Noga Erez - VIEWS (feat. Reo Cragun & ROUSSO)

Since she arrived on the scene back in 2017, Noga Erez has combined cutting edge innovative beats with sharp social commentary, particularly as regards technology. 'VIEWS' takes a hefty swipe at influencer culture, and the video underlines the overall message: Noga and her fellow 'influencers' are depicted shoving past each other, pushing each other out of the way as they climb a never ending Escher style staircase representing the echelons and layers of fame. Watch it until the end. It'll give you a lot to think about.

King Princess - Talia (Official Video)

There just aren't enough out and out girl on girl unashamedly pop full on love songs, there really aren't. But King Princess looks set to be providing plenty and this is one of her best.

Geowulf - He's 31

A particularly pretty and melodic slice of foul mouthed twee pop, Geowulf's 'He's 31' speaks of millennial angst and lack of direction while coming across like an undiscovered sixties garage pop gem with higher production values. This is surely on course to be one of the songs of the year.

Darrin Bradbury - Hell’s More or Less the Same (Grimey’s in-Store)

There's something almost Randy Newman like about Darrin Bradbury, there's evidence of the same kind of nihilistic deadpan humour, but with more of a twang. While Father John Misty feels like the likeliest heir to Newman (given his most recent output) I'd say Bradbury shares a similar kind of humour. I nearly got to see him live in Manchester last time he was here only I had to work late so missed it. A shame as this clip shows it would have been a good night out.

Lana Del Rey - Looking For America (Audio)

As a strictly un-political artist, it was pleasant surprise to see Lana Del Rey release 'Looking For America' last year. The song was made available on the day it was written, and was penned in response to the Dayton and El Paso shootings in the US in summer 2019. Sonically, it reflects the pared down approach taken by Del Rey on her critically acclaimed album Norman Fucking Rockwell, while thematically it longs for safer, calmer times.

Overcoats - Fire & Fury (Official Music Video)

Overcoats second album, The Fight, dropped on the 13th March. The email the band sent around to their mailing list to advertise their new arrival was slightly apologetic in tone, acknowledging that the day Corona Virus (COVID-19) was declared a pandemic might not be a great time to be unleashing a new album on the world. Still, they hope it will provide a certain amount of comfort to listeners and that we all get through this.

The band released one of my favourite albums of 2017 in Young, so the expectations were always going to be high. It's too early into my listening, and too early in the year, to give my verdict, but as 'Fire & Fury' shows, the signs are very, very good.

Sharon Van Etten - Seventeen

Sharon Van Etten's 2019 album Remind Me Tomorrow has an air of toughness and stone cold Patti Smith esque cool about it that just takes the breath away. 'Seventeen' (along with 'Comeback Kid') is a great example of this new found steeliness, and it's a record that will stand the test of time I'm sure.

Cosmo - Midnight

I first heard this song about... three months ago? I can't remember how I came across it, but I'm pretty sure that a random Spotify playlist was involved...

I did what I often do on Spotify, which is to file it away for a later date to listen to distractedly while doing other things, or else be stopped dead by.

This was one of the 'be stopped dead by' ones.

"That sounds a helluva lot like Florence Welch..." I thought.

There isn't really anything about Cosmo up online if you search by the band name and song title, and searches are hampered by there being an Australian band out there called Cosmo's Midnight, so I've only just found out that... I was right. It, um, is Florence Welch singing, and that Cosmo's 'Midnight' basically lives in a weird algorithmic space on YouTube with various slightly obscure/less well known Florence + The Machine tracks such as 'Paper Massacre', 'Conductor' and 'As Far As I Could Get'.

Given that the identity of the vocalist on this track has been quietly driving me mad for at least a month now, it is good to know that I was right, but... Had I trusted my instincts and typed the band name, song name and 'Florence Welch' into my search engine at the time, I would have found this out a lot faster. As such, I probably am the last person in the Florence + The Machine fan universe to figure this out. (Looks mildly embarrassed in a pleased kind of way)

Niki & The Dove - DJ, Ease My Mind (Official Music Video)

Shot through with the brooding intensity of both early Florence + The Machine and mid period Patrick Wolf (it was released in 2011, the same year as Ceremonials and Lupercalia), the epic 'DJ, ease my mind' is a masterclass in baroque pop: All encompassing, dramatic, ferocious, slightly mysterious...

