than the West is used to! It’s a really interestingly crafted track, and it’s so cool to see both sounds collide so well! And still, it ends up getting pretty epic by the outro, feeling powerful and grandiose, finishing the song off perfectly. Another great track!

The bands namesake is up next, leaning back heavily into the folk to open it up. It builds perfectly, soon busting into a pretty metal riff just like the previous song. The vocals almost have a growl edge to them for the opening of the verse too, sounding awesome and only adding to the heaviness. The chorus is another catchy as anything one, and honestly reminds me of Gojira’s ‘The Chant’ from, well, the chanting! We even get some awesome, Metallica-style guitar soloing in the middle, adding even more epicness to it all. This is an absolutely phenomenal song, and another easy highlight!

Tracks like ‘Dracula’ and ‘Khar Khulz’ are more metal-infused, stomping rock tracks. The pace, the energy, the structure, all of it is a lot more metal leaning than the folk stuff. It’s awesome! Heck, ‘Uvdis’ also has a bit of a similar feel, though slower. Though, it’s so incredibly similar to ‘Sad But True’, especially The Hu’s cover of it, that I almost convinced myself it was another reimagining of the track at first. It’s very Metallica, and a great song, but was hard not to compare. All three break up the album well though, and are great songs in their own right. Heck, ‘Khar’ is another personal highlight of mine!

‘Khurai’ is an absolutely incredible, epic song all about the build-up. It almost feels like more of a soundtrack than something you’d hear on a metal-adjacent album, but I love it! It won’t be for everyone, but it fits into the album perfectly and sits between the two rockier tracks incredibly well, adding to the relistenability.

‘Paradise’ is a lighter hearted track that, while still having rock elements, definitely feels more folk. It’s another different, really interesting song, and another I couldn’t not love. It’s another MASSIVE highlight track for me, and gives off slight Volbeat vibes in all the best ways. It’s huge, catchy, and with plenty of great playing and vocals throughout! If you check out any track from this release, make sure it’s this one!

The album closes like the opener, ‘Secret History of the Mongols’ being the closest track to compare to The Hu on the release. It’s a great song in its own right, and is a pretty grandiose way to close out a pretty epic album. It fits well with the rest of the tracks, but honestly I did feel like it wasn’t anything we hadn’t heard already. It’s definitely not a bad song, but there are other tracks on here that certainly stood out to me more. It’s not quite an ‘album track’, but does seem like a slightly interesting choice for a single. I imagine it has helped draw more listeners though; even I’d checked out the track and video before this review! A fitting conclusion!

Overall: This is a great release, and a phenomenal debut album! It’s still a pretty new genre in of itself, and UUHAI have already established themselves at the forefront of it with this. It’s a damn fun listen, and an album I will certainly be revisiting in the weeks and months to come. If you are at all curious, I’d definitely recommend checking this out. They are certainly going to be a big name in the future, and this will be the album that is pointed to as the jumping off point to that!

The Score: 8/10

Reviews

Josiah Kaye, Wounded in Forest and Kakihara: EPs Galore!

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Though we are in the home stretch of the year, we still have some awesome EPs being released for us to dive into. Let’s check them out!

Wounded in Forest: Antihuman Artist

The debut EP from the Finnish death metallers is a 22-minute powerhouse of heaviness. The riffing is awesome, the drumming relentless, and the duel vocalled screams lend themselves perfectly to the sound! It’s a pretty traditional sound for the genre, but the varied screams and shrieks definitely add an interesting element, as well as the great production giving it a more modern feel. Tracks like karaoke the Son of a Bitch’ and ‘Godspeed Filthy Warrior’ are personal highlights, but there isn’t a weak link on this whole release, it going by in a flash! It’s certainly not a release for everyone, but it’s a must for anyone with even a passing interest in death metal. It’s a very easy 7.5/10 from us!

Josiah Kaye & The Bonnevilles: Winter

While we don’t typically talk about cover releases often, this is a fantastic collection of countrified tracks for, to state the obvious, the winter season, and is a really great listen! From the traditional ‘Silent Night’ to ‘Silver Bells’ to more modern stuff like a better version on 1975’s ‘Wintering’, it’s packed full of fantastic, fitting tracks. And somehow, a basic Americana-folk arrangement still somehow carries a festive feel to it throughout. It’s a simple, beautiful release that honestly I’d happily listen to not just for the festive season. If you’re into country-folk stuff, and aren’t a grinch, do yourselves a favour and check this out! His vocals are incredible and it’s insane that this is my first introduction to Josiah, I’ll have to keep a closer eye on him for his original stuff. 8/10, it would have gotten even higher if they were original tracks!

