Vancouver indie folk-pop artist Stephanie Ratcliff is excited to announce the release of her new EP Land In Unknown Places on Friday, July 27th and will celebrate with a show at Reality Vancouver on release day, followed by a string of Canadian Tour Dates throughout Ontario and Eastern Canada in August. See below for full tour schedule.

The first single from the EP, 'Come Alive', made its debut just over a week ago on June 29th when the video (Stephanie's first official music video!) premiered at Live in Limbo. Directed by Dan Loewen, the video tells a very simple kind of love story, even though the song isn't necessarily about romantic love.

Washington state R&B/soul singer-songwriter Allen Stone has released a new single, "Warriors", today via ATO Records - share the lyric video via YouTube - in advance of a performance of the track this Sunday, July 1 on ABC's broadcast of the Special Olympics opening ceremony in Seattle - Stone will be backed during the performance by a 2000 member choir. The single, produced by Jamie Lidell, will be featured on an as-yet-to-be-announced full-length album, which Stone has been putting the finishing touches on.

Discussing the song, Allen stated, "This song came in a period of struggle. Inspiration hadn't come through to visit for a while. I had felt like I was just pushing a big rock up a hill while wearing flip-flops. I was reminded at that moment that true success comes when you face adversity head on and push through those moments of hardship. Walk tall like Warriors even when terrified."

Less than two weeks before the release of his album Wide Awake (July 13/ATO), Rayland Baxter has offered a new song from the Butch Walker-produced project. "79 Shiny Revolvers" was the first song Rayland wrote during his three-month-long isolation quest at Franklin, Kentucky's secluded Thunder Sound Studios. He composed fifty songs there, ten of which eventually became Wide Awake.

"79 Shiny Revolvers" is, in Rayland's own estimation, one of the most important songs he's ever written. Its lyrics burst with irony and cutting humor to interrogate our nation's fixation on guns: "You really wanna save the world, man / well, I wanna save it too / we can blow em away / the American way."

Says Rayland, "'79 Shiny Revolvers' is a satirical and sensitive song about the shortcomings of our human race. I watch and I write, not only as an onlooker but as a participant. As the world continues to swing around the sun, I cannot help but notice that we are good people. However, our shortcomings have been highlighted by a long line of imperfect decisions. Leonard Cohen died the day I wrote this song."

San Francisco based singer/songwriter Scott Smith builds on the success of his EP release Igniting the Flame with a double-sided single featuring songs “I Will Love You” and “Spinning Round”. His country rock sound is shepherded by Igniting the Flame producer Julie Wolf and she invests two essentially romantic tunes with the sort of sonic atmospherics both songs require to realize their potential. Smith has sacrificed nothing from his memorable debut and, if anything, this new release, however brief, reveals another subtle shade in his songwriting color. His vocal chops elevate the package to another level and deliver every ounce of meaning he can to its lyrics without becoming overwrought. There’s a classic tilt to the way he attacks a song, it's phrasing, and relationship to the other instruments recalling icons of the past while still writing and recording songs that never sound like museum pieces.

When I first sat down to write this review for Luna Keller’s new summer single “Packing My Bags,” I couldn’t really make up my mind whether or not Keller reminds me more of Dean Ween or Bob Dylan. Sure, she has all of the giddy eccentricity of Ween, along with his stylishly creative guitar licks, but there’s a distinctive hostility in her voice that is a lot like Dylan’s trademark irreverent rebelliousness. But then I came to the right conclusion; Keller takes a little bit from both and adds a uniquely 21st-century urban spin to this postmodern variety of indie stylized folk rock, and it’s better than anything I could have asked for as a music fan going into this summer.

South American based act Monsieur Job has released a memorable single “Chow Chow eyyy Pow Pow” certain to be an enormous hit with Latino listeners, but the quality is so high that’s safe to say this song has a lot of crossover potential begging to be realized. The power of this release is twofold – it lies in the mix of Caribbean/Latino influences with the urban beats now so common in EDM and hip-hop, but given an additional spike in Monsieur Jobs’ hands. The second factor is in how the band’s four members bring a cross-section of influences. Songwriters Toby Holguin and Stan Kolev, alongside other members Charlie Illera and Leo Jaramillo, are well schooled in both DJ style and live music that enables them to bring organic qualities to bear on the largely electronica nature of the music. This is one of the year’s most compelling singles thus far and will likely finish as such. It’s also coupled with a powerful remixed version that will enjoy many admirers as well.

Canadian singer/songwriter Noble Son (aka Adam Kirschner) unleashes his debut album Joy in Violence, a follow-up to the three prior EPs that he released since 2011. It’s been a long journey for the musicians who found himself face to face with his own personal demons and mental struggles in 2017 which kicked off a dedicated songwriting spree that resulted in 8 pieces all of which would be recorded for Joy in Violence. This record is an alien trip through the bleakest, blackest recesses of the human mind as it battle to fight against its own sinister urges and the music on this LP truly gives off that eerie, ethereal vibration.