It featured on 2012's Instinct album and hasn't really aged since. A floor filler in any era.

Celeste - Stop This Flame (Official Video)

Celeste was crowned BBC Music's Sound of 2020 back at the beginning of January, about a month before 'Stop This Flame' was released. I see this song as being a vindication of that decision but it's also an exciting record generally: There is so much going on in there. From the jazz influenced vocal to the house feel of the piano riff, to the general sense of euphoria. It is the sound of a rising artist having her moment and enjoying every second of it, with the expectation of more moments to come, and I salute her for it.

Big Mama Thornton - Hound Dog

Every now and then I like to re-watch this clip, and generally salute Big Mama Thornton. Her version of 'Hound Dog' was the original version, pre Elvis Presley. She also wrote and performed the original 'Ball and chain', as made famous by Janis Joplin (who certainly acknowledged Big Mama Thornton, whereas Elvis Presley did not).

She was just an absolute powerhouse of talent. An absolute legend.

Maggie Rogers - The Knife (Live On Austin City Limits)

Maggie Rogers Heard it in a past life album feels almost ubiquitous these days, thanks to the success of 'Alaska', but it's a ubiquity that's well deserved given its sonic palette of sophisticated pop. 'The Knife' has more in common with the upbeat 'Give a little' than with the brooding but hypnotic understated electro of 'Alaska', but it's a complex piece of pop that holds up well to repeated listening. And you can dance to it.

TT - The Dream (Audio)

TT is the solo project of Theresa Wayman of Warpaint, and 'The Dream' is taken from the album LoveLaws, released in 2018. By the look of it, Wayman is still occasionally putting stuff out under the moniker TT in-between her duties in Warpaint, and given that I stumbled across 'The Dream' on Spotify one day as a random recommendation, it seems apt to admit that I was completely oblivious as to the identity of TT until, um, now.

I probably will check out the album though.

JGrrey - Notice

This understated soul single (with a great hook) came out around this time last year. JGrrey is the stage name of Jennifer Clarke, a young singer from South London, and aside from an EP worth of tunes and a couple of interviews (one of which you can read here), I don't know that much about her. But I definitely want to.

Greentea Peng – Ghost Town

An uncharacteristicly political song from rising talent Greentea Peng, 'Ghost Town', the video to the song was filmed on the Aylesbury Estate in South London. At risk of demolition in 2016, the estate is now part of a regeneration area.

Regeneration in London is always a political subject and there is a sense, echoed very strongly by Peng here, that it is not the communities whose houses are being regenerated who gain the benefits. "You won't take my city from me" vows Peng as the high rises disappear to be replaced by unaffordable 'affordable' housing and communities are displaced.

When she performed the song live at the recent 6Music festival in Camden, she segued it smoothly into a high octane take on The Specials 1981 hit 'Ghost Town', which was number 1 in the UK Top 40 at the time of the 1981 riots.

Food for thought in both cases.

Nitin Sawhney - Days of Fire feat. Natty

I'm not entirely sure which particular series of events inspired Nitin Sawhney's thoughtful, reflective piece 'Days of Fire', but such are the times we live in that it could be about any number of events and tragedies to occur in the UK's capital over these past eleven years and earlier.

Stop what you're doing, settle down, take a breath and just... listen.

DELILAH HOLLIDAY - RISE OF THE PHOENIX

Having risen to fame as part of London's sibling punk grrrls Skinny Girl Diet, Delilah Holliday has branched out, musically speaking, over the past couple of years. In 2018 she was one third of experimental musical project B.E.D, also featuring Baxter Dury and Etienne De Crécy, and late last year she released this low key, mysterious slice of sixties influenced psych pop.

It's unclear at this stage as to whether she will settle on a permanent solo career, or if this is merely a diversion from Skinny Girl Diet, but whatever she chooses to do long term, people will be watching.