Kakihara: Love Songs, Pt. 2

The first release from the Scottish hardcore band in a couple of years honestly threw me through a loop a little. Firstly, where is part 1? Secondly, I didn’t expect hardcore heading into this, but I was blasted by crazy heaviness for a solid just eight minutes across its five tracks. Honestly, it’s fucking awesome! Any regular readers of this site this year will know just how much I’ve gotten into hardcore, and this is no different, capping off the year in aggressive, heavy style. The flow through the whole thing is exceptional; I barely knowing where one track ends and the other starts without looking. And from the crushing instrumentation to the brutal vocals, it’s all performed so well! I can’t pick highlight tracks, it’s all one big performance and all of it slaps. Do yourselves a favour and check this out ASAP, you won’t be disappointed! 9/10, DAMN.

Interviews & Features

Evan Bartels: ‘Music is like wine; if you have it and you like it then it’s good!’

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We had the absolute pleasure of chatting to the wonderful Evan Bartels the other week at The Long Road! Join us as we chat his UK shows, latest EP and plans for an upcoming album!

Check out our review of his set here.

How was your first set of the day?

Fantastic! It truly exceeded expectations. I thought it would be pretty good, but you never know when you’re at a festival with a bunch of other acts playing and you’re on at 12:30. But there was a couple of hundred people there, that tent was full! I thought ‘crap, this is crazy!’

Is it ever still nervewracking to go up there as a solo artist, especially at a festival like this?

That’s a great question! I would say sometimes. I’m never nervous in the sense of am I gonna mess up the song, it’s always more like, I hope people are receptive to this. But that’s another thing that you learn over the years when you’re building a set; it’s a lot like busking, doing a festival set as a solo artist where people don’t necessarily know you. When I was a kid I came up busking on street corners quite a bit. You’ve got to hit ‘em with some songs they won’t immediately walk away from. Then I find it’s just meeting people; you try to get to know the audience and let them get to know you and hope for the best! No one threw any rotten tomatoes, so that’s good!

Do you play with a band back home?

I do! I’ve had a band in the past that I’ve played with. Then when Covid hit and a lot of the touring opportunities dried up and a lot of the budgets froze it’s not been super practical sometimes to hire a band. That’s when I started touring more solo and focusing a lot on telling stories with the songs, try to make it a show that way. My goal is to be able to come back to the UK next year and have a band with me. We’re working towards it!

It would be fun to have a band. I’ve done it in the past and done full band records. It’s a different energy, there’s different tools you can use for the show.

You’ve been out here a fair bit this year already, right?

This is my third trip. I was here in March and did C2C, then came in May and did some shows with Charles Wesley Godwin. Now I’m back for the Long Road and doing a show at St Pancras Old Church in London.

We came into Long Road from Cologne, Germany, played a little festival there call Sound of Nashville. That was great because I met Nolan Taylor there, and Cameron Whitcomb, and he was great, we were all hanging out and drinking beers like ‘this is alright!’. Now the travel to get from Germany to the UK, I did not think that would be as harrowing as it was.

Did you fly out?

Yeah but we had to take a train from Cologne to Frankfurt, then flew, then a train from Heathrow to Paddington, then to Euston, then to Rugby. Like okay, that’s a long day!

Are there any comparisons you can make for here compared to back home?

I will say the one thing that’s mainly different is the way you do travel. In the US if someplace is 12 hours away, you’ll drive. I don’t know which one is easier. Here you might be on a train for six hours but at least you can sleep!

But the festivals, it’s funny how much the land here looks like where I grew up. It feels like we could be in Kansas right now! It’s beautiful!

You’ve got a busy rest of the year planned, right?

That’s the plan, yeah. I’ll be going out on the road in the States a few more times. Trying to sneak in another trip over here too. Doing a tonne of songwriting and starting to record the next album, There’s always something! Then on top of that you’ve gotta be a dad and a husband, mow the lawn and do the laundry! It’s an adventure, man.

You’ve had quite a busy year already, it seems! I saw you got played on Theo Von’s podcast which was cool!

Yeah, he gave me a shoutout for the new EP! That’s about as cool as it gets, honestly!

