Multi-talented creative artist Jordan Stephens is back with one of the most impressive and thought-provoking songs of the week.
Conceptually, ‘Feel Joy’ is exactly as you would imagine it to be; this is a piece of music that is designed to remind listeners that how we feel throughout the day is mostly down to our own perspectives and choices that we make.
Directed by Phoebe McCaughley, the track’s visuals (which took months of work to create) are as much of a delight as the track itself.
Taken from the new album ‘Let Me Die Inside You’, which is out now.
Describing Ivy Sole’s new single ‘Talk That Talk’ as a sublime piece of neo-soul perfection doesn’t even begin to cover just how stunning this release is.
Produced by Sole alongside Josh Crocker, the track came together while the duo were writing in the UK before the pandemic.
The inspiration for the song stems from a six-month period Sole spent studying in Sao Paolo. With that in mind, Brazilian director Juh Almeida was enlisted to create the gorgeous accompanying visuals.
“Juh Almeida’s eye and ethos, and especially her still photography, captivated me from the jump,” explains Sole on their reasons for working with Almeida, “This is the only straightforward love song on the record, and I wanted to honour the place and the people that opened me to myself – Juh’s soft touch on each frame, the lingering motion and pace, and the sincerity that in this cut evokes that same tenderness. It’s also important to me that Africans are in solidarity with each other, regardless of where in the diaspora we find ourselves, so the choice was simple.”
Taken from the critically acclaimed album ‘Candid‘, which is out now.
Greta Isaac seems to do no wrong with her latest string of releases. Continuously pushing the boundaries of electro-pop, this Welsh-born and raised artist is back today in epic fashion through the unveiling of her new music video for ‘PAYRI$E’.
“We had a ton of fun on the set for the video for ‘PAYRI$E’. I knew I wanted there to be a push and pull between me and the viewer – a sort of ‘come hither’ attitude one minute, then some resistance, and then complete desperation the next.
It reminds me a lot of my teenage angst of wanting so desperately to be liked by my peers or some random dude I fancied in school, and I wanted the video to show the mania and unpredictability of trying to find ways of getting someone’s attention. The quick switches between showing disinterest and clinging on for dear life.”
So far this year, Isaac has been named as a ‘breaking act’ by the Sunday Times Culture, as well as garnering support from the likes of Clash, PAPER, The Line of Best Fit, Polyester Zine, Notion and BBC Radio 1.
Taken from the forthcoming EP ‘I Think You’d Hate It Here’, due out in May 2022.
Acclaimed multi-talented 17-year-old singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer KALI unveils her new single ‘Addicted’ today, alongside some very cool visuals.
The track focuses on self-growth at its root – telling the story of falling head over heels for someone, realising they aren’t who you wanted the to be, and accepting this painful reality.
Another week comes by and sure enough, we have another outstanding British indie-rock track to introduce. This time it’s from Low Lying Sun, who have been aptly described as ‘the band for the wedding and the wake’.
With early support from the likes of BBC Introducing, CLASH and Record of the Day, this Essex-based group elegantly blend indie melancholy with a raucous, anthemic rock energy. On the visuals for their new single ‘Car Crash’, they say:
“For the ‘Car Crash’ video we tried to play with the idea of impending tragedy. The characters in the video exist in some kind of purgatory, still embracing whilst accompanied by the frantic imagery of the band. We wanted to create a sense of confusion, feeding the viewer snippets of the story to build anticipation, much like the song itself.”
The band play London’s The Lexington on 14th April as part of the Communion New Music Night.
Currently on a co-headline tour with The Aquadolls, Southern California rock outfit Sitting On Stacy release their infectiously feel-good single and music video ‘Ellen’, which was shot, directed and edited by the band themselves.
“‘Ellen’ is a love song mixed with distorted guitars blaring over fun and upbeat drums with catchy melodies and harmonies. We wanted to make this song fast with rock elements that will leave your head banging. We wrote it to be like the music we loved growing up.
For this music video, we wanted to capture the crazy spontaneity of our house shows. We filmed everything in our garage to highlight the mixture of punk rock and fun vibes the song gives. We added the most random objects we could find in our house and ended up breaking everything in eyesight cause WHY NOT!”
Undeniably one of the most exciting artists to emerge from the UK recently, Sam Tompkins unveils emotive visuals for his new single ‘My Brother’.
“‘My Brother’ is really special to me. I love it so much. The origin of it is actually a sad but lovely story. When I was about 18, we lost our Nana and at the funeral we had to read the eulogy. I got about 6 words in before being in floods of tears, my brother read the rest and was so strong. Flash forward to last year when my Papa (Grandpa) passed away and I decided to do the eulogy. Sadly because of covid my brother couldn’t make it as he was working away in Canada. This time I got the whole way through it and I remember getting the text from my brother who watched it through a live stream that I smashed it and I felt so proud because the only way I was able to do it was knowing I was the exact age my brother had stepped up and been brave 5 years prior.”
With praise from the likes of MTV, Clash, BBC and Notion, as well as airplay from BBC Radio 1 and features on Spotify editorial playlists, 2022 could well be the year that Britain unveils it’s next big superstar to the world.
