Our adventures in the tragedies of youth.
MØ, NO, NONONO and now MU. Boy, things are getting confusing. Vancouver duo MU, comprised of Francesca Belcourt and Brittney Rand are rather special, as they show on their debut self titled EP. Four tracks of dreamy synth pop, it’s perfectly inkeeping with their immaculate visuals. Comparison wise, they’re likely to receive the Say Lou Lou nod, yet there’s a density to their sound that goes beyond purely pop music, for instance the child’s laughter sampled on Everything, which then flows expertly into a uniquely crafted ‘chorus’ of sorts. Check out the full EP below, including personal favourite Big Star.
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Introducing: MU

Wasting no time at all, Brighton duo IYES are back with a new track, just a week since they shared So Crazy. No Wonder is yet another slice of well formed, infectious pop which is hardly a surprise as the duo have been spouting out increasingly great music over the past couple of years. Big things are surely in store for IYES.
Stream No Wonder below.
Follow our <a href="https://open.spotify.com/user/crackintheroad/playlist/1UB6gJIZpmiO0H2zmSbg02" target="_blank">Spotify On Repeat playlist</a> for a hand-picked selection of the current hottest tracks.
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New: IYES – No Wonder

Beautifully classic soulful songwriting here from Atlanta’s Macy Todd, merging elements of the likes of Winehouse, Paloma Faith and Macy Gray. Toeing the line perfectly between daringly over the top yet emotionally intimate, it’s hopefully a sign of far more to come. Check out I’ve Got a Feelin’ below.
Like this? Follow our <a href="https://open.spotify.com/user/crackintheroad/playlist/1UB6gJIZpmiO0H2zmSbg02" target="_blank">On Repeat Playlist</a> for a handpicked selection of the very best in new music; updated weekly.
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Introducing: Macy Todd

As if you need reminding about Halloween. Call me a muggle, but it’s worse than Christmas for needless celebrating. From having snotty nosed kids in soiled bedsheets knocking on your door, to teenage girls donning miniscule shorts, bunny ears (rabbits are NOT scary) and acting even more frivolous, I’m yet to see the excitement behind ‘modern’ Halloween. However, one positive aspect to have come from the deplorable occasion, is the way in which musicians adopt a more traditional approach, choosing to air their darker sides through their favoured creative medium.
This new track from Miami duo RIVKA is a gloriously, dare I say, haunting affair. Sounding like a walk through a deserted neighbourhood in the early hours of the morning, Sun Shadows is atmospheric, brooding and most importantly, so much more than just a cliched Halloween track. So, leave your miniskirt behind tonight, refrain from playing Thriller, do something a little different and let Sun Shadows be your soundtrack.
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New: RIVKA – Sun Shadows

Back in early 2010’s, Cari Rae was a member of a duo out of New York known as Blonds. Much has changed since then, and well, let’s just say the other half of the now defunct duo is doing quité well for himself… but enough about that. Re-emerging yesterday with her debut solo track Train, released under the moniker Gospel Kid, it’s bold, haunting and focuses heavily on her lyrical proficiency. A slow burner, underpinned by an eerie whistling section, for a rather simplistic track, it packs a real punch.
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New: Gospel Kid – Train

After the online success of forthcoming A-side single <a href="www.crackintheroad.com/music/25808-new-francis-lung-selfish-man/" target="_blank">A Selfish Man</a>, Francis Lung has released the B-side to the 7″, out via <a href="https://www.atelierciseaux.com/releases.php?lang=en&rel=sg" target="_blank">Atelier Ciseaux</a>. Written from the perspective of someone who has survived a natural disaster, it’s more reserved yet no less beautiful than the previously heard flip-side. Overwhelming in it’s sense of remorse, guilt and even frustration, it’s just another indication of the diversity, and beauty that Francis Lung is able to write with.
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New: Francis Lung – Tsunami Blues (Cause Of Me)

This is absolute fire from London’s George Maple, teaming up with long time CitR favourite, Slime for Began To Say. Delicately soulful, they push boundaries both in terms of their take on the ‘traditional pop song’, and through the immaculate production. Her first new track in almost a year, and the certainly the most we’ve heard from Slime in quite a while, here’s hoping we’ll get plenty more from both parties in 2014, and maybe even a continued collaboration.
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New: George Maple X Slime – Began To Say

