Young folks focuses on the best, fresh folk, acoustic, singer-songwriter indie folk & alt-country jams. Turn it up Folks!
***guêmicas aſaqɣ hubchìhicâ shûʒhâ=78 (Muisca numerical system)***
SAVEN
‘La La Land’
[indie folk/singer-songwriter]
An alluring, dreamy, indie folk treat by the Swedish singer-songwriter SAVEN with the best “la la las” of 2021!!
Press Notes:
Culturally confused since birth, Saven is an alt rock singer songwriter inspired by a wide range of genres from the different countries he has lived in. His songwriting explores what is on the edge of his awareness and has been an outlet for him to uncover his own personal blind spots. Even though Saven started writing music at the age of thirteen, it took him over two decades to overcome his fear and debut. Seven months later he ultimately quit his day job to pursue his passion for songwriting. By sharing his own songs and stories, he hopes that listeners will relate and be inspired to take on their own struggles.
Birchcliff
‘The City and the Mountain’
[indie folk/pop-rock]
An uplifting indie folk treat by Canadian artist Birchcliff that will have you sing along for days… Super catchy!
Press Notes:
Despite Birchcliff being named for a small neighbourhood in Scarborough, Toronto, the artist’s debut album The City and the Mountain never sinks too deep into the territory of urban centrism—as its lyrics and instrumentation showcase equal parts tranquil serenity and thunderous introspection.
Jake Harding, the creative power behind Birchcliff portrays a keen sensitivity to the din of borough living and its stark contrast to the isolation of what lies beyond city limits. The title/first track, “The City and the Mountain” comes across as a folk jig, with toe-tapping rhythm and acoustic guitars plucking as Harding croons in a raspy cadence about an urge to escape city life. Coupled with kazoos, tambourines, and a campfire feel, the introductory track establishes Harding’s shrewd folk influence, yet primes the listener for his ability to genre hop.
Tara Nome Doyle
‘Crow’
[indie folk/singer-songwriter]
Norwegian indie folk fairy Tara Nome Doyle recently returned with another stunning single from her highly-anticipated second album ‘Værmin’ (pronounced Vermin) due out early next year…
Press Notes:
Tara Nome Doyle is a 24-year old singer-songwriter with Norwegian-Irish roots, living in Berlin.
In April 2018 her first release, the song »Down with You« came out. It was followed by more singles and an EP called »Dandelion«. In January 2020 her debut album »Alchemy«, co-produced by TND and David Specht (of the German post-punk band Isolation Berlin), came out on the label Martin Hossbach and was celebrated by the German press (»… like Kate Bush singing songs by Nick Cave at Berghain«, SPIEGEL). TND’s second album, »Værmin«, will be released in January 2022 with BMG Rights Management’s Modern Recordings imprint. The album was produced by Simon Goff, a Grammy-award winning producer, violinist and engineer. Tobias Humble (Gang Of Four, Ghostpoet), Anne Müller (Nils Frahm, Agnes Obel) and Larry Mullins (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Iggy Pop) also appear on the album.
TND likes to collaborate: In July 2021 the EP »The Moments We Keep«, which she co-wrote and co-produced with the Italian pianist Federico Albanese, came out on Decca’s/Universal’s imprint Mercury KX. In late 2020 TND released recordings with Malakoff Kowalski (»Bad Dreams«) and 1k Flowers (»Clemency«). TND has also collaborated with Max Rieger (Die Nerven; producer of e.g. Caspar and Drangsal) – on »Neon Woods« (first album) and »Caterpillar« (second album). TND is a member of Kat Frankie’s »B O D I E S« choir and performs irregularly with the singer ANDRRA.
Tim McNary
‘When I Get Back’
[americana/acoustic]
It’s that beautiful melancholic veil in Tim McNary’s latest single ‘When I Get Back’, a grandiose acoustic, americana gem unleashing tons of nostalgia….
