The Blue Sunflower Show
‘Green Light’ is from Sneakpeek’s new album ‘Scene Within a Dream’.
Los Angeles duo Sneakpeek have released their long-awaited psychedelic, synth-pop album, ‘Scene Within A Dream’ It features their latest single ‘Green Light’.
Sneakpeek is the brainchild of Southern California natives Dora Hiller and Aric Bohn who first started making music together over a decade ago. It wasn’t long before they forged a bond over their love of creating mesmeric soundscapes that brim with vibrant dream pop and are haunted by murky grunge rock phantasms. The duo released their self-titled debut album in 2013 on Burger Records. While that record combined elements of dream pop with grungy, garage-rock sludge, ‘Scene Within a Dream’ finds Hiller and Bohn heading in new directions. Surrounded by walls of synthesizers and vintage drum machines in their Glassell Park studio, Dora and Aric leaned into their psychedelic abandonments, pushing their mostly analogue gear to its limits.
Discussing the inspiration for ‘Green Light’, Sneakpeek’s Dora Hiller noted, “I was reflecting on an alien experience I had where I was camping in the middle of nowhere with some friends years ago, where we all saw a bright, green, shining orb. It circled all around us and then flew away insanely fast through the darkness.”
You can follow Sneakpeek on SoundCloud, Spotify and Insta.
The Kites have recently released ‘Drunk in Japan’.
The Kites are very pleased to unveil details of their new single, ‘Drunk in Japan’. It is available now and is from the band’s self-released, second EP due later this year. The track is a compelling introduction to this young British guitar band.
Hailing from Yorkshire Wharfedale towns of Otley and Ilkley, brothers Joe and Ollie met fellow band member Jake at school. Following a chance meeting with bassist Elodie at a song-writing workshop the line-up was complete. Now all studying in Leeds, The Kites punchy indie pop guitars and hook laden generational lyrics create a sound that is as ambitious and sky high as the band’s name suggests.
The Kites have a ffm.to page, with links to their social media and down-load sites.
Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes have shared ‘Man of the Hour’.
Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes have announced their new album ‘Dark Rainbow’ for release on 26th January 2024. The band are also sharing the album’s lead single ‘Man of the Hour’. The new single makes it clear that we are entering into a whole new era for The Rattlesnakes. Self-evaluation and reflection are very much on the agenda throughout ‘Dark Rainbow’, and they pave the way for a sound that puts southern gothic balladry and crooning alt-rock to the front. A sonic evolution and emotional complexity powers this soul-searching expedition that reaches into the very heart of identity and pulls from it the wisdom that can only come from lived experience. The lyrics to ‘Man of the Hour’ question the idea of rock stardom and where it fits in 2023, recognising a character that we all could, to our own detriment, be or aspire to.
Singer Frank Carter elaborates, “We talk about how rock and roll will never dies, but we never really talk about how maybe the idea of the rock star should die. The whole concept and what it means has always been this glamorised moment, but ultimately when I put that suit on, it didn’t go very well for me.
I’m just witnessing the world change so quickly around me and I’m still trying to come to terms with who I am and what the authentic version of me is. By giving people what I thought they wanted I think I got further and further away from who I actually am.”
In the wake of the release of ‘Dark Rainbow’, in January, the band will also be embarking on their biggest tour to date as they announce details of headline shows through the UK, Europe, Australia and USA for 2024.
Live Dates:
06 February – The Great Hall, Cardiff, UK
07 February – O2 Academy, Bristol, UK
09 February – Academy, Manchester, UK
10 February – Northumbria Uni Student’s Union, Newcastle, UK
11 February – Barrowlands, Glasgow, UK
13 February – O2 Academy, Leeds, UK
14 February – Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton, UK
15 February – Roundhouse, London, UK
22 February – Astra, Berlin, DE
23 February – Live Music Hall, Cologne, DE
24 February – Le Bataclan, Paris, FR
26 February – AB Main Hall, Brussels, BE
27 February – 013 Poppodium, Tilburg, Netherlands, NL
16 April- Magnet House, Perth, AUS
18 April- The Gov, Adelaide, AUS
19 April- 170 Russell, Melbourne, AUS
20 April- Barwon Club, Geelong, AUS
23 April- Triffid, Brisbane, AUS
24 April- Crowbar, Sydney, AUS
25 April- Crowbar, Sydney, AUS
13 May – The End, Nashville TN, USA
14 May – Subterranean, Chicago IL, USA
17 May – Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto ON, CA
Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes have a website at andtherattlesnakes.com.
