Industry news & advice blog

Marsupial Soup - ‘Fishing Lines’

It’s simply impossible not to have a chipper spring in your step after hearing Marsupial Soup’s adorable and effervescent song ‘Fishing Lines’. Brothers Sam and Joe share a mutual love of bossa nova and the world is a brighter place for it, thanks to their joint desire to create quirky, lo-fi indie pop from their bedrooms in Leeds.

Joe reveals how the track came to life, “I knew when Sam played it to me that we had to make it into a song, but at first we couldn't quite get the sound right. After a while of tweaking in both of our makeshift home studios, we got the track to where we wanted it. I got a link from Sam at about 8 in the morning with the finished backing track and I wrote the melodies and chorus that day. The lyrics are about not knowing how to express yourself to someone, as though you are caught up in the metaphorical fishing lines of indecision. We like to use nostalgic synths and chorus laden guitars, with many of our tracks displaying a slightly peculiar nautical obsession.”

Luckily, the pair are happy to bring their brand of kooky pop out of the confines of their bedrooms, and they just played their first festival as a band this summer, gracing the River Stage at the Isle of Wight Festival. Previous singles have garnered radio airplay from BBC Introducing Wales and BBC West Yorkshire, as well as Spotify playlist placements.

A new single, ‘Boggy Swamp’ is on its way and you can also catch Marsupial Soup playing live at the Royal Park Pub in Leeds on 9th October, and Fabio's Bar in Durham on 24th October.

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Valetta - ‘Juggernauts’

Manchester band Valetta have been studiously honing their craft for a while now, waiting for the right moment to begin releasing their material. Unfortunately, a worldwide pandemic has reared its head during this time, slowing down the process but ultimately providing even more opportunity for inspiration and introspection. One such song which has emerged from this time is ‘Juggernauts’, an intricate and galvanizing alternative triumph.

“Juggernauts is a song about the media and struggling with information overload, and the helplessness and apathy that is intentionally created when people are bombarded with news that they could never hope to have any control over.”

The song builds layer upon layer with gentle, rhythmic vocals that compliment the groove of the bass and drums, gradually unfolding and evolving to become more punctuated and bitter, before culminating to a resounding crescendo, complete with climactic guitar solo.

The time taken to find and perfect their sound indicates there’s nothing throwaway about how Valetta approach their music and songwriting; “The aim is always to write something with interesting rhythms and conceptual lyrics, but that is still a pop song with a vocal hook that sticks in your head. The sound is psychedelic and sometimes quite intense, we always try to transport the listener from one sonic place to another over the course of a track. But it’s always about having a strongly written song that you could play on an acoustic guitar at the centre of all the madness surrounding it.”

‘Juggernauts’ is the third single to be unveiled from their debut EP which we can expect before the end of the year. Despite the song title, releasing their debut single ‘Irregular Low’ was a high point for the band, and was further validated with being crowned with Record of The Week on BBC Introducing.

Another track, ‘Barbarian’ is currently in the works with more new material lined up which may or may not make the cut for Valetta’s forthcoming EP, “We tend to have a lot of songs that don’t necessarily fit together, so don’t be surprised if you see us form a spin-off band in the next few months!” Under whatever guise it’s put out there, we know that we definitely can’t wait to hear more from them.

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Darla Jade - ‘Disconnect’

Singer songwriter Darla Jade certainly has the secret formula for crafting a pop earworm. ‘Disconnect’ is a contagious and bubbly, radio-friendly track that is guaranteed to become implanted in your brain after one enchanting listen.

It’s no surprise then that her music has already received numerous plays on BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, been earmarked as one of Industry Me’s ‘Ones To Watch 2021’, and has garnered praise from Billboard, Notion, The Line Of Best Fit, Rolling Stone India, not to mention plenty of Spotify playlisting. Phew!

Taken from her debut EP of the same name, ‘Disconnect’ is about the ups and downs of an unhealthy relationship, but the idea for the song sparked whilst Darla was on a songwriting camp in Thailand in 2019 and the faulty bluetooth speakers kept repeatedly disconnecting. As the saying goes ‘When inspiration strikes…’

More new material, and no doubt more catchy melodies, are in the pipeline, as well as a host of live shows as Darla takes her infectious tunes around the UK. Check out her upcoming dates and hopefully she’ll be hitting a gig venue near you soon! LINK TO https://www.darlajade.uk/tour

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FACEPAINT - ‘The Reaper’

Cornish four-piece FACEPAINT have skilfully forged an electrifying, offbeat indie sound, perfectly showcased on their track ‘The Reaper, which, unlike its name would suggest, is in fact a mirth-filled rollercoaster of tempos and vibes; psychedelic, stimulating and undoubtedly infectious.

With a reputation for gigs that are chaotic and intense, they are quickly becoming branded as an exciting act to watch on the South West scene. Playing live is always a major highlight for the band. They recently performed at Boardmasters, their biggest show to date, and completed an August tour with Flowers of Palo. Plus they’ll be hitting the road yet again very shortly for another string of tour dates, kicking off in Glasgow on 13th October.

Other accomplishments racked up by the four piece include airplay on BBC 6Music, a tremendous 50k+ streams on Spotify, as well as a bevy of positive blog reviews. Not bad for a bunch of friends who graduated from college in Truro just last summer.

With more new songs to be released, and apparently plenty more in the bag ready to be recorded, there’s certainly a whole heap more for us FACEPAINT fans to look forward to. Watch this space!

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Citrus Country - ‘This Heat’

The first of three new singles coming our way from London based singer songwriter Citrus Country is the splendid ‘This Heat’, complete with an addictive driving beat, lush guitars and a catchy chorus that will be spinning round your head for days to come. Recorded with producer Chris Zane (Passion Pit, The Walkmen) at Strongroom Studios in Shoreditch, the song formulated very quickly, and the complex electronic production marries perfectly with the clean, uncomplicated vocals. The ultimate melancholic pop gem.

Citric Country aka Milo McNulty has already enjoyed previous acclaim with his prior music projects, including applause from The Guardian, Clash, DIY, The Line Of Best Fit and BBC Radio. Always keen to experiment, Milo’s is grateful that his latest creative offering has given him an outlet to explore and progress, “I would say the thing I am most happy with is after lockdown and the uncertainty of the last year or two is that I managed to still have the drive to write new material and try to develop as a songwriter.”

As previously mentioned, there are still 2 more tracks to come our way, which we eagerly anticipate, and Milo also plans to embark on his first live shows as Citrus Country before the end of the year. Can’t wait to see what he has in store!

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