What with Toronto's deep and longstanding relationship with reggae music, the genre cognoscenti round here can be hard on contemporary acts doing original material. Luckily they were in short supply among a packed house because D.C. based Soja deal in a reggae muchly influenced by the area’s local hip-hop, with alt-rock in its DNA. So there was room aplenty for superbly dreadlocked frontman Jacob Hemphill to show off his shredding chops on songs like "Be Aware" and "Tear It Down".

Submitted by William Elgin

Tampa, Florida native Dru Cutler, now a Brooklyn transplant and a respected member of the Big Apple indie music community, has released a two-song EP sampler previewing his upcoming full-length studio platter Bring Closer the Distance. The two songs, a cover of Leonard Cohen’s lesser known gem “Dance Me to the End of Love” and the original “Oceanside”, are wildly different in some respects. To his credit, Cutler isn’t content with merely aping Cohen’s original as a form of backhanded tribute or whatever else and instead, recasts the song as a whiskey-soaked dancehall number. The rockier strains of “Oceanside” and the personal nature of its lyrical content provide a striking contrast for listeners without ever seeming like an ill-fit. Cutler’s unabashed confidence in tackling material from one of the 20th century’s most respected songwriters gives me kind of a jolt and his willingness to make the tune his own stands in stark difference with his lesser contemporaries who would have pursued the path of least resistance if they bothered to cover the song at all.

There’s a lot of fire and fury released over the course of Red Black Red’s debut, Resettlement, but the album’s eight songs are full of intelligence and thoughtfulness as well. The clear strands of alternative rock and electronica coloring the release is masterfully orchestrated from song to song and Enrico Fernando’s songwriting and performances alike can rarely be accused of repeating itself. He gives the audience a different look, virtually every time out on Resettlement without ever stretching too far and overextending listener’s credibility. The lyrical work going into this album is a, perhaps, surprisingly successful component in Resettlement’s mix and the songwriting is often inspired by the immigrant experience in the United States and the challenges many of those individuals and families face in modern America. The treatment, however, is never too ponderous and the production frames Fernando’s message in the polished, professional light.

The second single from an untested solo artist is often a proving ground if the performer or band has legs to make it for the long haul. If that assertion harbors any truth, Severine’s future is in excellent hands on the basis of her second single “Down the Rivers”, a stirring successor to her first mass release, “Not Obsessed”. The first single is also the title cut from her soon to be released solo debut. If anyone wonders, however, about how seriously this young songwriter would treat this song in comparison to the first single and title song to her first solo EP, wonder no longer. “Down the Rivers” matches the standard she set with the first single and her chief collaborator, producer Anthony Gallo, understands Severine’s strengths and accentuates them without ever allowing the stitching to show. There’s no wasted motion, as well, with this release and the song breezes confidently past listeners and seems over before you know it even with its nearly three and a half minute running time. “Down the Rivers” gives us a glimpse into her heart and ranks among the year’s best single releases.

Kim DiVine, along with talented producer Klvr Grl, come together on “Broken Bird (Klvr Grl Remix).” This comes after a series of highs and lows that forced her to take a hiatus from music, but not before releasing her latest EP – This Time Around, from which “Broken Bird” is originally featured. Kim DiVine has an extensive background with a lot of her songs being featured in Film and TV. After dealing with personal losses, she’s now back up and running with this incredible Remix.

Without giving away too much about the original album version, it’s best to hear it first in order to appreciate the Klvr Grl Remix, because for the sake of the song it’s great to hear it both ways. The tune itself is beat-driven but also contains a very melancholy vocal, which essentially carries the song all by itself, to begin with. The added bells and whistles of the Remix serve to bring it up a notch in energy, which gives it another reason to enjoy it all-the-more. But you can start with either version to get to the other, as it plays just as well in reverse. Klvr Grl just takes what is already great to another level.

Lowpines, aka English born producer and songwriter Oil Deakin, doesn’t like to show all of their musical cards at once. The nine songs on Lowpines’ first full-length studio album In Silver Halides build their effects over time rather than exhausting their musical mystery within the first minute or two and the performances develop in such a way that listeners are compelled to pay attention. Deakin’s effort on these songs is further complemented by contributions from his drummer brother, respected producer IggyB (Spirtiualized, The Duke Spirit, John Grant), and flute playing from Jesse Chandler, but the beating heart of In Silver Halides is Oil Deakin and his vivid, highly individualistic songwriting point of view. This is unmistakably his own work and whatever influences exerted their hold over his imagination during the conception and recording of the material is so thoroughly subsumed into Deakin’s writing as to be rendered unrecognizable.