Press Notes:
Tim McNary began building a reputation for moving vocals and a multi-dimensional folk sound with his EP, Above the Trees. With his first full length album, loose leaf, produced by Jon Estes and released through Audionetwork, Tim touches on themes of human connection and isolation that run through much of his work. The album’s orchestral tendencies reflect the hundreds of hours Tim spent scoring the album, which will be released in fall of 2021. The clarity of voice and evocative nature of loose leaf has raised comparisons to Gregory Alan Isakov, Ben Howard, Leif Vollebekk, and Lord Huron, among others.
A frequent international traveler, Tim speaks Portuguese and Spanish fluently
Zach Kleisinger
‘Song for T.S. Eliot’
[folk/americana/singer-songwriter]
An intimate folk/americana track by the Canadian singer-songwriter Zach Kleisinger “about diving into T.S. Eliot’s work and spending the day in his world rather than this one”. We’ll do dive!
Press Notes:
I am pleased to introduce you to my first full-length record, Their Symposium. These songs are new in respect to their arrangements on the record, although, on personal terms, some of them reach as far back as four years to their initial composition. I am by no means suggesting they are dull or unappreciated; I would say our relationship is more akin to opening the door to an old companion.
Since the release of my last major project in 2018, the EP I Hope It’s Calm, Then, I have actively toured Canada, the UK, and Europe. I have had the fortune of sharing the stage with many brilliant musicians, such as The Deep Dark Woods, Charlotte Cornfield, and Sam Lynch. I released a few singles along the way while focusing on writing and performing new material, and it has not been until now that I’ve found it suitable to put forth a full album.
As I have said, most of these songs are not newly written. They have existed in countless performances, they have undergone numerous dissections; they have sat idle, changed faces and moods, and have made many strange friends. They have endured and, in a sense, have surpassed me, are now outside of me, having adopted an entity as such that if I heard one of their names called, I would say, “Yes, I know who that is.”
Each member of this cast of characters embodies a distinctive moment and idea. I could welcome them into my home, show them a seat for their comfort, and if I asked them to express themselves, they would indeed all have something contrasting to say. This, I reckon, is what the record is; a gathering of entities aiming to share their thoughts on a particular subject—me. And yet, it is me who is revisited through these entities, for as much as I may recognize “them,” at all times I know “they are me.” If this sounds needlessly self-absorbed, it’s because it is. But please, I am the subject, and this is Their Symposium. I do hope they have something decent to tell you.
Suzy Callahan
‘BYOB’
[folk/singer-songwriter]
The first single from Suzy Callahan’s upcoming release, is a delicate, folk bijou, with lazy, seductive and warm sound tapestry to get lost in…. Beauty!
Press Notes:
The daughter of NSA linguists, Suzy Callahan writes songs filled with vivid and raw emotional honesty and delivers them in a thick and creamy dulce de leche voice. Her 30 year off and on again career genre-hops from indie rock to Americana to folk but she never strays from thematic authenticity and tonal purity.
As blog chillfiltr blog said, “In a world of copycats and stylistic same-ism, Suzy Callahan is the real deal: unique, unforced, and timeless.”
Her melancholic, bold confessional style is unusual and often leads to emotional quicksand but with the escape hatch of humor and lyrical mischief. As blog alt77 said, “There’s no use in labeling Suzy Callahan. None will stick! This is the music of someone that inhabits a world of their own and translates it into music.”
That world began growing up in the UK, playing pubs in her teens, and then continuing in states with her CMJ charting and Mark Kramer (Low, Galaxie 500) produced indie-rock band Devils Wielding Scimitars. After DWS and time-off raising children, she returned with her own moniker and landed on KCRW’s “best of 2005” playlist, TV shows, and NPR, which called her work “thick and atmospheric” with “rich and sensual songs”.
Still an under-the-radar voice, her dedication to the art of deeply embellished, hook-laden American songcraft remains unwavering.
Her new album Focused Mind is set to be released at the end of 2021.
