by Elizabeth Schneider | Jun 24, 2021 | singles, wolf tracks
June 24th brings us the latest release from Head Bitch Music artist LACES, “Almost Happy” featuring storied musician Butch Walker. The song is both thoughtful in its lyrics and dreamy feeling in its melody.
LACES’ voice quality at the beginning of “Almost Happy” is reminiscent of Belinda Carlisle singing “I Get Weak.” As appealing as her voice is, the lyrics are what drew me in, beginning with the very first line – “I’m just young enough to be a little numb and dumb.” The song tells a story of learning, with the ultimate lesson being “almost happy.” Throughout, you can feel the lessons: “I get more jaded every day”; “Roll with the punches, isn’t that what they say”; and “I’ll make more headway in this game.” Each one delivered with LACES’ strength and range, punctuated with guitars by Butch Walker.
Says LACES of the track:
‘Almost Happy’ feels like my honest truth. To me happiness has never been a destination, I only ever wanted to be content and okay. It’s a conversation that discusses where I’ve been, where I am, and where I’m going. It’s laced with sarcasm and self-deprecating humor, while also standing firm in belief and self-love.
LACES has been a chameleon thus far in her career – previous releases include the haunting “Moved” and “Someday Is Not Tonight.” She has also made a name for herself in commercial circles writing and producing music for cartoons and other artists, under her legal name of Jessica Vaughn. Her goal for mastering several creative avenues was strategic:
I wanted to make sure I had enough eggs in different baskets to change this industry from within––and to be respected as a businesswoman. I realized that my experience as a woman had been shaped by a lot of people making decisions for me. While I think it’s important to be collaborative and to ask for help, you never want to be in a position where you don’t have power or agency over your career or yourself.
You will want to add “Almost Happy” to your playlist – and really, anything else by LACES.
by Meredith Schneider | Jun 24, 2021 | premieres, singles, wolf tracks
Summertime is a time to enjoy the world around you, take some time to slow down and soak up the beauty in life, and to become inspired in your creative endeavors. So, naturally, what a perfect time to release a single that addresses just those things. Singer/songwriter Anthony Savino has done just that, employing his quintessential light, carefree vocals to drive the point home. As the song progresses at a danceable clip, its lyrics envelope you in a feeling of emotional freedom, like the world is your oyster.
Explains the artist of the track:
When I first started writing “One-Track Mind,” I wasn’t sure what it was about. But I kept working on it and I played it for some people, and eventually, I realized that it was about the creative process, and to a larger extent my experiences making music. The song goes through the progresses, failures, diversions, distractions, and whatever else it takes to create something, whether it’s a song or a songwriting career.
I don’t have one process or method for songwriting, but I do have a stubbornness to just do it anyway, and that’s one of the meanings of the title. But I also think it’s about knowing when to say enough’s enough. Sometimes the creative process can be a black hole; it can take over my whole world and I lose perspective. I can spiral for a long time if I don’t step back and look at the big picture.
Get your first listen to the track below, then head over and show Anthony Savino some love!
Back Before the Fall is out July 23.
by Meredith Schneider | Jun 23, 2021 | videos, wolf tracks
June has been pretty splash-worthy, what with the heatwave enveloping the country and all that jazz. The first shot of Dawson Fuss’ new music video depicts cool, blue waters. The remainder of the video keeps with a majority of cool tones helping to communicate the melancholy nature of the track itself. Splashes of red play in before combining for a full-color effect in limited frames. After all, “Right Person, Wrong Time” is a single we can all relate to in some capacity.
Get drawn in by this attractive track, and its vivid music video accompaniment, below.
Keep up with Dawson Fuss here.
by Meredith Schneider | Jun 21, 2021 | singles, wolf tracks
While we wait with bated breath for Jessica Luise’s debut EP, Going in Blind, to release on July 9th, the stunning songstress has given us some ear candy to play with until then. A light, 90’s rock-inspired track, “a.m.” begins at the same clip that will carry it through the entirety of its 3 minutes and 28 seconds of existence.
While reverb plays along through the chorus, you find yourself daydreaming about your next road trip or adventure into the unknown. Her mellifluous vocals pay homage to flings, bringing in a bittersweet string of lyrics to consume from the inside out. A welcome treat for our ears, this track makes it more enticing than ever to venture out into the world (for the first time in what feels like forever).
Says Jessica of the upcoming EP:
To think that I would be the proud creator of a piece of work like this after being in this industry for such a short time baffles me. ‘Going In Blind’ comes from how I was blind to the red flags in relationships I’ve encountered over the years, and a bit of a comment on how when I first started in music I knew nothing. I am still learning, but maybe I’m not as much of a newborn in this industry as I was a year ago.
Keep up with Jessica Luise here.
by Meredith Schneider | Jun 17, 2021 | premieres, singles, wolf tracks
This week has been mighty hectic on our end. While retrograde season is still upon us we’re pretty sure you’re feeling it a bit too. Luckily, we’ve got your first listen to the beautiful, wandering new track from Grey Fields. The Chicago-based trio – composed of Alex Dzamtovski (vocals/guitar/keys), Adam Repp (bass/vocals), and John Polischuk (drums) – has created quite a bit of magic with this one. Titled “Weather the Storm,” it creates a sense of support and calm, the instrumentals ebbing and flowing like ocean waves enveloping you.
Explains the band: “‘Weather The Storm’ is a song comprised of three sections that flirts with ideas such as the hero’s journey, The Myth of Sisyphus and most importantly fortitude in the face of struggle.”