Black Iris Records, a joint venture with Mesa Bluemoon Recordings have announced a March 9 release date for Better Part of Me, the new album of songs from acclaimed singer/songwriter Dulcie Taylor. The label will release “Halfway to Jesus,” the first single off the new album.

The title of the first single has special meaning to Dulcie Taylor, as she reflected on it recently.
“Our planet is suffering from ravaging climate change that has brought on catastrophic storms, commonly called ‘1,000-year storms,’ indicating how rare they should be. We must take action to save our planet.”

The Boston quartet Pale Monsters, fronted by guitarist/songwriter Chris Mulvey, is an assemblage of longtime Beantown musicians who’ve struck up an unusually potent chemistry and possess a song-first sensibility that embraces working as a band rather than instrumental spotlights. There’s certainly some relatively tough-minded rock to be heard on Are You Feeling Alive? but there’s tremendous heart underlying these ten songs that come through in sometimes delightfully unexpected ways. These veteran musicians are coming together in a way that belies their years playing for the public – instead, there’s the same sort energy present in this recording we’re accustomed to hearing from young musicians recording for the first time and it’s wonderfully balanced with the seasoned results that only longtime top-notch writers and musicians can muster. Pale Monsters’ Are You Feeling Alive? crackles with depth and rowdy rock and roll spirit.

The Plot In You’s new album, DISPOSE is out February 16th and now the Ohio quartet has revealed another song from the album in the form of DISPOSABLE FIX. Vocalist Landon Tewers says of the track, "DISPOSABLE FIX was written in one sitting, during a writing session for another artist. I latched onto it and just had to keep it for PLOT in the end. It's a bit of a ‘fuck you’ track, reflecting on a situation after everything had passed."

The Plot In You have also been announced as special guests on Alazka & We Came As Romans’ UK & European Tour, alongside Polaris. "We've been friends with the WCAR guys for years now but have never gotten the chance to tour together,” says Landon. “It'll be great to be able to do a full U.S. and European tour with them."

I saw Black Panther on Tuesday February 6th, ten days before the release of the film.

I waited a few days to see if the buzz would wear off? I have been waiting for this film since the first trailer. I did not want it's blackness to carry it limping across the finish line but its strong performances, stunning visual style ,excellent characters portrayals and a well written script to carry the day!

It did!

The story had to be current, relatable and hold the water of a culture denied. It was!

You expect a strong original soundtrack and underscore with Top Dawg Entertainment, Multiple Grammy Award Winner Kendrick Lamar, adding a cast of hundreds including our very own The Weeknd on the closing theme with Kendrick Lamar, "Pray for me". It is!

The rock opera opus from Universal Dice entitled birth, love, hate, death marks the creative high point for writer/musician/activist Gerry Dantone and his pet project. Universal Dice makes great use of some of the best East Coast-based session players available but, despite Dantone’s primacy as the project’s creative leader, Universal Dice has a stable cast of collaborators and comes across as a real band with the sort of chemistry we hope for from such configurations. The sixteen songs included on the release makes up a compelling whole and tells a story through the voices of its characters, but the songs likewise stand well on their own, boast considerable commercial appeal, and carries on in an identifiable tradition that has many admirers. Universal Dice’s birth, love, hate, death is unique music guaranteed to make its listeners think and feel in equal measure.

With only a month to go before the release of her brand new self-titled album, Rachel Beck is thrilled to announce a Maritime tour to celebrate the new record. The tour will take her through PEI, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, kicking off with a special hometown Charlottetown show on February 25th (full dates below). For a taste of Beck’s captivating performance, have a look at her new live video for the lead single, Reckless Heart. The track entered CBC Radio 2’s Top 20 countdown this week and is available as an instant-grat with a pre-order of the album.

“We shot this video during a live show at The Dunk – a magical house concert venue in the heart of Prince Edward Island,” says Beck. “It was one of those dreamy summer days, and the whole event had a backyard BBQ kind of vibe. It was the perfect setting for our debut live performance of Reckless Heart.”

Multi-platinum Grammy-winning super-producer and artist, Timbaland, is back and riding high with the release of his new single and visual, Grab The Wheel, available today on all major digital streaming platforms. Featured on this fast and furious track is a Baltimore-based rising star, 6lack. Get Grab The Wheel here.

In this new visual, 6lack describes the need for a strong woman in his hectic life: "Girl I got a lot that's going on. If I'm trippin' tell me what I'm doing wrong". 6lack and his girl seem to have their priorities in order, as they discuss their potential relationship over a night full of laughter and games. The hypnotic track shows that Timbaland is still at the top of his musical game, while 6lack delivers a smooth and soulful performance over the beats of a producing legend.

About Timbaland
www.timbalandmusic.com