Track of the Day: Marika Hackman - Cinnamon

There's something special about Marika Hackman; an untouchable, unattainable quality that this spectral songwriter embodies. She fills a gap in modern folk music which I didn't even realise needed to be filled until the first time I heard her mini album, 'That Iron Taste'. Where the trend was to write rousing, foot-stomping folk anthems, she opted for a rawer, darker sound.


Today Marika Hackman announced the release of her new EP, 'Sugar Blind' out on 9th December on Dirty Hit Records. To give us a taste of what we should be expecting she's also released the lead single, 'Cinnamon', a startlingly beautiful and melancholic song which talks of 'the dumbing down of humanity'.

With work on a full length album underway in the winter, it won't be long before we see this young prodigious-talent reaching the heights which it deserves.

Track of the Day: Roo Panes - Home from Home

Today's Track of the Day, 'Home from Home', comes courtesy of one of my favourite new musical discoveries this year, Roo Panes. With two EP's (Once and Weight of Your World) already under his belt in 2012, this young singer-songwriter has been gaining momentum for his deep, crooning vocals, and luscious folk melodies. 

Roo Panes has today release the new video for his incredible new track 'Home from Home', which features on his upcoming EP, 'Land of the Living', out on December 2nd.

It's a beautiful song, paired with a really heartwarming video - I hope you love it as much as I do.

'In you I found my home from home'

Track of the Day: Jake Isaac - Long Road

Today's Track of the Day is courtesy of the exceptional new single from Jake Isaac, taken from his upcoming EP, 'Back To You', which is due out on the end of October.

Combining thundering percussion and gorgeous smokey vocals, 'Long Road' is a driving pop track with a twist. This young artist is showing considerable promise early in his career, and he demonstrates a considerable gift for lush pop hooks, mixed with rich, layered production.

There's not much information currently available on this exciting talent, but keep an eye out for his upcoming EP; and if he can continue to write tracks of this quality, he'll be taking the step into the spotlight in no time.... and in the mean time, just enjoy the ride.

Track of the Day: Nathaniel Rateliff - Still Trying

It is with great pleasure that I can announce that today's TOTD is a brand new single from none other than Nathaniel Rateliff. 'Still Trying' is an early taster of what we can expect to feature on his full length LP Falling Faster Than You Can Run, due for release on November 26th on Mod y Vi Records/Thirty Tigers. It certainly does not disappoint, being built around delicate guitar, passionate, rich vocals and thumping percussion.

This is the first new material which the Denver-native has put out since his incredible 14-track heartbreaker 'In Memory of Loss' was released (to great acclaim) in 2010. Based on this single it looks as though the astonishing quality of his debut is due to be reached once more.

Rateliff has stated that Falling Faster Than You Can Run, 'came about over a couple years of touring. I was coming from a place on intense isolation. Despite the fact that I was always around other people I always felt a true sense of loneliness' - and it is within this sadness and loss that the folk, soul troubadour has always excelled.

Listen to 'Still Trying' below.

Tracklisting:
1. Still Trying
2. I Am
3. Don’t Get Too Close
4. Laborman
5. How To Win
6. Nothing To Show For
7. Right On
8. Three Fingers In
9. Forgetting Is Believing
10. When Do You See
11.Falling Faster Than You Can Run

Track of the Day: Sivu - Over & Over

So far this year Sivu has been responsible for a number of the finest singles to come out of the UK, and he's just done it again with the beautifully, delicate new single 'Over & Over'.

Rising to prominence back in January with his anthemic debut, 'Better Man Than He', he received almost half a million hits, and gained substantial radio support from the likes of Huw Stephens and John Kennedy. His follow up, 'Bodies', was an interesting change of place, illustrating the same quirky indie-pop stylings, along with a developed complexity in rhythms and richer instrumentation.

It seems as thought the 24 year-old Londoner is unable to do anything wrong at the moment, with 'Over & Over' being a truly understated gem. Based around a simple electric guitar part and an echoey bass drum, the young songwriter tackles the complexities of relationships, and how we sometimes staying in them when neither party quite knows why ('we go over and over and over and over, like a old broken computer'). Simply put, it's another beautiful track from one of the most enthralling acts of the year.

You can get a free download of this 'Over & Over' and an additional track called 'Dimmer Down' here

 'we're just waiting for something real, something to help make us feel alive.'

Track of the Day: Wintercoast - The Andes

I first heard of Wintercoast way back in 2011. I was working in Vancouver as a music promoter for a small, indie music label, and through hours of listening to some fairly sub-par local music (though there is an abundance of really great local music there too), I stumbled upon Wintercoast's debut EP Trees, Homes & Better Places. To put it I was frankly, I was blown away. Their indie-folk style was lusciously built around the quirky vocal interplay between Sylvie and Andrei, and for that they built a devoted local fanbase.

Following two years of near musical silence, the band have returned. Though their numbers are depleted (they now operate as a three-piece), their sound has evolved and grown dramatically. Whereas before their was a Slow Club-esque folky, innocence about the band, they appear to have done considerable growing up and growing darker over their hibernation.

With a full album on the way in the coming months, The Andes is a mission statement of the new direction which the band are taking. I, for one, much like two years earlier, am blown away.

Track of the Day: Frightened Rabbit - Default Blues

What a truly incredible year Frightened Rabbit are having... 

The Selkirk quintet released their fourth album 'Pedestrian Verse' earlier this year; justifiably earning universal acclaim and impressively peaking at number nine in the UK charts. Since then they've gone on two release two follow up EPs, completed a sold-out Australian tour, and have even earnt themselves upcoming support slots for indie-rock royalty,The National.

Well to top all this off, Hutchinson & co are giving us more musical delight in the form of 'The Woodpile EP'. Due for release September 2nd it's titled after the lead single from 'Pedestrian Verse', and features this track as well as three brand new tracks (see track listings below). Today's TOTD is 'Default Blues', a driving, confident indie rocker, with the intellegence and wit which we've come to expect.

Speaking about the new release, singer Scott Hutchinson says – “The Woodpile is about that night you felt utterly out of place, alone, awkward and cornered. All any of us want in those instances is for someone we care about to come and take us away from it all. It's escapist, but also claustrophobic in places. I like the idea of contrasting a big, confident piece of music with lyrics that express uncertainty and vulnerability. ”

THE WOODPILE EP TRACKLISTING:

1) The Woodpile

2) Default Blues

3) Radio Silence

4) Candlelit