Check out the exclusive premiere below. Then give the band some love over on good ol’ Facebook.
“Weather the Storm” is out Friday.
by Meredith Schneider | Jun 17, 2021 | albums, premieres, wolf tracks
A slow, organic build. Percussion that speaks directly to the heart and soul while light-as-a-feather vocals dance lightly along the soundscape. This is how we find ourselves introduced to the intricate selection of tracks on Brady Grey‘s new full length. The ten-track compilation – titled Three Crows – is somewhat of an adventure, made up of beautiful, easy listening tracks.
Expands Grey on the project: “It’s told from the perspective of being in a relationship that ends up being more complex than I thought it was going to be. Being a husband, a lover, and sometimes a caregiver, which is just different than what you expected.”
Perfect for an outdoor adventure or beautiful night on the patio surrounded by glistening lights, we have your first listen to the independent release in its entirety in advance of its Friday release.
Pick up your copy, out Friday!
by ImperfectFifth | Jun 3, 2021 | soundtrack, videos, wolf tracks
June has been a whirlwind of a month already. With new releases coming at us hot every day – there are over 600 music releases slated for Friday, and that’s just what we know of – we have hardly had time to blink. And that makes us happy, if you’re actually wondering. So here’s to the artists and their never-ending inspiration. And here’s to the people who make things happen. Check out some of our favorites released this month below and don’t forget… Happy PRIDE, everyone!
by ImperfectFifth | May 24, 2021 | perspective, snapshot
As much as we love covering music on an international scale, we see the value in (and need for) local artist spotlights. Since Imperfect Fifth is based in Kansas City, we have teamed up with the Kansas City Women’s Music Network to bring you artist highlights about twice per month.
About Ro Myra:
“I grew up in a small, dried-up oil and farming town in the middle of nowhere Nebraska,” says Ro Myra. “I spent most of my life running away from it, and now I’m right back where I started.”
‘Nowhere, Nebraska,’ Myra’s extraordinary debut, is more than just a musical homecoming, though. Recorded in Denver, Nashville, and Austin, the self-produced collection is a complex reckoning with the past, a nuanced, literate reexamination of small-town life in the shadow of heartbreak, self-destruction, and second chances. While the arrangements here are broad and sweeping, Myra’s storytelling is sharply focused and firmly rooted. She writes with a novelist’s eye and sings with the kind of weathered grace that makes even hard truths go down easy, calling to mind everything from Kathleen Edwards to Lucinda Williams as she makes peace with the past in order to more fully inhabit the present.
Though her path seemed anything but obvious, Myra knew from an early age that her future lay beyond the endless cropland that surrounded her growing up. She taught herself piano as a child, studied classical composition in college, and spent her post-grad years working with international non-profits before returning to music at the urging of her mentor, renowned composer Dr. Eric Funk. The result is a captivating debut all about memory and forgiveness, a warm embrace of an album as raw and windswept as the landscape that inspired it.
Ro Myra may have left home, but home, it seems, never left her.
Find Ro Myra’s music on Spotify, Facebook, Kickstarter, and Instagram. If you are interested in being featured on the Member Spotlight check out the KCWMN website.
by Meredith Schneider | May 19, 2021 | premieres, singles, wolf tracks
Sometimes fate finds us crossing paths with someone who will ultimately become our partner. Partner in love, partner in business, partner in creative endeavors… We see this fateful crossing within the music of Gawain and the Green Knight, a folk duo that is comprised of one of the most artistic engaged couples we have encountered. As Brooklyn-based Alexia Antoniou and Mike O’Malley rev up to release their forthcoming EP A Sleeping Place, the release of their new track “Fingers” gives us insight into what’s to come.
Expands Alexia:
This is one of the only songs I’ve ever written just about myself. Usually, when writing songs, I’m a little shyer. I take an emotion I’m feeling but give it to someone else to sing, so to speak- a frustrated medieval woodworker’s apprentice, a jealous French king, a determined 19th-century dressmaker.
But I was on an airplane with Mike a few years back. We hadn’t been able to get seats together. I had been reading Madeline Miller’s Song of Achilles and finished it mid-flight and was just completely emotionally devastated. I wasn’t just teary-eyed, I was outright weeping- so much so that the woman next to me took one look at me and started turning up the volume on her little headrest tv. I managed to make meaningful eye contact with Mike across the aisle, and with a few gestures of the head, he agreed to meet me near the airplane toilets so I could cry some more on him. “Fingers” was inspired by that whispered conversation that came out of reading Song of Achilles. It’s a love song for my bandmate and fiancé, simple as that.
One of the first things of note – aside from the inescapably beautiful melody – is how the lyrics and instrumentation rely just as heavily on the space between the notes. We are absolutely enthralled with an artist that knows how to utilize the space between the notes as well, inspired of course by Debussy’s famous quote. (“Music is the space between the notes.”) Mike further affirmed our goosebumps by talking about just that:
As for arrangements, I picture so much of this song occurring in the void of space? Or some equally airless oblivion. So sparseness and reverb seemed the order of things – a little Rhodes piano here, a little bowed bass there. I wanted to ride the line of all-the-way-in-love and all-the-way-scared. And I wanted Alexia to sound like she was alone in the dark with a torch.
If you’ve ever experienced love at any capacity, this song is for you. Short and sweet, it is a testament to simple acts of support leading to a lifetime of love.
Check out “Fingers” on your ideal streaming platform here. Keep up with Gawain and the Green Knight here.
