Something great is going on at Songwriting at Berkeley. RememberLucy Eaton? She was a VP of that student group at UC Berkeley. Well, today’s featured artist, Marcus Lee, not only is/was a member as well, he co-founded it. And speaking about Lucy, Marcus collaborated with her on recording and releasing her debut single, the stunning Rotten Love. Last Friday, it was Marcus’ turn to release music on his own with Not For You, a hauntingly beautiful indie folk track.
A self-taught producer and mixing engineer, Marcus started as a jazz musician, but his love for folk music eventually led him to start writing songs with a guitar in college. His goal when producing and writing his own songs is to share intimate and impactful experiences through his music, which is something that he certainly achieved with Not For You. This gorgeous song reminds me of Gale Song by The Lumineers, which should give you an idea of the raw emotions Marcus is capable to evoke with his art.
Below, you can watch Marcus performing his single live, and in the mixtapes below, you’ll be able to find the ‘studio’ version. This is not music to be danced to. It is music to be felt.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to add a new entry yesterday, but I’ll try to make up for that today. Here, I bring this musical crush from Night Traveler, a terrific duo from Austin, Texas. I discovered this song back in August but between prioritising submissions and other plans, I had been delaying its inclusion here. It’s about time that changed because Watching You certainly deserved better than that. It’s a really great track.
The duo recently released their debut EP, Dreams You Don’t Forget, for which Watching You was its latest single. An atmospheric track of searing indie pop with traces of melancholic 80s music, this song got everything you need to put it on repeat, including the perfect vocals for this type of music. Actually, I dare you to listen to this great tune just once. I had to put it on repeat.
Back in 2007, a little alternative rock band from Pennsylvania released Aurora, their debut album, which got overlooked despite being one of the best rock albums of that year, perhaps even of that decade. I’m talking, of course, of Desoto Jones and for this week’s #ThrowbackThursday entry, I thought we could reminisce about one of the gems in that record.
Three of the five members of Desoto Jones –they are still active– are brothers and while they were recording Aurora, their father passed away. Nonfiction is a an emotional song the brothers dedicated to him. Its acoustic overtones and the heartfelt lyrics intertwine into a beautiful track that doesn’t get old. Listen to this song and then play the whole album. You will see why it is a shame this record didn’t become more popular.
Sour Honey is a four-piece alternative rock band from Manchester that had to swim against the current pretty much from the start. Formed out of two other bands: Young Monarch and Cosmo Calling, their debut gig and launch party had to be cancelled due to the lockdown. This didn’t prevent them from releasing their first single then and a series of cover videos just to keep the momentum going. Set on maintaining the ball rolling during these trying times, Sour Honey is back with a second single, Snub, a clear statement telling the world that this young band is going places.
I really love the guitar riff during the pre-chorus and the overall soundscape created by the misty vocals and the multiple layers of music coming together. It is another example of the amount of talented musicians who are out there waiting for a chance to be heard. Something tells me we’ll keep hearing from Sour Honey.
Kat Victoria is a young and multifaceted artist that cannot really be tied to any genre in particular. She has released six singles so far and each one of them is different. I mean, one of them is even categorised as freestyle rap. However, the song I’m featuring today, Tell Him, lies in the grey area between alternative rock and pop-punk.
Tell Him is an interesting track with an infectious chorus that I’m sure many listeners will enjoy. I think it’s really impressive what Kat can do pretty much by herself, including shooting a music video for her song (which you can watch below). As her bio on social media pages say, this talented songwriter makes music from her bedroom. I can only imagine what she would be able to do in a top-notch music studio. Definitely, check her out.
Tom Gallo, the guy behind the Look At My Records! podcast and music blog, and his pal Nick Lafalce (who plays in the band Atlas Engine), have launched a new record label called Favorite Friend Records. Their first ever release is this lovely tune from Jersey City-based project, CR and the Nones, which is led by songwriter Chris Gennone, whose previous band, CR Ant The Degenerates, became popular around New Jersey.
Judgement Day will be part of CR and the Nones forthcoming album, Living In Fear. It is a sweet blend of folk and rock that results in a great melody that suits Chris’ vocals really well. The song talks about the experience of going through hardships and persevering in order to overcome them. If this song is a sign of what’s coming in the album, we should keep it in the radar because it is going to be a refreshing blast. This is a great start for both the band and Favorite Friend Records and we look forward to more music from them. Please check them out.
