Friday Round-Up

Irish collective Camden Place release atmospheric debut Will I Make It To Springtime!

Collaborative dance project Camden Place have released their atmospheric debut single Will I Make It To Springtime, out now via Beardfire Music.

Featuring Irish songwriter Seán Silke, independent production studio and label Beardfire Music, electronic producer Magician’s Assistant and singer-songwriter Grainne Hunt, Camden Place have created an eclectic sound that feels undeniably refreshing. Combining off-kilter beats with dreamy soundscapes and poignant lyricism, Will I Make It To Springtime is an intelligent electronic track that showcases each collaborator’s talents effortlessly. Talking about the single, Camden Place explain, “Will I make it to Springtime deals with our sense of mortality, whether as an individual facing death or as a wider community almost driven demented by anxiety. The melancholy beauty of the melody soothes while the lyrics strive for a hope we sometimes feel is slipping away.”

Alexisonfire's Wade MacNeil shares brutal metal remix of Slasherman Theme Song!

Wade MacNeil (Alexisonfire, Gallows) has released a remix of the Slasherman Theme Song, a track taken from the original score of the Jay Baruchel directed horror, Random Acts of Violence. The video premiered on Rue Morgue and is now available to stream and watch.

A brutal, thunderous take on the ambient original, MacNeil has expertly reworked the track into a grinding, head-banging spectacle befitting of his renowned band work. The score for Random Acts of Violence follows the additional music he composed for Jay Baruchel’s comedy Goon: Last of the Enforcers in 2017.

Part of the original soundtrack created by MacNeil and Andrew ‘Ango’ Macpherson, the accompanying album is an ominous, yet understated style of electronica akin to John Carpenter at his finest. Characterised by its atmospheric soundscapes and a pulsating, hypnotic edge, the score perfectly echoes the themes depicted in an uncompromising, visually stunning film. 

Based on the Image Comics graphic novel by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti, Random Acts of Violence is an elevated slasher horror that will easily become a cult favourite; scratching the entertainment element of horror whilst searching for the deeper meaning behind the violence. The film explores the idea of legitimising cruelty, and the fact that monsters are not merely monsters, they are broken people. Stretching from one end of the emotional spectrum to the other, it holds a mirror up to art, society and violence.

Slasherman Theme Song (remix) is out now via Dine Alone Records and streaming on all platforms.

Irish artist Chris Short shares poignant new single Higher!

Irish singer-songwriter Chris Short pulls at heartstrings with his poignant new single Higher, out now via Beardfire Music.

Lyrically intimate and sonically tender, Higher is instantly bewitching. Channeling the likes of Foy Vance, Chris’ distinctively rich vocal soars effortlessly over the intricate musicality, creating a sound that is undeniably heartwarming as a result. Higher brings us the lift we all needed; a powerfully potent track delivered with the style and swagger of a seasoned writer and performer. Talking about the single, Chris elaborates, “Higher was formed from my reflection back of the first few months of my relationship with my then neighbour, now wife of 10 years, Dawn. As a songwriter I’ve started writing songs about my experience and the lessons I have learned in the hope that when people hear my music they too can experience the emotion contained in the songs.”

Higher is the first single to be taken from Chris’ EP, Somewhere, due for release in May 2021.

Josh Thorpe's single Manhattan is a dissonant alt.rock trip!

Glasgow-based Canadian Josh Thorpe has shared new single Manhattan, the first cut from forthcoming album Love & Weather, out on 5th February 2021 via Unusual Music Exchange. 

Manhattan is a dissonant celebration of New York, idle moments, and not getting to meet Thurston Moore. The track espouses everything Love & Weather is about as discordant guitars accompany Thorpe's half-spoken, half-sung dream-like vocals.

Joined on bass by Rory Haye (Alex Rex), and drums by Owen Curtis Williams (prev. Rozi Plain, Pictish Trail), Manhattan is the first single to be released from an album that takes influence from a range of alternative and experimental bands including Spiderland era Slint, Transformer era Lou Reed, as well as the likes of Dirty Three, Yo La Tengo and Smog.

Thorpe is a visual artist who has made psychedelic installations of threads, balloons, and “a big public work of flags flying with stupid drawings on them”. The cover image of Love & Weather was taken by celebrated artist Angelica Mesiti, of Mathew McWilliams, who also shot the video for album track ‘Down to the Ground’, a view of Paris lockdown with humour and delight. In his earlier years Thorpe studied experimental music with James Tenney, who was a student of John Cage, married to Carolee Schneemann, and whose naked bottom can be seen in one of Yoko Ono’s films. The culmination of a diverse life that has seen Thorpe live in Toronto and now Glasgow, and make an indelible mark on the world of art, Love & Weather is an immersive assortment of reflections of a universe where people, animals, elements, and forces are all colliding in a ridiculous and wonderful mess.

Manhattan is available to stream on Soundcloud, Spotify and Apple Music. Love & Weather is out on 5th February 2021 via Unusual Music Exchange.