I also saw you were on tour with Brothers Osborne. Was the stage spinning?!

Yeah! I’ve done three or four shows with them so far this year and two of them, the stage was spinning. You were in the middle of the crowd and it slowly spins. They warned me about it, like ‘hey, just so you know, it spins, but it’s really slow’. And then you’re playing and it kinda messes you up a little bit! You’re looking out at the audience and you look down for a second and all of a sudden you’re looking at new people.

You touched on the EP before, and I remember being sold by the presser. Did you write it in a cabin, if I remember correctly?

So I wrote the songs in the tour van over the years. When we recorded it I built a little cabin behind my house and did it in there. I just did it as a passion project. I hadn’t put out music for a while so about a year ago I’d recorded some demos and my buddy Dave heard it (everyone calls him Squirrel). He was like ‘I’d love to help record this’. I didn’t know he was an engineer, we’d never really talked about work. Turns out he’d been like Rick Ruben’s house engineer for like 10 years. So he got these insane microphones and brought them out to the cabin and we recorded it all in there. We did a few takes of each of them and then picked the one that felt right. We recorded at night, I would just open a bottle of wine and play the song. There’s no metronome, no audio tuning, each track is the whole performance.

Once we got that, I had a few others friends; Paul DeFiglia, he played the organ and bass and double bass on it. Another great cat, Russ Paul, he’s a very renowned Nashville peddle steal player, so he did that. It’s funny, we recorded it in my backyard cabin, we did the bass at Paul’s backyard studio, the peddle steal we did at a buddies studio that was a backyard garage, and then we mixed everything in Squirrel’s studio which is a converted shed in his backyard! But I love the way it turned out!

What made you pick an EP over an album?

I knew it was going to be an album or an EP. I had 10 or 11 songs that I was considering for the project, and when I’d done demos of everything and listened back I didn’t want there to be any filler or anything that didn’t feel like it needed to be here. It was just a case of finding the songs that told the story that I wanted to tell. When we got done with that, where we landed was an EP. I’d rather put out a great EP than an okay album!

And you said you’re working on a longer release next, right?

Yes, we start recording next month! I’m hoping to land on between 10 and 15 songs because I currently have about 40. Whittle it all down and find the ones I love, not just like. That’s the goal!

Do you have a dream tour lineup?

Oasis. I wish I was on that tour!

You know who I’d love to do shows with? Jason Isbel. I’d love to watch him play every night on an acoustic tour. Or guys that are playing over here like The White Buffalo. James Bay too, I could listen to that guy sing the phone book every night and be happy! Those are a handful of them but if I start listing them we could be here all day and all night! You know who’s he sick actually, and I’d love to write some songs for her someday, is Adele. If she’s ever one of these pop artists that decides to make a country album, I hope she calls me!

It’s interesting you say James Bay as he’s had almost a mixed reaction to playing The Long Road.

I saw some of that! Crazy to me, good is good. I get where some people can be ‘well, he’s not country’, but by what metric? Compared to a lot of the bar-type bands, I’m not country. I think the thing that always shines through when you’re putting country or Americana or roots together is ‘is this authentic?’. When it comes down to it; if you don’t like James Bay you’re wrong! He’s got a great voice and great songs and I think it fits in in any country and any genre. And like, is Shaboozey everybody’s country? Or Morgan Wallen? Or cCharley Crockett? There’s so many different subsets and genres and opinions that I think a lot of people get lost on that. Music is like wine; if you have it and you like it then it’s good! The music part of country music is way more important than country. Everybody’s got a different opinion on these things.

Reviews

Second Wind: Does Alexandra Kay Top Her Debut?

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The sophomore release from fast-rising country star Alexandra Kay is released this upcoming Friday. Her name has been seemingly everywhere the last couple of years so my anticipation for the release is pretty high! I’m familiar with at least a couple of the singles and love what I’ve heard so far, so join me in checking out what the rest of the album has in store for us!

Starting with some beautiful, folky strings, Kay’s beautiful vocals soon come in over the top of a great acoustic chord progression for ‘Better Off’. It instantly gives off vibes of Carole King or Paula Cole in the best ways. It builds up perfectly into a powerful, bittersweet chorus, and one that will be stuck in my head for days to come! The whole song is beautifully bittersweet, and is a damn powerful opener to the album, setting the tone rather perfectly!

