Cougar Microbes

It may be a cliché but I half expected Pete Lawrie to showcase a pop influenced sound on the basis of his image, but it’s in fact the sound of Southern Blues and folk that’s infected this Penny Lane born singer’s eyes and ears.

Lawrie’s raspy, pained voice alongside dark story telling creates a tumble of melancholic, bittersweet and brittle songs. With lyrics such as “Come on pain take a shot at me. Come on panic take a swing at me” Lawrie creates imagery of a man with a fractured heart and broken soul tilting his whiskey glass to the floor. He momentarily lifts the mood on some tracks showing glimmers of warmth and hope but even here The overall tone is still one of sadness.

Over the past year Lawrie has been releasing a string of singles and EP’s in the build up to his full album release next year. The latest installment, ‘In The End‘, delivers another set of tight songs and is released through Field/ Island Records on the 1st November.

These tracks are perfect to see you through a dark winter, with self indulgent mourning as you lick your wounds and mull over the mistakes you’ve made.

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Post by the indestructible Ruby

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TRACKS:

Pete Lawrie – All That We Keep

A collaboration between Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes), Jim James (My Morning Jacket) and M. Ward (erm, M.Ward and She & Him) was, at the very least, going to be interesting. Their reputations alone pretty much justify the moniker Monster Of Folk. Add the fact that they are already being reffered to as a “Supergroup” and expectations are naturally very high.

On the basis of new single ‘Say Please‘ there is a lot to look forward to when they release their self titled full length in September. Download it for free from their website (providing you are very polite)

TRACKS:

Say Please by Monsters Of Folk

Haven’t we heard this one before: Hollywood starlet (or her management team) eyes an opportunity to milk a few more $$$ out of the fans by branching out into the music world. Usually the next step is a dismal release or two after which she returns to the relative safety of her day job.

That was what I was thinking when I was told Zooey Deschanel was teaming up with alt-country darling M. Ward but boy was I wrong. Instead, under the moniker She & Him, they may well have released one of the most interesting albums in recent years transporting you back to a when music was about style over substance. The resulting album Volume One sounds just like the old 60s albums my dad used to play me in his car dipped in sentimentality and following in the tradition of songstresses like Joni Mitchell and Dusty Springfield.

Zooey, I owe you an apology.

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It’s amazing what a few months can do to a bands profile. Back in November I was coming to terms with TV On The Radio‘s latest effort. Now their tracks have rooted themselves firmly in my subconscious making Dear Science, the go to album when people ask me for something that will appeal to fairweather music fans and enthusiasts alike. I’m not really surprised that in December TOTR were featured prominently on New Year programs for the BBC and Channel 4 alike and were also played repeatedly on the office stereo.