Taken from the new EP ‘who do you pray to’, which is out now.
BENEE returns with that distinctively dreamy alt-pop sound through her latest single ‘Never Ending’. Of the video, BENEE says:
“From the start, I knew I wanted the ‘Never Ending’ video to be driven by lots of fast cuts and lots of post-production to make it a really cool visual trip! The video was made with two friends of mine Devan & Riley – Devan has a really good eye for shots and Riley is super skilled at creative direction. I also knew Riley would kill the whole post prod side of the project! This has been my favourite video to date as I just love how well it suits the song. It was a last minute decision to put my dog Tūī in it, but I knew she’d make my performance walking down the street feel more natural.”
Musician, creative, writer and performer Jordan Stephens shares the official video for his new single ‘Big Bad Mood’, featuring the talents of Tottenham-hailing Miraa May.
Directed by Charlie Coombes, the video was shot in multiple South London locations and tells the story of a rebellion – a call to action: ‘We fix the systems you hate’.
Greta Isaac serves us all with an almighty bop through her latest release ‘NUH UH’. Thanks to an electric blend of pop, folk and alternative rock, this artist continues to win praise from the likes of BBC Radio 1, PAPER, NOTION, The Line of Best Fit and Wonderland, making her one of the most exciting recent prospects to emerge from Wales. Speaking of the visual counterparts to the song, Greta said:
“The artwork for me sort of mirrors the transformation that happens when that spark is ignited. Me and Suzie Walsh, my stylist and creative director, wanted to create an image that felt like a primal alluring shiny object, to entice someone or something. I’m wearing a dress made entirely of emergency foil blankets by designer Gloria Jane Royer. It reminded me of how a magpie forages for shiny objects that could feel quite mundane to us, but are captivating through the eyes of someone seeking it.”
Forthcoming EP ‘I Think You’d Hate It Here’ will be released on 1st April 2022.
British lyricist Potter Payper releases his visuals for ‘Gangsteritus’ as part of the latest instalment to Apple Music’s The Agenda Live video series.
‘Gangsteritus’ is a heartfelt track that explores the harsh realities of street politics and sacrifice; and serves as a reflection of just how far this East-London artist has come.
Taken from the new album ‘Thanks For Waiting’ which is out now.
Rising R&B artist Mack Keane teams up with ESTA on stunning new single ‘Open Up’. With a melody that flows with finesse, the lyrics tell of the longing you can have for a person to change with you.
Alongside the track comes a video that compliments the song’s effortlessly luxuriant energy, of which they remark:
“It’s something we’ve all been through at some point. Working with Yavez [Director], we were able to capture this familiar state of emotion using a contrast of colours, reflecting cold aimless nights and warmer ones. They intersect. With the ending, the doors open and flashes to white. We thought it was important to represent stepping into uncertainty. There’s a brightness to that. After spending so much time feeling restrained, we want that freedom, to open up.”
Alternative pop mastermind girl in red shares the Jared Hogan-directed music video for her latest single ‘I’ll Call You Mine’, taken from the critically acclaimed debut album ‘if i could make it go quiet’.
Already amassing 1.6 billion career streams to date, the Norwegian singer-songwriter is undisputedly Scandinavia’s latest big new music export.
She embarks on her biggest ever headlining US tour in March 2022, joined by special guest Holly Humberstone.
Deb Never shares visuals for her single ‘Funky’, which is a track lifted from the new EP ‘Where Have All The Flowers Gone?’
Deb captures the universal urge to make things and feelings last as life passes by. The video shows what it’s like to dream of a world full of what you love, but waking up to a reality barren of any of it.
Critically acclaimed singer, songwriter and producer Orion Sun returns today with her striking new song ‘Concrete’.
The accompanying visuals (directed by Morian Thomas) are equally beautiful as they capture the artist while she toils on a California farm, and in doing so honouring her ancestors and lineage which “is long filled with strength and knowledge, overflowing with resilience and beauty”.
Bay Area bred and Los Angeles based singer songwriter Marc E. Bassy returns with sublime new single ‘Bowie’. Upon it’s release, the song was immediately playlisted to Spotify’s New Music Friday in ten countries, as well as other playlists on both Spotify and SoundCloud.
Taken from the upcoming record ‘Little Men‘ which is out on 8th October 2021 via Bassy’s own independent label NEW GOLD MEDAL.
Nu-punk artist Keeper returns with hard-hitting new single ‘Change’. Fusing elements of midwest emo with UK hip-hop and pop-punk, the track contrasts a fun sound against powerful and relevant lyrics.
This theme carries through with the video too, making use of important imagery to convey the serious undertones of the upbeat track:
“I felt it needed a more realistic stand. Things are bad right now, housing crisis, climate change, systemic racism. But through community, government pressure, and understanding you could start rolling the ball.”
Danish-Cuban artist KING is back with a new single that showcases Scandinavian music at it’s finest; this is a vital and urgent song that hits hard and leaves a lasting impression.
“On ‘Angel Dust’ I felt like doing something very sensual – as opposed to sexual – in my artistic visual identity. So I just pushed it as one long foreplay with beautiful movements. We could be naked doing this stuff and it would still be sensual and not sexual: that was the mission with this visual.”