‘Nobody’ picks up the energy a bit, having more of an Americana feel to it than the folky previous song. The driving bass drum is excellent, and the layers throughout from all the different strings is honestly phenomenal song production. It once again builds to a massive chorus, one definitely designed to be played to huge festival crowds. I’m honestly shocked it hasn’t been a single already because it’s hugely catchy and would do amazingly on the radio. Hopefully it’s a post release one! It gives off more Janet Devlin or Caylee Hammack vibes this time, which I love just as much. It’s a simple arrangement and in and out in under three minutes, but is a fantastic song and an easy early highlight!

‘Straight for the Heart’ changes the pace yet again, this time feeling more like a straight up radio-country track. It’s got a bit of a rock edge to it too, the chorus being massive, the distorted guitars adding a lot to the sound. It’s easy to see why it was chosen as a single and is doing incredibly already on that front. It’s got a little bit of the good Taylor Swift era to it, or even Erin Kinsey. Heck, we even get some awesome guitar soloing tucked away behind some of the vocals, which adds and even greater layer to it. This is another phenomenal track, and the second that easily makes it onto our playlist, it’s that good!

The energy drops back down with ‘Right Now’. It’s a beautiful modern country ballad, the focus on the acoustic guitar, electronic beats and Kay’s utterly incredible vocals. It’s a similar story on tracks like ‘Old Me’. Both are fantastic tracks in their own right, and though I am not usually into the more electronic based drums, they fit both of these songs perfectly. And of course, lyrically and vocally, Kay once again knocks it out of the park.

Speaking of ballads, there are a few more throughout. From ‘Hell Right’ to ‘The Last’ to the closer, there are some excellent, acoustic-based country ballads on this album! All three are excellent tracks in their own right, and are only grouped together as they are pretty similar and I don’t want to repeat myself over and over here, gushing too hard over her! They’re all packed full of amazing lyrics, beautiful choruses and some great instrumentation. The strings and piano on the latter give it the perfect finale feel to it, while the former is another big highlight for me! Heck, ‘Measure of a Man’ is also pretty ballad-like, though it definitely also has more of a rock edge to it like ‘Straight for the Heart’ does. I’d definitely put it up there with that track in terms of quality, too!

Tracks like ‘Tomorrow Problems’ and ‘Feminine Energy’ are more like that mid 2000s pop-rock country style that it’s so hard not to love. Catchy, bouncy songs about having a good time is what country is all about out, and both of these do that to perfection. They’re both awesome songs and a style that Kay does so well, showing that she really is multi-talented in the country world! Both are big high points of the album too, with the latter even having another great guitar solo in it. I haven’t spoke enough about it yet, but her band have also killed it on this album, from start to finish!

The final two tracks from the album, ‘Big Boy Boots’ and lead single ‘Cupid’s a Cowgirl’, give off similar Americana-pop-rock energy that I honestly love. She manages to let loose a little with both tracks, her attitude coming out perfectly. Of course the single is an excellent track, but the former is just as good as it, and could very well be a big single in its own right. However, both songs are incredible and once again huge highlights on an album honestly packed full of them!

Overall: This is an incredible country album! We sadly missed her debut release when it dropped, but having gone back and revisited it since I do enjoy it. However, this is very much a step up from that, Kay really hitting her stride in a massive way with this album. There isn’t a bad song on the album and some of them are easily up there with some of the best country tracks of the year. It’s very easy to see why she’s become such a big name so fast, and is quickly establishing herself to be one of the biggest names in the genre in just a few years! I can’t recommend this enough to anyone even slightly into country music, check it out immediately!

The Score: 9/10

Reviews

Bound to Break: One of the Best Debuts in Country?

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One of the brightest shining lights in the UK country scene, First Time Flyers, released their debut album today! It’s no secret we here are big fans of the band, so this has been a highly anticipated release for us since it was first announced. Blending incredible harmonies with amazing songwriting, I am eager to check out the songs they have not yet released, as well as hear how it all comes together. Let’s dive right in!

Opening on a recent single, ‘Jump’ is an absolutely AWESOME track. Their folk-pop sound is on full display from the jump (get it?) with a great acoustic guitar riff and the beautiful vocal over the top. It builds perfectly into a massive chorus, the harmonies immediately being a huge highlight, and something the band do maybe better than anyone else in the scene right now. It’s a catchy as anything chorus, and made even more so with the subtle clapping keeping the beat throughout. It’s a simple arrangement that is performed to perfection by the quartet, and is a fanatic choice for an album opener!