Guy Horne released ‘Broken Before’ on 27th September.
Following on from previous singles ‘Morning Light’ and ‘Waiting on You’, UK singer-songwriter Guy Horne wears his heart on his sleeve for infectious new single ‘Broken Before’. It’s a slice of pure pop that tells a story of vulnerability & moving on in a relationship.
Produced by 2023 Grammy winner Oli Jacobs & Ed Graves, ‘Broken Before’ takes influence from Jack Johnson and James Arthur in writing style. While the colourful acoustic led arrangement compliments Guy’s passionate vocal delivery. Lyrically the song is about the desire to reunite with an ex-partner but acknowledging you’ve been hurt before. Feelings of vulnerability around any potential pain should things go wrong again, are expressed succinctly in the chorus, “how am I gonna fix what’s shattered, who’s gonna catch my fall, all my heart’s been broken, broken before”.
Guy feels the release encapsulates both the ideas of vulnerability and trust, saying “The way we perceive the world is a direct result of our experiences. I want to bring forward the idea that it’s hard to move on when previous experiences have plagued our past. However, we have to learn to release control & surrender to the natural abundant flow of love that can potentially heal us.”
You can follow Guy Horne on Spotify, YouTube, TikTok and Insta.
Also on 27th September, Patti Dixon released ‘This is Now’.
We’ve previously heard ‘Watch Your Good Thing Go’ (Week 93, April 2023) and ‘I Will’ (Week 111, August 2023). Now she’s released ‘This is Now’ which will feature on her upcoming album, ‘Big, Big Love’ which will drop on December 1st.
Patti was born deep in the Texas hill country in Rocksprings, Texas. Generations of her family grew up there in this ranching community. When she was ten, her grandfather, the singing cowboy, Nolan T. Guthrie, bought her her first guitar. He pulled it right off the shelf and put it in her hands, a child’s life changed forever. She and her immediate family soon moved to the Texas Coast. Patti loves traveling to all ends of Texas and beyond, seeing old friends and making new ones as she spreads her message of One Life to live and love.
About the song, Patti says, “The chord progression I was working with really helped bring the words to me. I was in a drop D tuning, and it seems I always find something to write about in that tuning. I’m very sound responsive and what I hear on my guitar will tap into how that sound feels to me. When the opening line came out quickly, I really felt the emotion of the words and that fuelled the tone of the song to the very end. It became very anthem like, evoking the rise of the melody of the chorus. I drew from experiences of my own as well as close friends.”
Patti has a website, pattidixonmusic.com, and is on Facebook, Insta, Twitter, Spotify, Apple and Amazon.
Anamoe Drive released ‘Goodbye & Goodluck’ on 28th September.
Emerging Dublin indie folk artist Anamoe Drive (aka Oisín Leahy Furlong) released his début single, ‘Goodbye & Goodluck’ on September 28th via Faction Records. This song marks the inception of Anamoe Drive’s musical journey, offering a glimpse into their unique musical direction.
Initially conceived as a humble lo-fi recording project featuring acoustic guitar and vocals, ‘Goodbye & Goodluck’ eventually blossomed into a sonic blueprint that would go on to define the sound of the incoming début album. The lyrics of the track delve into the poignant theme of relationship dissolution. Anamoe Drive skilfully captures the complexities of the soft end of a profound friendship, shedding the weight of contempt along the way.
You can follow Anamoe Drive on Twitter, Facebook and Insta.
‘A Barely Lit Path’ is from Oneohtrix Point Never new album ‘Again’.
Oneohtrix Point Never, AKA Daniel Lopatin, has announced his new album ‘Again’. It was released on September 29 via Warp. In Daniel’s own words the album is in part “a speculative autobiography“. It’s also a transmission, a spellbound backwash of digital languages and sonic paranoias, what’s remembered and what’s forgotten. And it’s all presented in OPN’s trademark melodic touch.
Much like 2015’s ‘Garden of Delete’, ‘Again’ germinated as a collaboration between Daniel’s current and younger selves. This time, a meditation on his musical identity during young adulthood from the perspective of middle age. From there, Daniel decoupled from the concept, and allowed the album to grow into an “illogical period piece” where memory and fantasy converge to form something entirely new. The album imagines what might have been, as the musician made his music through space and time. Which decisions foreclosed some realities? What might those other worlds have sounded like?
