If you want a 15-minute song that feels like two, then this one is for you. Toronto-based musical duo Freedom Baby brings its listeners more than just a single — it’s an experience. Brianna Bordihn and Eric Reid create something magical by allowing the song to transition from whimsical guitar strums and upbeat vocals to frantic drum beats and darker places. The nuanced nature makes it a perfect song for any occasion, whether it be dancing around with your friends or laying in bed as the sun rises. At times, “I Want To Give” is reminiscent of Vampire Weekend or Passion Pit; however, it is a roller coaster of emotions in a class of its own.
In between walking on the runway for fashion houses like Burberry and Gucci, Ruben Pol finds time to create stunning new music. His most recent effort is “Bed Sheets,” and he has Tom Martin helping him on the production front.
Classically trained in an array of instruments, Pol’s vocals can be heard with their almost ethereal tones here, drifting throughout his simple and stunning electronic layers. With some brushes of guitar and piano peppered across to carve out a melody, “Bed Sheets” shimmers from start to finish.
While Colorado-based indie/blues rock group Dream Feed – comprised of Miguel Dakota (Lead Vocals, Guitar), Ryan Wagner (Lead Guitar, Vocals), Will Gaines (Bass), and Brian Nolan (Drums) – is busy crushing it, they’ve somehow found time to create a playlist just for Imperfect Fifth. We’re digging the vibes, and hope you integrate this one into your “must listen” list.
“These are songs that inspire us to be more creative writers, performers, and musicians. And they‘re just straight up jams!” – Miguel Dakota
Portland-based alt/pop My Brothers and I might be busy prepping for the release of their EP material, but the next piece in that EP puzzle belongs to “When You’re Ready”, for which the music video has been taking center stage since its release in late May.
We’re absolutely smitten with this quintet, so we decided to do a quick interview to celebrate all their (amazing!) release news as of late. Check it out below!
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How did you all meet?
Scott, Erik, and I (David) are really brothers, so we met because we had to. Then Jordan and Scott have been besties since 2nd Grade and Jordan held me when I was a baby. So he is basically our brother.
Your song “When You’re Ready” has a very unique sound, what inspired that?
For the entire EP coming soon, we wanted to write pop music and have it feel like it could be on Top 40 radio, while also staying true to what makes us different. In most of our new songs, we have a mixture of real instruments and samples. We wanted to create a hybrid that competes with a lot of the digitally created pop music you hear, without going full-blown digital. We have a lot of real piano, real guitar, real drums, and real bass, while also throwing in some synths and 808 drum beats. This is especially shown off in When You’re Ready. The vibe may feel familiar, but the execution is what we feel sets it apart. It’s organic pop!
The video for “When You’re Ready” has an interesting story that revolves around a dissatisfied model. How did you come up with the concept for the video?
The “When You’re Ready” music video idea was actually brought to us by the producer of the video. He reached out and pitched his idea and we really liked it right away. We knew we didn’t want the video to just be a direct narrative of the lyrical content and his idea felt like a pretty cool metaphor that makes sense with the lyrics without being a direct representation. We had a blast working on it and are super happy with how it turned out.
Who inspires you as artists?
We are all a bunch of music sponges. We love to listen to music and are constantly listening to the New Music Friday playlist on Spotify. So more recently we have been vibing on that new Shawn Mendes album (no shame). In general we have always been inspired by bands and artists like John Mayer, OneRepublic, Justin Timberlake, Michael Jackson, Coldplay, The Roots, and so many others.
Where to you hope to see yourself musically in the next five years?
I think we would love to be settling into a nice career and a nice rhythm of being full time musicians. This journey has been so much fun and taken a ton of work and will continue to take a ton of work, but I think if we could be releasing a 3rd or 4th album by then and have a solid foundation and fan base, that would be a huge blessing. For us, we just want to change lives. It sounds cliché but we aren’t just doing music because it’s fun. We want to make a difference in people’s lives and touch people’s souls with our music. Make them feel something deeper than just surface level. If we get to a place where we can be playing and releasing music and use our platform to be a light in this world, that would be reaching our ultimate goal.
If you could describe your sound, what would it be?
I think organic pop is probably the best way to describe our sound. We love all types of music. We grew up on jazz and rock and hip hop and blues. We try to just be ourselves when we write and not stray away from that jazzy guitar lick, or that fat hip hop drum beat. We find ways to implement the past in a pop way with real instruments.
What is your favorite part about working together as a band?
Collaborating in everything we do is so much fun. Whether its ideas for live shows, writing songs, or what to do for an Instagram story, we all just love being around each other and goofing off. We try not to take things too seriously and just stay true to who we are. If you ever get a chance to see us live, we think this shines through. We just have a blast and I basically view every transition as a chance to make the crowd laugh or smile… and occasionally cry (in a good way).
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Keep up with My Brothers & I here, and preorder their EP here.
Kara Grainger may have had more humble beginnings in Australia, but her world travels and body of work speaks to a dozen lifetimes of success. All of her musical influences and inspiration have culminated in her latest 9-track body of work, her full-length Living With Your Ghost that dropped on June 1st. Full of robust harmonies, rock-tinged guitar, and a whole lot of twang, this album has so much attitude that it could give Carrie Underwood a run for her money. (Though we in no way are referring to any of this beaut as “pop music.”)