Next up is the track that’s been stuck in my head almost solidly for the three weeks since it was released. ‘Primadonna’ is an absolutely BANGING song, and the band know exactly what they are doing with that chorus, repeating it plenty. The track is built around it, even though the verses are just as great and memorable. They build up perfectly instrumentally, all leading to that massive earworm. And heck, we even get an awesome little guitar solo tucked away in the middle of this, somehow making the track even more incredible. It has been a massive song for them already and for good reason, and it’s easily a huge highlight of the album.

Despite being the one of the first tracks the band released together back two and a half months ago now, I still think ‘Happier’ may be my favourite track by the band, at least so far! It’s just the perfect country-pop song; great vocal performances, a catchy as anything hook and some phenomenal harmonies, but also some great instrumentation and standard-yet-well-written vocals. If you haven’t yet checked this song out, despite me raving about it for a couple of years now, get on it immediately, you won’t be disappointed! How it’s not one of the biggest songs in the country world is beyond me, but I’m so glad the band are still highlighting it here and in their live sets. Of course, it’s another excellent track and massive high point!

Another recentish since, ‘Looking Back Now’, slows the pace down a little. The piano is a nice touch, giving it much more of a ballad. It’s still an excellent chorus too, matching the tone of the track perfectly. Everyone gets their chance to shine vocally here, all four of them getting a solo moment alongside their killer harmonies. If you like more of a slower song, this is very much for you, and the emotion is present perfectly throughout. Also, the bridge builds perfectly, giving the track almost an epic feel to it. The band don’t get enough credit for their writing and song-arrangements, and this is the perfect example of them down that amazingly!

The first new track on the album, ‘Already Out’ is yet another great song. It picks up the energy a little again, but feels a bit more red-dirt and Americana compared to what we’d had already. It reminds me a little of ‘Tipsy’ when it kicks into the chorus, but that certainly isn’t a complaint as they very much make the sound their own, still! It makes for a memorable, catchy chorus, too! It’s very much a party song, and fits pretty well after a more emotion-filled slower one. It’s again catchy as anything, and may be stuck in my head for days to come, right alongside ‘Primadonna’! It could be a massive song coming out of this release, for sure, and would go down a storm with a live crowd that know it!

‘Walk the Line’ is a country track through and through, the galloping pace of the riff is awesome, and the Cash references due to the song title were a great touch. And once again, it’s another incredible chorus, something the band really cannot do wrong at this point! The lyrics are great too, definitely primed to get the crowds line dancing in a live environment. The bridge is once again amazing, and that low harmony heading into the final chorus… *chefs kiss*. It should come as no shock, but it’s another fantastic track, and yet another big highlight that makes our playlist!

Tracks like ‘Before the Wind Changes’, the beautiful acoustic single ‘First Dance’ and ‘Almost’ are all more slower, ballad tracks. All three of them are excellent, don’t get me wrong, but with it being a longer release I don’t have peoples attention spans enough to talk about each song individually and repeat myself over and over! Heck, ‘First Dance’ in particular hits home in a massive way, given my own wedding is coming up next month. It’s a beautiful song that will definitely be played there, that’s for sure. But the other two tracks are just as amazing, and well worth checking out again if you like the slower stuff.

Meanwhile ‘Out of Your Mind’ brings back the country/folk pop vibe back from ‘Happier’, much like ‘Do You Remember?’, the ever-fantastic ‘Gold’ and the rocky closer. Again, all are excellent tracks, with ‘Gold’ in particular being another firm fan and personal favourite. They are different enough to keep the album constantly interesting and memorable, too! Especially when the band have just a great ability to switch ‘lead’ singers on a dime. All are excellent tracks, on an excellent album!

The last track for us on the album, the awesome single ‘Stay’ is another banger. It feels the most folky of the bunch, almost giving Mumford and Sons or Crowe Boys vibes. That chorus is catchy as anything but the whole song is incredible. It’s another song that was the perfect choice for a single, and the fact that it’s been out over five months now and I still can’t get enough is a real testament to how good it truly is! It’s another firm favourite live, and is yet another absolutely massive highlight of the album. Another definitely worth checking out if you haven’t already!

Overall: This is just as incredible as I expected it to be! There isn’t a bad track on here, every single one being amazing in their own right, and the whole album flows perfectly. In a year jam packed full of awesome releases in the genre already, this most certainly stands up there at the top alongside any others. It’s an album I’d recommend to any music fan in general, not just those into the genre, and it will certainly be high up on our albums of the year come December. Even with me hearing a fair bit of it before, it still gave me enough of everything I wanted from the band, and the new stuff is also fantastic!