The album is available now and there’s a web site with links to all the download sites. Oneohtrix Point Never have a website, at pointnever.com, and are on Facebook, Insta, Twitter, and YouTube.
On 29th September, Sophie Lloyd dropped ‘Imposter Syndrome’.
British guitar sensation, Sophie Lloyd, has revealed details of her début album. Sophie’s first full length album sees the guitar virtuoso teaming up with some of rock’s biggest names and her own personal heroes to create a stunning collection of work spanning a variety of genres from the rock and metal world. ‘Imposter Syndrome’ will be released via her own Autumn Records on November 10th.
The album will be available as a digipack CD, Black Gatefold Vinyl and Limited Edition Gatefold Purple Splatter Vinyl. The title track of the album ‘Imposter Syndrome’ features Lzzy Hale and is available now.
Sophie says, “Working with Lzzy was honestly a dream come true for me. I’ve been a fan of hers for years growing up, and when I decided to do a collaborative album, her name was the first one that came to mind. She did such an incredible job at taking such a personal thing and making a song that conveys all the emotion I have felt for years.”
You can pre-order the album at shop.sophieguitar.com and follow Sophie on Twitch, TikTok, Facebook, Insta, and YouTube.
Berhana has recently released ‘Like a Habit’.
Danny McKinnon and Mike Irish co-produced Berhana’s new single, ‘Like a Habit’. It highlights the toxicity of his partner’s love. Berhana finds himself going through the motions with an unstable interest whom he believes might benefit from keeping things strictly platonic.
‘Like a Habit’ is Berhana’s fourth song released this year and his second from his forthcoming album,’Amén የዘላን ህልም’ (‘The Nomad’s Dream’). This album brings attention to Berhana’s very own East African culture and heritage. It also crafts a narrative arc around personal and romantic growth. Inspired by visits to Addis Ababa and deep dives at Ethiopian record stores, it made him embrace his culture and hold a wider appreciation for the East African diaspora as whole.
Berhana has a website, at berhana.com
Darren Parry released ‘Outside Looking In’ on September 29th.
Hot on the heels of his last single, ‘Unconditional’, multi-award winning Welsh, singer/songwriter Darren Parry has a brand new single. The single, ‘Outside Looking In’, dropped on 29th September.
This contemporary piece of earworm Pop was co-written with Rachel Walker Mason who is a multi-award winning musician. ‘Outside Looking In’ was written via Zoom in 2022. Rachel had heard some of Darren’s songs and got in touch to write. Darren says, “It was great that I was on Rachel’s radar, we had a lot of fun writing this and wrote 90% of it in about a 2 hour Zoom call. I think we had a second short Zoom call to tidy up some loose ends and voila… it was done! I had the chorus idea going around my head for over a year or so before so I played it for Rachel and it struck a chord with her, so that’s the idea we ran with.”
‘Outside Looking In’ is out now and forms part of his forthcoming new EP, ‘Learning the Hard Way.’ The single can be obtained via his snd.click page and you can follow Darren on Facebook, Twitter, Insta and Spotify.
On 29th September, Brenn! released ’Rearview’.
Breakout singer-songwriter Brenn! returns with the soaring new single ‘Rearview’. It’s his third single of 2023 following ‘4runner’ and upbeat follow-up Valapriso’ which we heard a few weeks ago (Week 112, August 2023). ‘Rearview’ shows Brenn!’s depth and range as he pairs energetic and upbeat melodies with emotional lyrics that capture the feeling of longing.
Brenn!’s ground-breaking single ‘4runner’has amassed more than 37M streams and hundreds of millions of impressions on social media in just a few months. ‘Rearview’ is the follow-up, which further showcases the 19-year-old’s knack for crafting infectious pop songs that swell with hope, intensity, and relatability. Now, after three months of bed rest – due to a freak accident that left him with shattered ankles during the filming of the ‘4runner’ music video – Brenn! has bounced back quickly. The release of ‘Rearview’ comes at the start of his gap year from college, and it looks like it’s going to be a busy one. Stay tuned for more new music from Brenn! as he gears up for the release of his debut EP at the top of 2024.
You can follow Brenn! on Insta, TikTok and SoundCloud.
A recording of the show is available on MixCloud.
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