Altameda
‘Wheel Of Love’
[folk]
Edmonton-based duo Altameda were provided with a window to continue the writing process. The feeling of isolation during this time led to the dream of a ‘Wheel Of Love’ as a tangible concept for which somebody could spin, and generate a feeling of warmth and security during uncertain times. Vital!
Press Notes:
Respect for tradition with the sophistication to shake it off. Deadpan expression of a staunchly honest vision. Hailing from Edmonton, now Toronto-based Altameda (AL-tah-MEE-da) have evolved into a band with a bold, and unrelenting sound. It’s the culmination of experience, both musical and rawly human, that makes Altameda the band they are. Hitting festival circuits and stages across North America and Europe, they’ve toured extensively since releasing their much-celebrated debut album, Dirty Rain (2016).
Full and resounding, cutting and dynamic, Altameda’s sophomore record, Time Hasn’t Changed You (2019), is full of all that makes life a beautiful mess. Brought along by warm bass lines, bluesy rhythms and the sweet whir of the wurlitzer, vocalist Troy Snaterse’s lyrics burn with nostalgia and present desire, made vivid by his talk-like cadences and emotional peaks. It will lift you out of your seat—then all at once send you spiralling down to the kitchen floor.
The band’s forthcoming release is sure to be their strongest to date. Recorded in Toronto, ON by Thomas D’Arcy (Neko Case, The Sheepdogs) and mixed in Portland, OR by Tucker Martine (My Morning Jacket, Whitney, REM) the newest offering shows immense growth, both musically and personally. Grappling with family tragedy, love lost, and the countless miles in between. The record is both lyrically nuanced and compositionally lush. It is clear that the band have a bright future ahead.
Jordan Samrose
‘Hold On’
[chamber folk/singer-songwriter]
A poetic chamber folk song, and a lyrical ode addressed to a difficult lover, from Jordan Samrose’s recently released, debut album ‘Maybe in Bloom’….
Press Notes:
Jordan Samrose is an accomplished singer/songwriter whose highly personal compositions have led many to compare him to iconic balladeers like Serge Gainsbourg, Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan. Raised in Paris by an American father and an Italian mother, Jordan writes and sings in English, Italian and French and has performed across Europe.
AM Higgins
‘Who Can Say?’
[indie folk/slowcore]
AM Higgins (the solo project of musician Annie Toth) recently shared the music video for ‘Who Can Say?’, a transcendent single with rich arrangement, heavenly melodies with slowcore ethos and heartfelt vocals, off her debut album, ‘Hymning’, out via Victorialand Records.
Press Notes:
AM Higgins is an American songwriter living in France. She writes dream-like songs that nudge you a bit closer to the cosmos when you hear them. The warmth in her voice is a petition for rest. There’s a poetic mysticism in her lyrics that speak to the wild mysteries embedded in nature. The music, made with the help of her collaborators, is a jittery patchwork backdrop of organ baths, drums, electronics and empty space.
Flower Face
‘Back to You’
[indie folk]
A moody indie folk ballad that highlights mournful melodies, ascending acoustics, and haunting harmonies, enveloped in somber orchestral flourishes, by emo folk mistress Flower Face…
Press Notes:
Ruby McKinnon creates melancholic folk music with a bedroom pop heart under the moniker Flower Face. Taking inspiration from her own vertiginous life experiences, alongside such varied sources as Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events, Jesus Christ Superstar, the oeuvre of Mads Mikkelsen and her dog Ziggy, Flower Face’s musical testimonials recall the jagged emotion of Bright Eyes while conjuring the ethereal ecstasy of a fresh wound.
Classically trained in piano since the age of 5, McKinnon began writing her own music at 14. Encouraged by her music-obsessed parents, she formed Flower Face in true D.I.Y. style: recording her independent debut, Fever Dreams, almost exclusively on her dad’s GarageBand app. Teeming with acoustic heartbreak hymns, it didn’t take long for the album to find space on bedroom playlists alongside The National, Daughter, Big Thief, and Mazzy Star.
[All Press Notes provided by the artists]
Compiled by: Christos Doukakis