The Score: 9.5/10

Interviews & Features

First Time Flyers: ‘The lows are lows and the highs are highs and actually that makes you who you are!’

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We chatted to our new pretty good friends in First Time Flyers at The Long Road festival where they made their return last weekend. Check out as we chat about the festival, their upcoming debut album and tour to support it!

Check out our last interview with the band here!

We last chatted a couple of years ago at The Long Road, how’s the last two years been?

Tim: So much has happened! But no, we’re still us, we’re still here. It’s lovely to be back, it’s lovely to have the weather. Same stage again. It’s like a really nice way to compare where we’ve got to. Everything around us is the same but it’ll be really good to go ‘yeah, we’ve improved’ or ‘people know our songs more’! It was literally like our sixth gig or something last time we were here. Now it’s like what, our 60th. I don’t know! I have no idea how many we’ve done now but… more! We’re buzzing to play and we’ve got a lovely long weekend here. We had to shoot off last time, it was a very manic weekend, so it’ll be nice to spend some time here and meet everyone.

You guys have got a busy weekend, right? Three sets?

Vicki: So we’ve got three sets here, then we’re off to another festival on Sunday!

I think after this weekend you may be the artist to do the most sets at Long Road. What does it feel like to almost be the house band?

Vicki: Amazing! I’ll take it, that’s a fun fact!

Poppy: We would love that! I don’t think there’s a year they could ask us to come and we’d turn it down. We love it here! Any stage, the vibe is always good at The Long Road.

Check out our review of the weekend here!

You guys are doing Front Porch [stage] too this time, right?

Tim: We’re doing Front Porch late tomorrow night with some beautiful minimal lighting. We’ll get some lighters and some phone lights out, I think it’s gonna look great!

And the new single dropped today, right?

Vicki: It did! Busy busy! ‘Primadonna’ is out now!

I checked it out in the car, loved it! Do you want to tell the story behind it?

Poppy: Well there’s only so much story we can tell! Essentially the song is about… everyone has a little version of them sometimes that might act like a primadonna. We wanted to shed some light on that and call everyone, even ourselves, out on that and just make it a really fun song that everyone can sing along to. It’s actually a song we never intended to really release. We offered it to someone else. To our good fortune they turned it down. We decided to play it in our very first headline tour and we got to the first chorus and people were singing along! We all look at each other like ‘what’s happening?’. They’ve been asking us to release it ever since, so we figured Long Road weekend, let’s get it out! It’s a fan favourite and it’s become one of our favourites too.

And it’s next month for the album, right?

Poppy: Less than a month!

Jake: I keep getting it mixed up with the start of tour!

Tim: Yeah, everything’s coming at the same time! So Bound to Break – the album – is out on the 12th of September. Then the tour of the same name kicks off on the 17th. So it’s all going off next month!

Is the Manchester show kind of an album launch show, then?

Tim: I guess it probably is, yeah. But this will long continue on after the tour we hope. Lots of events and stuff, anything we can do to play the album to people, get peoples ears on it. As I said, busy times!

What drove the decision to release an album at this stage? Did it just feel right, was it a case of having enough songs?

Jake: Yeah, I think it just got to the point where we felt we were ready and needed to release a larger body of work. And it is quite a large body of work! 15 tracks, I think.

Vicki: A big old album!

Tim: And even that was a struggle, to narrow it down!

Jake: We write together so much, there’s a lot that may not see the light of day. But eventually we got there and were really really proud of it. I love it!

Are a few of the other singles on it, I assume?

Vicki: There’s a couple, yeah.

Jake: About a 50/50 split! got some old stuff and then some new stuff that we haven’t even played live, let alone recorded!

Is there any stories or specific theme surrounding the album?

Poppy: Yeah, the story’s in the title, Bound to Break. It very much leans into the idea that you have moments in your life that are either breakthroughs or break you down. I think it’s that choice and actually going with the current sometimes. It might be a really rubbish time sometimes but you can eventually break out of that cycle and make it something else. All of our lowest and best moments that we wrote about in this have all, in hindsight, become some of the most amazing times in our lives. I think that’s something we can celebrate; the lows are lows and the highs are highs and actually that makes you who you are.

