Words In The Earth

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of reviewing Take A Deep Breath , the debut album from UK chillout project A Better Life. It's a wonderful album full of transformative soundscapes designed to evoke relaxation, but the thing that stood out most for me was the emotion and individual touch that seemed to emanate from these songs. It stands to reason then that A Better Life's founder Phil Daniels has a very personal reason for creating music with such blissful tones. The collective is multi-faceted, involving a host of talented instrumentalists and two stunning vocalists that help bring the songs to life; but at its heart is Phil and his innately creative mind. In this interview I aimed to get a deeper understanding of his connection to the music, his influences and inspirations, and the process of putting together a collective that can still produce such beautiful and intimate music in the midst of a global pandemic  Tell us about your musical history before A Better Life, and ...

Musical artistry manifests itself in different ways in each creator, and the idea always that less is more isn't an adage that should hold universal truth. In fact, it takes a particularly special type of artist to really make minimalism flourish, and Autumn Dawn Leader is one of those artists. That isn't to say her music is simple, not by a long stretch, but her music does put it's focus on to one key element; namely her voice. Because, while I, Autumnus is an album full of beautiful folk-indebted tunes and emotional lyrics, it wouldn't be anywhere near as powerful without Autumn Dawn Leader's remarkable vocal talents. Originally from the USA, but having spent the last fifteen years or so based in the UK, Autumn Dawn Leader has a wealth of experience behind her as both a singer-songwriter of her own compositions, and as a lead vocalist fronting bands performing other people's songs. That experience shows throughout I, Autumnus as while all of these songs, bar o...

In the modern age, garage rock is one of those genre tags which manages to be somewhat intangible yet also quite specific at the same time; you know the kind of sounds to expect, yet it's also quite hard to pinpoint exactly what defines those sounds as garage rock. Sure there's fuzzy punk rock guitars, relentlessly loud drums and booming rock'n'roll vocals, but then you could say that about any number of genres. The nature of garage rock is more in it's historical outlook, and the utilisation of influences from a bygone era. That doesn't mean garage rock should be a genre reserved specifically for a niche subculture though, because while there is a rich fandom around the style, the best garage rock bands are those who can, musically at least, transcend some of the clichés inherent in those vintage tropes. This is where we find Philadelphia natives The Judex, a four piece whose intense form of garage rock blends in elements from blues, soul, rockabilly and punk. ...

Creating a track that harkens back to a previous era can be a difficult task to get right. If you're too earnest and overly sincere about your themes then it can come across as an artist taking themselves too seriously without a sense of fun, and particularly in hip-hop that is rarely a good thing. If you go too far the other way though the theme can come across as fickle, and the artist as disingenuous and, worst of all, inauthentic. The trick is to get the balance of entertainment and authenticity spot on and that involves a strong sense of self-awareness; it's something which Killa Vanilla has definitely got right with his latest single Nostalgia. Hailing from Naples, Florida, Killa Vanilla is an artist who espouses a positive, characterful and fun vibe in his music. Across a number of singles released so far he has started to gain prominence beyond just his local scene, and with his big personality and propensity for a catchy hook it's easy to see why. Nostalgia sees hi...

Despite the cultural significance it has for those of us in the UK, I've never actually dived too deeply into chillout music before. The style was pioneered at the great London nightclub Heaven, and dance music institution Ministry Of Sound have been upholding the chillout genre for the best part of two decades now. When house music was at it's peak of commercial popularity in the UK, chillout was there alongside as it's relaxing, spaced-out partner. Whilst I can't profess to being an expert in chillout, I am familiar enough with the style and it's roots in ambient house, as well as it's relationship to downtempo and trip-hop, to find Take A Deep Breath, the debut album from A Better Life, an incredibly intriguing and creative project. My experience with these sounds is often as a constituent part to some exploration of native music, jazz-fusion or spoken word, but A Better Life take quite a pure approach to chillout. The UK collective are led by songwriter and ...

I've always been of the opinion that character is the most important thing in music. Without a display of the creator's character and personality then we're simply left with the inhuman ideal of music as 'organised sound', something which we now have AIs making for us . What I mean by character is that intangible element which can separate artists from one another, even if on a musical basis they sound invariably close. These subtle nuances and incidental changes are what make music truly unique, and Placekeeper is an artist standing as a perfect example of this fact. Placekeeper are an indie rock band from Denver, Colorado fronted by singer, guitarist and songwriter Ganesh Chandran. Ghosts is their latest single, but the song itself actually dates back several years. Originally written in 2012, the song addresses themes of self-confidence and self-doubt, feelings that were brought to the fore again recently and inspired Ganesh to revisit the song and bring it to li...

There are times when a piece of music starts and you can almost instantly tell that the artist behind it is entirely comfortable in their own creative mind, and this is certainly the feeling I get from Elektragaaz and their latest single Cabin Fever. A global collective, with many members based in New York City, they are led by anonymous composer and producer Poppo Redband whose musical visions meld together numerous genres and styles with complete ease, creating a sound which feels simultaneously familiar and utterly original. Cabin Fever is taken from the EP The Synaesthetic Picture Show Now Playing Part 1, a record which you can tell just from it's title is going to be highly ambitious musically. The track is something of a headrush with so much to take in as it meshes together seemingly disparate elements from electro-pop, funk, prog rock, neo-classical, and salsa with a certain enigmatic quality. There's no vocals, which means the listener's focus can be drawn entirely...