Kingdom - High Enough (feat. Tiara Thomas)

Following on from yesterdays absolute banger, I decided to keep you on the dance floor with this mesmerising piece of contemporary euphoric house.

'High Enough' was released last summer, possibly to coincide with Pride, and it's a sophisticated piece with an equally slick video that should keep the endorphins rising.

Tiara Thomas' vocals really make it, and it's a fantastic record that I'm very happy to revisit.

Sarah Roston - Eu Incomodo (I Bother)

I don't know an awful lot about Sarah Roston, and 'Eu Incomodo (I Bother)' is only her first single, but... Judging from this excellent slice of latin sunshine, I think we're going to be hearing a lot more from her. She will be enhancing our dance floors for years to come with any luck.

Jade Bird - I Get No Joy

I really like Jade Bird; she's the kind of songwriter who knows her Janis Joplin from her Stevie Nicks, which can only be a good thing. She came up through BBC Introducing a couple of years ago and has toured solidly for years. Last years '17' was one of my favourite songs of 2019 and, like '17', 'I Get No Joy' featured on Jade's self titled debut album.

She's still learning, and still writing and playing, so I have great hopes for her in the future and am eagerly awaiting album number two whenever she's ready.

Half Waif - Keep It Out (Official Video)

'Keep it out' is the standout track from Half Waif's 2018 album Lavender, a brooding, almost Laura Nyro esque tour de force of songwriting which repays repeated listening.

Since 2018, Nandi Rose (aka Half Waif) has shifted slightly in terms of both image and sound, and her sound is now more electronic than guitar and piano led. Forthcoming album The Caretaker features layered electronica landscapes suggesting an evolution in sound that promises good things.

Harkin - Nothing the Night Can't Change

On the back of yesterday's post, it felt only right to post about Harkin, who was the support act on some of Sleater-Kinney's recent UK tour dates (the rest were filled by the excellent Big Joanie). A touring member of Sleater-Kinney, Katie Harkin cut her teeth as a teenage singer/songwriter in Leeds band Sky Larkin, and there's a fantastic interview with her in Ablaze! 11, if you can get hold of it.

As Harkin she's been performing live for a couple of years now, but the releases have been slow to emerge. Until now that is.

While recent single 'Nothing The Night Can't Change' is more synthy than previous offerings, it has the same tightness, the same impeccable, catchy riff driven guitar pop sound as her previous work has. When she played it in Manchester, it was the song that got her the most interest and attention from the crowd, which isn't a surprise given how dramatically catchy it is. I think a Harkin album or EP might be in the offing, and she's certainly continuing to tour, post S.K, so well worth keeping an eye out.

Sleater-Kinney - The Center Won't Hold (Official Lyric Video)

I've written about Sleater-Kinney a couple of times over the past few months. Now is an interesting time to write about them because 2019's The Center Won't Hold album seems to have split people a bit. Produced by Annie Clark (aka St Vincent), it shows a slight change of direction for the band, which hasn't sat well with all the fans but which seems to have gone down fantastically well with critics. Janet Weiss' decision to leave the band shortly after the album's release hasn't helped with these conflicted feelings, with some fans treating it as vindication for their own doubts about the album.

Whatever your feelings about the album, Sleater-Kinney's recent UK tour was well attended and the band were received well by their loyal fanbase.

I've written a little bit about Sleater-Kinney fans recently in Sticks'N'Strings (you can subscribe here if you like) and I also reviewed the Manchester date of the Center Won't Hold tour for Louder Than War. Sleater-Kinney fans are incredibly loyal and, in previous years, extremely excitable to the point of being quite shove-y in the crowd. The first time I saw the band live was at Manchester Roadhouse, where I got shoved over the stage by a surge forward from the crowd. The second time, again at the Roadhouse, the venue let too many people in and we had to leave and miss the show after one of the girls I was with came very close to passing out from the heat.