Vicki: What I love about it is it’s both ends of the spectrum. There are the lows and there are the highs in it, and you can’t have one without the other. You don’t know how good it is until you’ve experienced the lows and vice versa. I think it’s that shows absolutely every aspect of that which is really cool!

I think Nottingham’s our closest. Is it Bodega you’re doing?

All: Yeah!

Tim: Played there last time and wanted to go back, it was a great show.

Vicki: It was a vibe!

It’s a really good venue as well!

Jake: Not a great load-in, but it makes up for it!

Vicki: You get your steps in!

I was chatting to Pip Marsh a couple of weeks ago and he dropped a few of hits about touring with some great people!

Tim: I bet he was dropping swear words as well, wasn’t he?

Lots, yeah!

Poppy: Can we swear now?

Of course!

Poppy: We fucking love Pip!

I was typing it up and cut out every other swear word!

Poppy: We’re lucky with the openers we’ve got this year, him and Outpost Drive. We’re so spoiled!

What can we expect from the sets this weekend?

Vicki: Lots of fun!

Poppy: Lots of different… like yes we’re doing the Interstate twice, but one is the Interstate and one is the afterparty, so there might be a slight change of energy!

Jake: Depends if we’ve had a nap or not!

Poppy: We wanna try and catch a bit of Drake Milligans set so we’re gonna be on a high after that. Then tomorrow night, the Front Porch is such a beautiful setting. It’s one we’ve always wanted to play and we’re so lucky to get to do it this year. That one will be different too so you can expect stuff you’ve heard before, stuff you haven’t. However, if you wanna hear stuff off the album, you’ll have to the tour!

Reviews

Endless Horizon: Florence Sommerville Knocks it Out of the Park with her Debut!

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The amazing Florence Sommerville is set to release her debut album this coming Friday. The UK country star has been making waves with her singles, so anticipation is at an all time high already. Without further ado, let’s dive right in and check this out!

The album starts in perfectly chilled-out fashion with ‘(I’ll Be Your) Best Broken Heart’. It gives off a more relaxed, Americana/folk side of country music akin to the likes of Julian Taylor or Lanie Gardner or Taylor Rae. However, it also builds up perfectly into a bigger, catchy chorus just begging to be played to huge festival crowds. The harmonies are incredible and I feel like it’s going to be stuck in my head for days to come. We also get some amazing duelling guitar soloing coming out of the choruses, something that I wasn’t expecting but massively appreciate, showing off the talented blues playing of the band. It honestly gives me Santana vibes in the best ways. It’s a really great way to open the album and set the pace, and is a very easy highlight!

‘Fearless’, though not a Tay Tay cover, is somehow even more country, amazing for a Brit. The strings add a lot to it, but her vocals are also awesome, reminding me a lot of people like Paula Cole and Brandi Carlisle, but also simultaneously Alanis Morissette. Speaking of the former, it’s very much in that vein of early 2000s chilled country that I always seem to associate with shows like Gilmore Girls and Dawsons Creek. It’s a less massive chorus, keeping the more Americana/bluegrass feel, but is no less awesome and catchy. It’s a simple but amazing song written and performed beautifully.

Nearly our song, ‘Overton’, is another slower, chilled-out and stripped-back country banger. It shares a lot of similarities with the previous track but that’s far from an issue, as they’re both so good! I love that it slowly builds throughout too, more and more awesome elements coming in each new parts, and so much amazing soloing. This time I got more Knopfler vibes. It’s honestly a beautiful song, and one that I enjoyed a hell of a lot. Florence’s vocals are insanely impressive!

Single ‘Broken Pieces’ picks up the pace a little again, adding a bit of swing and swagger and attitude to the proceedings. It feels like something that should be played at a smoky jazz club, and doesn’t feel like a far-cry from the likes of Amy Winehouse or Lady Rose. It’s another infectiously catchy chorus too, the rest of the track building to it perfectly. It was a damn good choice for a single! It’s yet another massive album highlight, that’s for sure!

Following one single with another, ‘California’ slows things back down to an almost ballad-pace. It fits in perfectly with the rest of the album, especially ‘Fearless’ and ‘Overton’. However, it does still build into a slightly bigger chorus, and makes for a great relaxed single. And it’s once again catchy as another, and a track that I actually really want to see live, as it gave me enough goosebumps on track! Florence is knocking it out of the park with this release, so far!