I don’t know much about either Nox Vahn or Mimi Page, but I heard their collaboration, Dream Of Love, the other day and thought it was pretty good. What I could gather is that Nox Vahn, formerly known as Fairchild, is part of the lineup of Above & Beyond‘s record label, Anjunadeep, whereas Mimi is an American singer/songwriter whose trademark is blending ethereal vocals with atmospheric soundscapes, which is exactly what you will find in today’s tune. I’m keeping it short today, so enjoy this new addition to the Chill Out mixtape.
Manchester band Cultures, which you should know already if you’ve been paying attention ;-), are back with, in my humble opinion, an even better single than its predecessor (which was pretty good on its own). Shake is a catchier single with hooks from beginning to end that will probably still play on your mind long after the song has finished. Lyrically, it pertinently talks about how everything is better when you have good company, even being stuck in one place.
If Shake is a glimpse of where Cultures is headed now, then they’re going in the right direction. Here we are looking forward to more singles from this promising band.
Hopefully, by now, you are familiar with the work of The 93 after we featured them here back in June. I hadn’t been in contact with them before writing that entry but since that entry was published, I’ve got to know Sylwester (one of the two brothers who form this awesome duo) quite a bit and I can say he is one of the kindest and coolest person I have met (as well as one of the most active supporters of T.A.M!). This has allowed me, in some way, to be part of the process behind the release of their new EP, Space, which got out across all platforms in the last 2 days. They worked incredibly hard to get everything ready on time, from composing and making arrangements, to producing the songs, all of this while also taking care of their day jobs/occupations.
Now, something you have to understand about these two brothers is that they aren’t doing this for fame or money, but pure love of music. Their main goal is actually finding people who can connect with them, using music as a language. And that brings me to Space, inspired by their passion for sci-fi movies about space travel. I had an opportunity to listen to the whole EP before it was mastered and I can tell you that even then, the whole record -which consists on five tracks, an intro and an outro- sounded amazing. The 93 tried hard to make it sound as close to audiophile-grade as possible and you can certainly notice it. I simply cannot get enough of the guitar riffs on these songs.
We are familiar already with one of the tracks in this EP, 03, as it is the one featured here before. What I didn’t know then was that the theme of this song was mysticism in the future through sound. Even cooler, however, was what inspired the Intro and Outro, which was basically what you would feel if you were travelling in a space ship, looked out the window and saw a nebula for the first time. 12 is a great track about the current state of the world (2020, hi!) and how we should focus more on peace and prosperity. I was close to featuring this track today but, in the end, I opted for 09, because, quite simply, it is my favorite track in the EP.
From the intro that would make Tom DeLonge jealous for not coming up with it himself for Angels & Airwaves, to the surreal vocals and atmospheric soundscape of the track; everything in this song is flawless. Written as a letter to our architect (or God), The 93 meant to express with it their fears and doubts while respecting said architect. I assure you, you will want to put this song, and the whole album, on repeat.
These two brothers came from a small village in Poland to the UK a few years ago chasing the dream to do music, as they believed they had something to say. I personally think the whole world got lucky because of that. Don’t believe me, just give them a chance.
I got a request last week for this week’s #ThrowbackThursday entry: “If You Could Only See” from American alternative rock powerhouse, Tonic. So, naturally, I complied by featuring a different song from the same band (=. I got nothing against “If You Could Only See”. It’s a great song, possible Tonic’s best and undoubtedly their most iconic track to date (after all, it was 1997’s most-played song in rock radio), but that is precisely the reason I opted to talk about a different, lesser known gem included in their 2002 album, Head On Straight, Do You Know.
This song is a guitar-driven alternative rock song with a melodic chorus, but the reason why I’ve always liked it so much is that it got terrific lyrics, which shine the most during the great chorus. I don’t think this tune got much attention back then when it came out, but it’s not too late to give an overlooked outstanding song a second chance. Tonic and Do You Know certainly deserve it.
Remember that Egyptian Summer The fork lightning over the bay When we forgot everything We forgot our troubles When love was kind And the silence was noise But Underneath a marble sky I never seen you look so happy In your life.
And you were always cracking jokes And laughing at my funny ways And as the thunder rolled Well so did my sorrow We told lies We told them all the time But underneath a marble sky Nothing mattered.
I need a thunderstorm To distract from the pain Cause tomorrow might be the same damn sorrow I need something to happen The heavens to burst The sky to tear open The passion to run and flow like a river Out of my eyes Once it’s out of my heart It’s such a cold and desolate Happy ever when It’s such a cold and desolate Happiness never came.
We sat at the bar and we talked about the things we used to like And romanticised the pain Always remember it’s a crying shame Like reaching for the heavens but the heavens never came And I’ve played the victim long before you arrived These are not my people It’s not my scene not my style So I’m going back I’m going back to the city Please forgive me
