The Declining Winter, the project of of Richard Vincent Adams, former member of Hood, is back, just one year after the mighty Really Early ,Really Late -his first proper album since 2018- with a new single and the announcement of a new album. Today is out, on all streaming platforms, Mother’s Son, a reworked version of a song whose demo was out in July 2022, following the sad news of Richard’s mother Jean passing away in April that year. The (sad) song is the first taste of the new album, Last April, (previously described as an EP of very very sad songs in collaboration with Sarah Kemp aka Brave Timbers) which will be out on Second Language Music November 1st 2024.
Daniel McGee aka Zenxith is a 22 year old indie pop songwriter/musician from North East England. The prolific independent D.I.Y. lofi indie pop artist (in the last two years he recorded five album, a couple of compilations and various singles) makes gentle lofi indie pop with jangle melodies & very direct lead lines to accompany the multi tracked exasperated vocals, covered in tambourines. No band, no studio, all solo & done in the bedroom & recorded on a phone, Zenxith also uses a drum machine for all his songs. Despite the young age of its composer, McGee’s music seems to arrive directly from the golden age of indie music, the period from 1982 and 1987, the five years that changed indie guitar music forever. His latest album, From The Corners Of My Cold Room was out on September 13rd and it’s self released. Check also the great double album reissue I Was Named After Daniel Treacy / Bonny’s Garden Party, which was out on Subjangle in February.
Even if we are destined to wait until next February to listen to the new album, The Smile You Send Out Returns To You -which, ideed, will be releases 28th February 2025 on Last Night From Glasgow- from our beloved Constant Follower, we are nevertheless blessed with the release of a new single. After the wonderful Whole Be, out in August and produced by Dan Duszynski of Loma, Constant Follower release All Is Well -again produced by Duszynski- a song that’s heavy and uplifting at the same time, as it usually happens with great songwriting. This new song is dedicated to McAll’s young friend Jake, who was killed while in the care of the NHS Forth Valley Psychiatric services. There is also an astonishing video for All Is Well, filmed and directed by Edinburgh-based videographer & photographer Kris Boyle. Constant Follower (the project of Stirling acoustic guitarist singer and noisemaker Stephen McAll with guitarist Andrew Kurd Pankhurst) debut album Neither Is, Nor Ever Was was critically lauded, earning recognition from the SAY Award, while 2023 release Even Days Dissolve was a remarkable union with primitive guitarist Scott William Urquhart. A double A-side single, Turn Around For Me / See You Soon followed earlier this year.
“The fire is out, and spent the warmth thereof, (This is the end of every song man sings!) The golden wine is drunk, the dregs remain, Bitter as wormwood and as salt as pain; And health and hope have gone the way of love Into the drear oblivion of lost things. Ghosts go along with us until the end; This was a mistress, this, perhaps, a friend. With pale, indifferent eyes, we sit and wait For the dropped curtain and the closing gate: This is the end of all the songs man sings.“ (Ernest Christopher Dowson – Dregs)
Chi li ha sempre seguiti lo sapeva già da qualche giorno, ma adesso è ufficiale: dopo sedici anni (forse potremmo dire “dopo ventiquattro anni”, a essere buoni, visto che i due lavori della band usciti negli anni 2000, dopo che Bloodflower aveva inaugurato il nuovo millennio, sarebbe meglio dimenticarli) The Cure -o i Cure, come abbiamo sempre detto in questa periferia dell’impero- tornano con un nuovo album: Songs Of A Lost World uscirà in tutto il mondo il prossimo 1° novembre (il giorno dei morti… sarà un caso?). Ora sappiamo che l’album conterrà otto lunghi brani (e già ci chiediamo se ci sarà spazio anche per la solita canzoncina che, negli anni ottanta, al primo ascolto ci faceva gridare allo scandalo per la sua banalità e per il suo essere “troppo commerciale” e che poi abbiamo finito per cantare -magari con le lacrime agli occhi- per qualche decennio) e che ne esiste una versione doppia con gli stessi brani (?) strumentali e una versione BLU RAY (una versione Blu Ray? Siamo ancora negli anni dieci?). Alcuni dei brani sono già stati eseguiti dal vivo durante il tour Shows of a Lost World, che lo scorso anno ha girato il mondo e coinvolto più di un milione di persone. Possiamo anche, finalmente, ascoltare (nella sua versione definitiva in studio) il primo brano dell’album (la cui playlist definitiva è, al momento, ancora segreta): si tratta di Alone, già suonato per aprire ogni concerto di quel tour. Tutte queste notizie, probabilmente, le avrete già lette altrove, magari con maggior dovizia di particolari. E, quindi, perché riproporle qui?
Indie Sunset in Rome 