Embarcadero – Down (single, self-released)
THE descriptively titled Down is the new melancholic/melodic indie rock stunner from north Belfast-based Embarcadero, whose equally excellent and decidedly more upbeat (musically, at least) recent singles Tele Flop and Chasing You Around featured in these pages not so long ago.
Down features Frank Turner's regular time-keeper Nigel Powell on drums plus production by Alex Loring (Fangclub, Rews) and is their latest musical collaboration facilitated by the Help Musicians charity.
"It's still sort of mental to me that we got to work with these guys on a track," enthuses Embarcadero's guitarist and resident Aston Villa fan, Daniel Lynch, six-string slinging foil to vocalist extraordinaire Sonja Sleator.
"Our plan with this first string of singles was to experiment a bit with the sound and hopefully that comes across in the songs so far – and even more so with the next ones."
So far, so great – when's the album coming out? You'll know almost as soon as I do. In the meantime, get caught up with their output to date at Embarcadero.bandcamp.com.
Leveland – National Treasure (single, Super Native Records)
LEVELAND (pronounced 'Level Land') is the latest musical project from Oisín Ó Scolaí, for which the Donegal-bred singer/songwriter has joined forces with bassist Chris Doherty and General Fiasco/Robyn G Shiels/Desert Hearts drummer Stephen 'Leaky' Leacock.
The catchy debut single National Treasure sets out Leveland's stall in fine, world-weary style, while also name-checking Nicolas Cage on its earwormy chorus.
"A shimmering cut of brooding alternative indie, with hints of dreamy nostalgia," crows the press release, and to be fair that's not too far off the mark – especially the 'brooding' bit.
"It's a song about the withering end of a relationship, whether it be with your friends or partner," explains Ó Scolaí.
"I think at a certain point in my life I started to accept things for the way they were rather than strive to improve them. This, of course, led to the end of many personal relationships and, in turn, alienation.
"I found it fitting to write about these matters with a smirk, confessing the end of some of the best years of my life with a sort of 'oh well' attitude."
National Treasure is the hugely promising first single from the trio's upcoming debut album, Vessels, the near-title track of which, a nicely woozy ditty called Leave This Vessel is also in the running to become a single – and rightly so, given that it's another definite earworm featuring some uber-catchy horn and melodica/triola action.
However, my money is on another tune, River, being their first bona-fide 'hit' – find out how rich/broke I'm going to be in a few weeks time.
Listen to/buy National Treasure now via Leveland.bandcamp.com and on Spotify etc and keep abreast of all things Leveland at FB.com/levelandband, Instagram/leveland.band and @levelandband.
On The Record: VerseChorusVerse – What If We Won?
AS PROMISED, Co Antrim singer/songwriter Tony Wright has kindly answered a few questions about the making of his excellent new VerseChorusVerse album, which you must hear/purchase right now at Versechorusverse.bandcamp.com.
With rousing anthemic songs like Free To Decree and Be Proud sitting alongside deeply introspective moments There Is A Silence and I Live With a Monster, would it be fair to call What If We Won? your most personal record to date as well as your most 'political'?
Yeah I guess so, all of my records have personal and political elements. This time I've really amped those elements up, without forethought really. It's a concept record, in a loose sense.
I meant it to be a journey that everyone can relate to; mostly, we have the capacity to determine our future. Obviously, some elements are out of our hands and fate/chance/whatever can really affect the outcome, but for the most part it's how we deal with it moving forward.
The people, circumstances, events etc can really punish us, but sometimes they can gift us too. Ultimately, it's how we react to these situations. We each have our own choices to make, and sometimes we need help to get back on the safe path, with allies and our best interests. Physically and mentally.
Reacting abnormally to an abnormal situation is totally normal. Remember that and take care of yourself and, if you can, others.
Musically, WIWW? utilises a variety of sounds/styles, some new to you and others that seem like nods to other moments in your career going all the way back to your old band ASIWYFA. Was that your intent with the album?
Basically, the album is a culmination of everything I've learnt and trying to take it further, with my own stamp. I think it's funny when people say my stuff sometimes sounds a little like that – I mean, of course it does, that's my sound.
I can only make the sounds that appeal to me and I like to drift genre wise – that's pretty much the entire purpose of VerseChorusVerse. I think if I made a 'cohesive' sounding record like some would angle me toward, I'd get bored too quickly. And if I get bored, chances are whoever is listening will too.
This seems like a good opportunity for a food/music metaphor, and not just because I'm hungry. Here goes; as much as I like Margherita pizza, I love putting different combinations of toppings on it. Mmmmm. Pizza.
What was the recording process like for you?
The recording process was also the writing and learning process. I recorded all of the music in a small cupboard room that used to house a boiler. It was 5ft by 3ft; just about enough room for a guitar, keyboard, desk, chair and laptop.
I was totally isolated in Glasgow for the pandemic, so I'd get up in the morning and go for a run before the world woke up and then I'd be writing/recording from about 7.30am until whenever my ears and hands couldn't function at their best any more sometime that night.
Luckily, none of the songs posed many problems when recording and all seemed to happen rather naturally. These songs feel more like they were built, rather than written.
When was your last gig as a performer?
I snuck off to Italy and then Scotland in the run-up to the pandemic. I ended up singing for my supper in this beautiful Piazza in the Italian mountains, the same place that was on the cover of my last album, Outro. It seemed amusingly poignant that those would have been my last full sets.
I can't really do covers very well, but I did a bunch of Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen songs to fill out my prolonged set, as required. I was wholly anonymous and had zero expectation on me. I loved every second.
It's seven years since you put out your first solo album. What advice would you send back to that younger version of yourself?
Seven years? Wow. Hmm, probably not to take things so personally. Actually, I'd have cut my hair sooner, sold the luscious fiery locks to the world's finest toupee maker and donated the resulting millions of Bitcoin to charity. That's how crypto currency works, right?
Probably best just to re-read my first answer, actually.
