Nine “fresh n’ Green”, ultra tasty tunes to feed your music appetite. We are pretty confident, you don’t wanna miss those ones right?
Half – ‘Cool Spot’
About Half
As Half, Jonny Gray crafts powerfully emotive, atmospheric music that transcends genres from ambient, shoegaze and post-rock and has been described as a “dense masterpiece” and “brilliantly atmospheric and imaginatively experimental”.
Half began releasing music in 2015 with the single ‘Mind Laps’ – a storm disguised in layers of tranquillity morphing from organic guitars to arpeggiated synths and ever developing beats swelling like a rush of endorphins through the bloodstream.
The debut album (and to date only long player) ‘Here Lies Half’ followed in 2016, featuring many guest spots, most notably the enigmatic, presumed MIA, former Lo Fidelity Allstars frontman The Wrekked Train on ‘Rest Easy’. Gray has also collaborated with former Mercury Rev multi-instrumentalist, Jason Sebastian Russo for a Galaxie 500 tribute album and a fundraising single with Scottish post-rockers Wozniak for internet radio station DKFM.
2019 sees Half’s first release since 2016’s ‘Soft Play EP’ which reached number 13 in the influential tastemaking Hype Machine chart, seeing him sitting on top of Katy Perry (digitally speaking of course!). ‘Cool Spot’ is a deliberate move into more electronic territory with nods to the likes of Tycho and M83 and is a homage to vintage school TV soundtracks á la Boards of Canada. Fans of Half’s earlier work will be pleased to hear that the rich textures which have become a hallmark of his sound have been preserved.
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Saffron A – ‘Flashes’
About Saffron A
Saffron A is a solo artist who paints deep, dark, verbal portraits with strokes of wit and authenticity that belie her years. In the past year, she has showcased at Folk Music Ontario, and embarked across the border to the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance. Her new EP titled Resilience is the first portion of an upcoming concept album. Resilience explores the complexity of human emotions and experiences, in the aftermath of sexual assault.
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Sam Lynch – ‘Off The Rails’
About Sam Lynch
On a farm in central Germany, with a small backpack and a dead cell phone, Sam Lynch found herself in a damp cellar, sitting in front of an out-of-tune piano. It was the beginning of a story shared by many: in the wake of a major life shift, Lynch followed the impulse to throw everything familiar out the window, and lean into the free-fall of uncertainty. She quit her jobs, gave away most of her belongings, and set out to travel solo. Yet, in the midst of this relatively unextraordinary story, a quiet, extraordinary shift occurred; upon returning from a five month independent journey through Europe in 2016, Lynch finally surrendered to the magnetic musical pull that she had been resisting for so many years.
Based in Vancouver, Lynch has been evolving and expanding her relationship with music for quite some time. She started writing songs at a very young age as a way of processing the world around her. Since then, Lynch has worked to distill the emotions that are experienced across generations, and shed light on the simple stories that have the ability to be profoundly moving. She has pushed through the slight discomfort that often accompanies vulnerability, and channeled those feelings into an expansive collection of songs for her upcoming LP—some of which were recorded in her basement, others recorded in world-renowned studios in Montréal alongside producer Sam Woywitka.
The lush new songs, mixed by Robbie Lackritz (Feist / Bahamas), are an ode to self-discovery and to the subtle-yet-profound moments of life. Along with Woywitka (Chin Injeti /Echlo), Lynch was joined by Isaac Symonds and Dylan Phillips of Half Moon Run, Mishka Stein (Patrick Watson), and Volodia Schneider (Aliocha) for instrumentation and arrangements, as well as Leif Vollebekk for key piano parts on a few songs. The result is an unpredictable, vulnerable, strident and sincere album, built upon strong lyricism and dynamic, experimental instrumentation. As Lynch says about the new songs – “if I get goosebumps, tingly in my legs, tight in my chest, or my stomach drops, I feel like things are working.”
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Kulina – ‘Paris’
About Kulina
Kulina is a three piece group from Long Island, New York. Their approach to an alternative pop style creates a unique aesthetic that listeners can easily attach themselves to. With opposing musical backgrounds, each member contributes different ideas that compliment each other in an unexpected way. They released their first full length album in August 2018 titled Falling Apart. At the end of the day, they’re only in it for the money, attention and personal affirmation.
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Cantaloupe – ‘The Flood’ (feat. Sophia Pettit)
About Cantaloupe
In March 2015, Cantaloupe released their debut album, Zoetrope. At that point Cantaloupe were a four-piece, mostly based in Nottingham. In the last three-and-a-half years, members have dispersed, reproduced, quit, been swallowed up by life/work/the world.
After a period of hiatus, confusion and exhaustion, earlier this year the band, now comprising Aaron Doyle (drums) and John Simson (synths), deposited nine tracks of soaring, expressive, melancholic pop – featuring vocalists including Sophie Pettit (Nightflowers) and Beck Goldsmith (Flourishes) – on the Hello Thor doorstep. And everything made sense again.
Cantaloupe released their second album Error States on limited edition vinyl and digital download through Hello Thor Records on Friday 26 October 2018. Thoughtful, inventive, infectious synth pop; overflowing with ideas; a bit battered by life, but ultimately full of hope and love; and maybe even up for a shimmy on the dancefloor.
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Holy Hand Grenade – ‘This Life’
About Holy Hand Grenade
Holy Hand Grenade wants to see you on the dance floor. Hailing from Brooklyn, they’ve been kicking around the NYC groove music scene for the past few years, members having collaborated with Antibalas, Conor Oberst, Solange, Red Baraat and others. Debut album “Celebrate Not Separate” coming out this summer on Tigershrimp records. Fans of El Michels Affair, Tony Allen, Eddie Harris and Ethiopiques alike will not be disappointed.
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COMPANYON – ‘Runaway’
About COMPANYON
COMPANYON is a solo-project/initiative created by Bryan Wehrkamp. With every song released, an organization will be teamed up with in an attempt to combat the injustice all around us. The hope is to add a new dimension to the power of music through not only helping the listeners and fans navigate life’s sharp turns and unkempt roads, but also teaming up with each listener to make a difference in others lives.
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Leanne Robinson – ‘New Ting’
About Leanne Robinson
Rooted in gospel and R&B, Hackney based singer songwriter Leanne Robinson has returned with her new single, ‘New Ting’, released on July 26th.
Leanne is determined to keep RnB alive with stories of love and life as a young woman. Drawing inspiration from legendary artists such as; Whitney Houston, Lauryn Hill, and Stevie Wonder, Leanne continues to push for the very thing she was evidently born to do.
Starting her career on stage at the tender age of 9, performing at London’s Barbican Theatre, Leanne perfected her craft when she was introduced to the world of Musical Theatre, whilst attending the acclaimed BRIT School. From there, Leanne progressed to landing the lead female role in the South Park Creators’ ‘The Book Of Mormon’ on its US/Canada tour, and currently performs in its residency at The Prince of Wales Theatre on the West End.
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by Gunnarsson – ‘Euphoria’
About by Gunnarsson
by Gunnarsson is a piano player and producer, who experiments with various sounds and play techniques to create his very own tracks with a unique piano-electronic crossover sound to relax or maditate, but with a conceptual message behind the songs.
Christos Doukakis