Singer-songwriter Cass McCombs has released a new standalone single The Wine of Lebanon, which has been done in partnership with Universal Audio and their new recording system LUNA. According to McCombs, “The Wine of Lebanon is a song that centers around the line: ‘what can I offer you?‘, it is about ritual offerings to the departed and wine as allegory for life.” Stream it below and watch … Continue reading Cass McCombs – The Wine of Lebanon
For a few years Americana duo The Lowest Pair were regular features on MM, but to our shame this is the first music we’ve shared of theirs since 2015. Our bad undoubtedly, but their new album (released last week) The Perfect Plan is a great reminder of what we’ve been missing. Clawhammer banjo and acoustic guitar are still at the heart of a subtly more fleshed out … Continue reading The Lowest Pair – The Perfect Plan
Smoke is the latest single shared from Jess Williamson’s forthcoming record Sorceress. It is a brilliant song. A deep country rock ‘n roll burner, Smoke describes a relationship that’s falling apart. From a delicate finger-picked opening, the song rises with flourishes of muted percussion, lilting pedal steel, and piercing electric guitar. And as always the song is held together by her incredible vocals. Watch the … Continue reading New Video: Jess Williamson – Smoke
We were big fans of country garage quintet Sleep Eaters’ Holy Days EP last year, making our end of year Best of List, and now they are back with In This Town, which is in fact the very first track the band recorded together two years ago. It is meant as a stopgap release to help tide us over during the quarantine and ahead of … Continue reading New From Sleep Eaters
A Different Thread, is the collaboration between Robert Jackson from Lichfield, England, and Alicia Best from Durham, North Carolina, USA. Both travelling songwriters in their own right, they first met while busking in Galway, Ireland, back in 2016 and have been on the road together ever since. They have an upcoming EP, Some Distant Shore (due out May 22nd) and have shared a video for … Continue reading New Video: A Different Thread – Pretty Polly
Here is a lovely way to head in to the weekend with William Fitzsimmon’s cover of Angel from Montgomery, a tribute to the passing of the great John Prine. He says, “John Prine, like one of my other heroes, Townes Van Zandt, was a once in a generation writer. He distilled emotions down to simple phrases and timeless melodies. He wrote songs that seemed like they existed decades … Continue reading Video: William Fitzsimmons – Angel from Montgomery
Birmingham quartet Swampmeat Family Band have announced their new album Muck! will see a release on the 5th June on vinyl and digital formats. Expert purveyors of a blend of uptempo garage rock and gentle Americana, which they meld it into a lush, cinematic whole, the new record sees them adding new layers and fresh flourishes to their trademark sound. Listen to a couple of tracks … Continue reading Swampmeat Family Band – Muck!
Sci-Fi Romance is an alt-folk band from Los Angeles led by singer and multi-instrumentalist Vance Kotrla. Their dark, percussive take on folk, made haunting by the lyrical cello work of Jody Stark, offers a sonically apocalyptic version of folk music for uncertain times. We last posted about them seven years ago, but their latest EP The Rain Becomes A River is a collective suite of songs seeking peace … Continue reading Sci-Fi Romance Cover Led Zep
There is always a slight amount of trepidation that accompanies a new release from a much-loved band, especially one that has been quiet for a good long while. And there is always something a bit special when that trepidation turns to anticipation shortly into the first listen when you know they’ve not let you down, in fact far from it. So it is with the … Continue reading Return of the Roadside Graves
We posted a video from Girl Skin back in 2018, and made mention then of their fragile chamber folk, but now they have released Shade is on the other side, an album that is deservedly picking up much praise and is a beautifully sparse and intimate record. Over the course of eleven tracks the album dips and shuffles from yearning and melancholy to lighter shades … Continue reading Mad Mackerel Recommends… Girl Skin
The Mad Mackerel 