Help Gaz Coombs (You know you want to)

Gaz Coombs (he used to sing in Supergrass you know) has just released his debut solo record. Gaz Coombs Present...Here Come The Bombs is a brave new step in a career which has been full of brave steps.

And now, if you're in the UK, you have the chance to be in his new video (tomorrow). Head to the link below, and get ready to simulate!

Sign up here - http://assets.emi.com/gazcoombes/signup/images/index.html

Foreign Slippers - Farewell to the Old Ghosts

"Welcome to the world of Foreign Slippers, where flocks of scratchy birds fly over enchanted forests full of cloth dogs and mercurial musicians, while a bewitching voice sings lullabies to the icy sky…"


So begins the press release for this brilliant new album, one of the finest singer-songwriter albums 2012 has so far had to offer. If it wasn't so, well, spot on, you could dismiss it as pretentious nonsense, but one listen to this intense, sometimes unsettling, but always wonderful and ultimately uplifting record renders the description perfect.


Foreign Slippers, the brainchild of Gabi Froden are yet another band you need to know about this year. Current touring mates of Duke Special, an artist who ploughs a similar furrow to Froden's ethereal and yet indulgent songs, theirs is an album sure to take up residence in the end of year best of lists of the discerning listener. Not as immediate as some people might like, lacking in pithy, singalong choruses it may be, but Farewell to the Old Ghosts is chock full of invention, creativity and musical nous. I am sold. Completely sold. The world needs more songwriters who aren't afraid to push boundaries, to try things. And not just to try things, but to winningly, spectacularly succeed whilst doing so.


There are a lot of great songs here. I particularly loved the pulse of Under Your Ribs, while the more restrained Two People in You is a thing of beauty which must go down a storm live. This is a consistent album for certain, not one to be easily penetrated on first listen, but one to be lived with, to grow in to. Take the time, you won't regret it. Watch the video for the brilliant title track below, and be sure to buy this record!

Needmore - Back At the Start

Needmore are one of the most exciting new faces on the American college pop-rock circuit right now. Already asked to perform on the prestigious Jimmy Kimmel Live in the USA, and propelled by the anthemic single Lost My Way (watch the video below) their newest mini-album, Back At The Start is a cool collection of radio-ready rock songs, precision-engineered to achieve maximum impact for those times when you just fancy whistling a song as you walk down the street, sing in the shower, or pretend to be a rock star with your hair-brush in front of the mirror (you do that too, right? RIGHT?).

This is a band, as the people in the know say, who have traction. Radio success on multiple continents, exposure on MTV, and a slew of highly successful college tours are already under their belts. A rise to the big leagues seems assured on the basis of their hard work-ethic and sensible business plan alone, but what of the songs?

Well on this seven track EP (which is really only six, as the first track acts as an intro), we are met with, primarily, BIG STUFF. Everything is huge, from the drum sounds, which are the most immediately apparent aspect of the band's sound, to the widescreen and full-on vocal placing at play on the title track, as it flows in to a Coldplay-esque fusion of piano and emotive single note guitar riffs, leading to a  plethora of "woah, oh, ohhhs" and a bull-horn of a chorus, you know where you are and why this works. Everything here is just right. These guys can write, play, and they have something to say.  In lead vocalist Garrett McArthur, they possess a weapon, able to sound sugary-sweet one moment, and to caterwaul like the best of them the next. Add some cinematic strings towards the end of the track, and really. everything a band needs to try and out Chris Martin Chris Martin barring an annoying falsetto is present and correct.

Next we have the afore-mentioned Lost My Way, which is a great song. Period. This one comes off a little more in the Lifehouse direction for me, but again, features some good invention in the instrumentation, a great vocal performance, and is just dying to be played on the radio. 

The final main track on the EP is Too Late, which builds from a piano-led intro in to an epic close. Once again, this is perfect for radio. 

Following these, acoustic versions of the three previous songs round out the EP and show that good songs, done in any style, remain good songs. I would have preferred a couple more songs performed in Needmore's signature style, but I guess they must be saving those for an album or some such. A band marketed this well always has a plan :-)

If you love pop-rock which is on the softer end of things, but which is all about the songs, this record is for you. I would be shocked if Needmore do not continue their apparently meteoric rise to greater things, so get in early and enjoy them from the start.

Butterfly Boucher - Self-Titled

A few weeks ago, I posted the video for the brilliant single, 5,6,7,8 from Butterfly Boucher. As a calling card to her new, self-titled record, it was perfect. Memorable, catchy as all get-out, inventive, small, but perfectly formed. All of these comments can, I think, be readily applied to the new record.

Butterfly Boucher is a precocious talent. Falling somewhere between electro-pop and the more creative end of the singer-songwriter pantheon, this ten track album showcases Butterfly's emotive and expressive vocal to the fullest extent of any of her output so far. What's more, every song here could follow 5,6,7,8 as a single. For instance, Fooling Around is propelled along by a strong beat, some ethereal synths, and the kind of chorus that you can fall instantly in love with, and yet find yourself growing to appreciate more and more as time passes by.

The fact that this song is followed immediately by the more restrained, but no-less radio-ready Warning Bell is indicative of the quality at play here. The writing and production here is first rate. We live in an era of *the song*, rather than *the album* these days, and Butterfly and her co-producer Jamie Kenney have worked wonderfully here to craft a collection of songs which both vindicate A&M's decision to sign her in 2003, and call in to question why she has yet to taste the kind of national and international acclaim her prodigious talent deserves.