A trip to see the band in 2005 on The Woods tour saw a subdued Sleater-Kinney playing at the Academy 2 on Oxford Road, supported by the Pipettes. It wasn't long after that that the band announced they would be taking a sabbatical. Having since read Carrie Brownstein's memoir, Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl, it's easy to see now why this happened, but I don't think any of the band expected that sabbatical to go on so long.

In a way, it was the smartest move they ever made.

If they hadn't gone on sabbatical I think they would have burned out and split up, but also, they wouldn't have received the recognition and respect that they now have. Their continued presence would instead have ensured that they continued to be taken for granted by fans and by critics. In retreating, they ensured that they would be missed. And because they were (so, so very) missed, it ensured that their return in 2015 was met with the attention and anticipation they deserved. They were always a good band, but in 2015 people began to realise just how great they are.

The 2020 tour cemented this reputation for greatness for me, and I'm glad about that.

Balancing my work and my cheque book

This isn't my desk. I do write at the kitchen table though.

When I went full time freelance in 2018, it was with pretty low expectations.

I wasn't expecting to be able to earn a living solely from freelancing, which is just as well because I totally haven't. I jumped into it with a very basic plan, one that relied on other sources of income such as transcription (don't even bother if you only own a Mac...), proofreading (even more of a non starter...), surveys (pay peanuts) and temping (by far and away the most lucrative option).

While I was pursuing these various adventures, I continued pitching publications. All the freelance journalism guides I've read say it takes at least 12 months to start to make any headway with commissions, and this definitely proved to be the case.

What was interesting was what I was getting commissioned to write. That is, I wasn't getting offered money to write music journalism. Despite music journalism being my most obvious area of experience, the one area I have a proven track record in.

It still amazes me that people were more willing to take a chance on me when it came to writing about, say, Brexit food stockpiling and veg box schemes, the ethics of the personal essay, buses, buses again, and Manchester's plans for the Metrolink than anything music related. I'm incredibly grateful to the editors who trusted me with those pieces, it's opened up a whole other area of specialism for me, and it's stretched me in a way that I needed. But the lack of paid music commissions really niggles away at me sometimes.

Back in November I attended the annual music journalism panel discussion at Louder Than Words and came away with more questions than answers. I was intrigued by the ways in which debates around music journalism, and getting work, had shifted over the past year or so away from 'Don't write for free' to 'Sometimes, you have to write for free'. It seemed like what had been a massive bone of contention had gradually been accepted as a fact of life: Music journalism doesn't pay.

There have been a number of commentary pieces on the state of the industry over the past couple of years, but none of them have been written with aspiring music journalists in mind, which seemed a missed opportunity given that the panel at Louder Than Words has demonstrated, year after year, the need for some solid advice.

Happily, the excellent Jem Collins at Journo Resources agreed that this was a piece worth commissioning, and gave me the thumbs up to proceed.

If anything surprised me, it was the number of people I contacted for interview who didn't respond. Oh, and the lack of reaction when the piece was published. But mainly the number of people who didn't respond. I understand that many writers and editors are drowning in their inboxes, and I sympathise, but I'd written a piece about the ethics of personal essays for Journo Resources a couple of months before and - again, despite it not obviously being my area - the response rate was well above 90%. In the case of my music journalism piece, there was a response rate of 7 out of 30 people or organisations contacted. And only five of those resulted in interviews: The other two were an apologetic email from a writer friend, because it had got lost in her junk folder, and a 'We will not be putting anyone forward for interview' from a large publication who shall remain nameless.

In both cases, I tried to take lessons from the work. In the case of the personal essays piece, I felt well advised ahead of publishing my Florence + The Punk Women piece on Medium, and in the case of the music journalism piece I elected to act on the advice of the writers and editors I'd interviewed in terms of trying to find new publications to write for.

We will see how this pays off, or if it does, but no matter how it pans out, I really enjoyed writing about the current state of music journalism. The people who did speak to me were interesting, obliging, friendly and helpful and gave me, and my readers, lots of helpful advice.

It will be interesting to see what happens next with music journalism as an area of the industry. And what the next discussion at Louder Than Words 2020 will bring.

Image of man at kitchen table by Chris Spiegl on Unsplash