Not only is her soulful attitude palpable with each track, but the lyrics are something to grasp onto, making Grainger accessible and relatable in the best ways. Personal favorites include “Man Without Soul” and “Broken Record”, but we’re sure most of this album will be the soundtrack to your late night, summertime pool games all season.
Living With Your Ghost is available now. Keep up with Grainger here.
Sounding special right now over on CloudKid is the first single release on the label from singer, songwriter and musician JT Roach. Originally from Madison, this talented artist has carved out “Lazy Kisses,” and it is ready to soak up and stream below.
With some huge commercial names having previously been written for by JT Roach, he now focuses his attention to his own material, and there is an album allegedly on the way. “Lazy Kisses” is everything we want to hear in our summer chill playlists: smooth, dreamy vocals, flickers of acoustic guitar and beautifully-rounded musicality.
Michael Kight grew up in Dublin, Georgia, playing guitar since age 12. Influenced by Motown and Elvis as a child, he later came into his own inspired by the sounds of 90’s R&B. Always having a deep-rooted passion for music, he moved to Nashville and played with several musicians as well as took up producing. Wanting to break out and establish himself he auditioned for The Voice. Before auditioning for The Voice, he played guitar for Season 3 artist Amber Carrington. Now it’s his time to shine and front the show with his single, “Clear”, and we have the exclusive premiere. Here is the scoop on the sound of the new single.
“Clear” begins like a true R&B hit. Smooth and soulful vocals with soft jazz keys. As the intro transitions to verse joining the mix is a laid-back hip-hop beat and a slow romantically grooving bass line. Michael has a great mid-range voice that may throw some listeners as he sounds extremely ethnically cultured. He can also hit those high notes without any breaks, shakes, or vocal strain. Pre-chorus he is accompanied by reverse synth notes, finger snaps, and excellently placed vocal overdubs. The bass and drum find perfect harmony as they pump and pulsate like a beating human heart. It’s a deep punch as they strike, but it’s not overpowering to the song. It’s the right amount of slow jam and subwoofer teasing bass.
While the lyrics are semi-romantic asking a girl to be clear in her intentions, it’s pretty clear she caused a little damage. Enough to question if it was real, to begin with. It’s a real question as he states “even if hurts.” The midsection has a creative synth replicating jazz horns. The build is subtle and the song comes back in in a way that is refreshing. Allowing the music to be felt before slowly fading away.
It’s been made very clear that Micheal Kight has the vocal range, instrument and producer skill, a lot of experience in the background and is now ready to take and own center stage.
Find more details on his website and don’t forget to follow him on Facebook for more.
Tancred is excited to release their latest album, Nightstand. The release of Nightstand follows up on the well praised 2016 album Out of the Garden. The album rounds out with eleven tracks, the first fittingly titled “Song One.” It is slow, sweet, and at 1:44 it is all too brief. Jess Abbott (Tancred) shows off her vulnerability on this track. “I will not lie to you, these words will be true,” leads the first line of Nightstand. “Why must she love someone else?” wonders Tancred. “Apple Tree Girl” has a folk indie vibe to it, with some interesting lyrics. “Drink my heart out, drink it up,” and “send me a photo, the two of us in the unknown,” make for interesting and almost emo lyrics.
I really enjoy Tancred’s “Underwear”. The song starts off slow and self-loathing, almost punk. “I don’t want to fight you, I’m already fighting me…and I’m losing,” sings Jess before the guitar comes in. The quirky title comes from the electric song line: “Remember when we were in the halls at 5am in our underwear running from ghosts and in my room I was learning that you were soft.” “Rowing” the last track on Nightstand, equally mirrors “Song One” and again shows the artist’s honesty and vulnerability. “I am crude and sweet in bed, I am gentle in a dress,” sings Tancred. With a taste of rock and tambourine, tinged with Tancred’s simple vocals, “Rowing” is a series of positive, gentle thoughts.
Nightstand, in one word, is diverse. It shows Tancred’s ability to navigate through a series of genres and styles, while remaining true as an artist.
Look for Nightstand which will be out June 1st 2018. Keep up with Tancred here.
Nashville-based folk rock artist Jerry Castle has been making waves with his brand of Americana for quite some time now, and we’re absolutely thrilled to announce that we’ve got the exclusive premiere of his brand new lyric video for “Room to Dance”. The sweet, slowly meandering track about a special connection between two people is absolutely beautiful, allowing for his rough vocals to add a depth to it all that might not otherwise be present. And while the lyric video is pretty straight forward – providing the lyrics scrolling across a red – at times glittering – backdrop, the song itself provides some introspective moments that will help you welcome June in a positive mood.
Says Jerry of the track:
“Room to Dance” was the very last songs written for the album. I had already mastered the album, so obviously I had no intention of putting any additional songs on it. But one day in Nov 2017, my buddy Carey Ott came over for a hang and we got into this conversation about the magical impact that strangers sometimes have on your life. The next thing you know, we had our guitars in hand, trying to write a song about it. It wasn’t until we wrote the first line of the chorus “you’ve got to get out of line while there’s time, time to take, time to take a chance” that I realized this song fit right into the theme of the album and I started getting really excited about it. A day later I was recording the song in my studio. Collectively, it’s one of my favorite songs on the album and it has the least amount of instrumentation of any song on the album.
“Room to Dance” is available now. Keep up with Jerry Castle here.