Coming across as a labour of love, meticulously pieced together, yet playful enough to be enjoyed as a "pop" record, this is a rare kind of album. It is the kind that works on multiple levels, suits many different moods yet, at it's core, maintains an artistic integrity which is pleasing on the ear and heart. My favourite track here is probably the jangling "Unashamed Desire" with it's winning combination of kitchen sink production and a confrontational lyric. I'd be shocked if this song doesn't do the business for Butterfly at radio in the months to come, but either way, this is a cracking track which fully showcases all that is best about an exciting new discovery.

Get this record and devour it. You won't be disappointed.

Superhero - Things We Need For the Journey

Superhero have become good friends of mine over the years. The band have been on the Battle For Your Soul Tour for what seems like decades now, and I have had the pleasure of opening for them on numerous occasions. Quite a few of the songs that make up this new album have formed staple parts of the live sets I've heard over the last couple of years, and I'm happy to report that all have made a smooth transition to the studio, emerging as what is Superhero's best album to date by far*

As a band, Superhero have changed much since the days of being signed to Fierce Distribution here in the UK. A strong sense of purpose and clear evangelistic mission has come to the fore in the last few years - an exciting development in a British Christian music scene seemingly devoid of vitality and vision in recent times. To this point though, for me, Superhero's albums since their seminal self-titled label debut hadn't lived up to the panache and vibe of their live outings. This all changes here.

Immediately on opener, "Human", things become clear. This is going to be a very good record indeed, full of nuance and craft. It will be expertly mixed by the masterful Julian Kindred, and most of all, Tim Cheshire really really means more than you could possibly know everything you will hear him sing hereafter. It is the passion in Cheshire's voice which most directly jumps out at you. The best he's sounded for years, his words draw you in and leave you tapping, humming, nodding, praying, perhaps even shouting along. Backed by his wonderfully agile and hirsute band, each of the nine songs which follow give Chesh the opportunity to lay out a manifesto for change, not just of the music scene, but of lives and souls.

"We Will Not Forget" builds from a calm beginning to an epic conclusion, while the title track, a live favourite of mine for some time now, is simply wonderful, with a gargantuan riff from Gav McGrath propelling it along. "No Surrender", with it's bold refrain of "don't give in to what the enemy wants" as a call to arms, along with some cool keys effects, and perhaps even a touch of brass, is another great, as is "Let's Kill Klaatu (what is that song about?!), while rollicking closer "Graduation Day" has you reaching for the repeat button as it draws to a cacophonous close.

I haven't commented on every song. I could have. They're all great. They could all be singles. None of them feature cheesy Christian nonsense lyrics. All of them leave you humming, smiling, and thinking about life and faith. Job done.

Best of all, it's fantastic to finally have an album from an unashamedly Christian British band that doesn't need to be qualified or apologised for before it can be played to friends, be they Christian or not. This is an album which sets a new standard for independent British bands.

I am biased, these guys are friends of mine, but this is a band with a mission, a sound, and a bunch of songs, that it is very easy to get behind and support. Do it today.

*In my humble opinion.


Buy the album here

We Are Creation - Self-Titled

We Are Creation is the brainchild of David Lim, worship leader at Anchor Nashville. The band and album seems to have been conceived as a vehicle for the epic, anthemic songs David has been penning for that congregation to sing over the last few years. Released by the (nearly always) reliable Come and Live! as a free download a week or so ago, as well as being available from iTunes and from the band direct, this is one indie-worship record you won't want to miss if you enjoy, well, indie-worship.

I have a bias here, it has to be said. I visited Anchor last summer whilst recording for my own band's record, and instantly fell in love with the Church as a whole, and particularly with the unusual and fresh approach they had to singing in Church. Basically, all of their bands were good. Really good. In a Church which must number somewhere circa 100-150, the quality of music on offer pretty much blew my mind, particularly David Lim's powerful songs. They were simple, yet artfully written. Memorable, yet musically satisfying too. And more than that, they drew me in to a place of praise that few songs had managed before, or have done since. Basically, I was sold.

When I heard that David was recording an album, I was excited, and waited expectantly and somewhat impatiently for its releasee. Now it has finally come, and I am far from disappointed.

Here are ten fully-formed, muscular modern rock songs, delivered with a craft and passion which is disarming. The sense of abandonment is tangible throughout. Best of all, every song, to my ears, could be picked up by Churches and worship leaders elsewhere and run with. Right from the first notes of You Are Holy, to the beautiful coda of live closer At Your Feet, these are songs which can be admired, but also which can, and should, indeed must, be used. David Lim is a great songwriter. I wish I'd written some of these songs. I think that's the greatest compliment I can pay him, and this album.


You should go and download it. Now. If you like Jesus, music, guitars or your ears, you owe it to yourself. I only hope that the creativity and courage on show here gets the breadth of audience it deserves, and that through it, many people are brought to their knees in praise.

Brilliant.


We Are Creation - At Your Feet from We Are Creation on Vimeo.


Download the album for free here from Come and Live!

The 72 - What I Want From My Football Club

I wrote for The 72 about what I want from Northampton Town a few weeks ago. The post is here

Click here to visit the blog

The 72 is a great blog. I heartily recommend it.