The likes of ‘Out Where the Love Grows’, ‘Silly Little Things’ and ‘Forget the Water’ are all pretty similar slower, chilled-out vibes. They are all slightly different, like the latter just being Florence with a guitar and her powerful vocals, but all have a similar feel and emotional impact to them. The same could honestly be said for ‘Molasses’ and ‘Cut and Run’. They’re both two more incredible songs, with the latter honestly being one of my favourite tracks on the album; its chorus and the harmonies are INCREDIBLE… *chefs kiss*. But all share pretty similar DNA, and I don’t want to keep repeating myself and gushing over it like a fangirl, it doesn’t make for very good reading! Still, you should check out all of these tracks immediately!

‘Love Me Then’ and ‘Boots in the rain’ take a bit more of the country route. They’re still chilled tracks, but definitely have more of a traditional country feel, kinda like Brandi again. The latter again is amazing, almost giving Dolly vibes with the old-school country nature of the song. Two more awesome original tracks to round things out perfectly!

On top of all of these already awesome tracks, we get a whopping four amazing bonus acoustic songs. From the beautiful, powerful ‘Whiskey in the Morning’ to the interesting, amazing Guns n’ Roses cover to the two great tracks tucked between them, they’re more excellent additions. They fit rather seamlessly into the rest of the album, too. Incredible given they are another change of pace. It really highlights how amazing Florence’s vocals are; her range being insanely impressive and the perfect mix of soft and powerful. I would highly recommend getting or checking out this version, as these tracks are more than worth it!

Overall: This is an incredible debut album! It’s an amazing release anyway, but for a first full-length release from Florence, it is something truly special. It’s chilled-out throughout, but so powerful and beautiful in equal measure, and every song is as good as the last! She’s entering a scene at its biggest in the UK currently, and will surely leave a big mark with this release. I can see huge things in her near future and already can’t wait to hear where she goes from here. However, for now, I cannot recommend this album enough to anyone even slightly into country, folk or Americana!

The Score: 9/10

Reviews

Refiner, Domhain/Ephemeral and Noah Thompson: EPs Galore!

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Another handful of awesome EPs for us to check out that released today, from metal to folk to country! Let’s check them out!

Refiner: Mistake

The second EP from the Canadian Metalcore multi-instrumentalist Christopher Adam is arriving with even more hype around it than his debut in February. It’s easy to see why too, as it’s another great release. Again, it’s sadly another short one, with only two tracks, instrumentals of both also being added to the Bandcamp version. But yeah, both ‘upside uʍop’ and ‘Mistake’ are fantastic, heavy modern metal tracks! Christopher has once again shown that he is an absolute boss when it comes to performing, playing and writing. It also pairs up pretty perfectly with Return to Dust, being a fantastic follow-up. I know back then there was rumours of a full album, and I so hope that’s true as I immediately need more of this yet again! If you’re into the heavy stuff at all, give this a spin, you’ll love it! 8.5/10, would have been higher if we got more!

Domhain & Ephemeral: Of Pine and Oak

The split EP featuring the Irish atmospheric band and the dark folk German’s is certainly an interesting release! It’s only two tracks, but both are long and the atmosphere created throughout them is incredible. It’s certainly not going to be for everyone, but if you’re into an epic, folk sound, I cannot recommend this enough! Both bands’ sounds fit so well together, the tracks blending seamlessly. My only point would have been I’d love to hear the pair actually collab on both tracks, instead of them releasing two separate tracks on the same release. It’s still awesome to see, but I’d be massively interested to hear what they’d come up with together! However, as I said, both songs are pretty great, and I really enjoyed the EP as a whole! It’s not something I’d revisit often, but I’m certainly now a fan of both bands and definitely want to hear more! 7.5/10

Noah Thompson: Kids Like Me

The sophomore EP of the rising neo-traditional country star is a fantastic collection of songs. Whether it’s the awesome (yet interestingly titled) opener, the emotion-fuelled ‘Demons in my Whiskey’ or the epic closer, or the tracks between, it’s all fantastic! It’s 20-minutes of modern, ballad-country greatness. It is all a similar style and energy, but when it’s only five tracks it’s hardly anything to complain about. I’m shocked he isn’t a bigger name already, given his incredibly popular and accessible sound, but then again he’s hardly been going long at all! He certainly has a new fan in me and I immediately want more; hopefully an album next time round so I can hear a bit more variety. A must for any modern country fans, and an easy 8/10 from us!