Can’t help but adore the way that FFFRRANNNO approaches music. From some of the best remixes of <a href="https://soundcloud.com/fffrrannno/me" target="_blank">The 1975</a>, to chopping up Lorde’s vocals, not forgetting his How To Dress Well satire, <a href="https://soundcloud.com/fffrrannno/how-to-fuck-well" target="_blank">How To Fuck Well</a>, he doesn’t take it half as seriously as the vast majority of young producers around right now, and is still several times as good. Latest outing, 1010, finds him toying with Star Wars vocal samples, over a beat/synth-line combo that Jai Paul would probably want to nab for his elusive debut record (is it a Jai Paul sample?!). Check it out below, and keep your ears peeled for a record, <a href="https://fffrrannno.tumblr.com/post/97273424332/stopped-doing-remixes-and-making-beats-got-boring" target="_blank">potentially</a> dropping next year.
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New: FFFRRANNNO – 1010

I caught The Japanese House live for the first time earlier this year and it was a near transcendental experience. There are few artists around right now able to conjure up a such a phenomenal level of tangible beauty in their music, and whilst her latest track, Face Like Thunder, finds the songwriting taking a more outwardly accessible turn, the intricacies are no less dazzling. It’s the sound of desolation, of inner torment, yet ultimately, of redeemable hope.
“You’re sentenced to death and you can’t be reprieved.”
Face Like Thunder is lifted from her forthcoming third EP, Swim Against The Tide, out 11 November via Dirty Hit. Check it out below.
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New: The Japanese House – Face Like Thunder

This track from Surrey quartet Softer Still didn’t really grab me on first listen, however after adding it to our <a href="https://open.spotify.com/user/crackintheroad/playlist/1UB6gJIZpmiO0H2zmSbg02">Spotify New Music playlist</a>, I found myself coming back to it over and over again. It’s just the right sort of woozily romantic, and heavily 80’s indebted – we’re talking The Cure and Modern English, with a touch of the more recent and criminally underrated The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. In truth, you could place this track on one of the tapes that Jonathon makes for Will in Stranger Things and it wouldn’t seem out of place. Check out Wishing Well below.
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New: Softer Still – Wishing Well

Impressing with their <a href="https://admin.crackintheroad.com/music/23851-new-inner-oceans-ready-your-ghost/" target="_blank">debut demo</a> back in August of this year, Denver quartet Inner Oceans are seeing out the year with the release of two more working ideas, I Don’t Mind and The Night. As with their first outing, there’s hints at a movement towards a fully blown stadium ready masterpiece, yet maintains all the sincerity and honesty of a far more minimal composition. Of the two, I Don’t Mind stands out as a potential single, and given that they’ve only been together a matter of months, it’s a mightily exciting progression of their sound. Check out both new tracks below.
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New: Inner Oceans – I Don’t Mind / The Night (Demos)

Now over a year since we’ve heard any original material from Tei Shi, and it’s clear she’s been making the most of the past twelve months. Not only announcing live dates for CMJ where she’ll be playing the Crack in the Road x Disco Naïveté official showcase (more info in the coming days), she’s also released exquisite new track, Bassically. Easily her most confident vocal outing to date, it’s bold, assertive and all-in-all, a simply fantastic pop track; one of the best of the year. Check it out below.
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New: Tei Shi – Bassically

Love the quirkiness to this track from Finland’s MIO, calling in London’s Andrew McDonnell on additional production duties. It almost ends up feeling like a refreshing take on the tropical-pop obsession that had people hooked a couple of years back in the wake of Bieber’s Sorry, yet keeping a killer chorus at the core of it. Described as a ‘song for the over-thinkers’, All About It is just downright brilliantly addictive. Check it out below.
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New: MIO – All About It

In all the <a href="https://admin.crackintheroad.com/music/19154-new-youth-lagoon-dropla/" target="_blank">Youth Lagoon related hype</a>, you may have missed the return of another mightily talented young musician – Ifan Dafydd. New track Celwydd, featuring vocals from Alys Williams, pushes the boat out yet again in terms of budding electronic producers. A beautiful shambles is perhaps the best way to describe it, never truly settling for a certain style, diving beneath it’s multitude of layers is an immensely rewarding experience.
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New: Ifan Dafydd – Celwydd

Sail yourselves down to Spike Island. Bristol’s native contemporaries have new offerings that will be running until 16th June (you might even need sunnies by then!)
As one of two final installments as a solo production company, Picture This will be joining Spike. This will result in a new film and video department within Spike, taking on their AV equipment hire, production and post-production services. A group show curated by artist James Richards opening on 6 July and Pley are their final projects. With this new chapter in Spike’s story and having fallen in love with the Becky Beasley’s Spring Rain and her subtle minimalist combo of humour and intellect, I was curious to see what was next…
Cara Tolmie works across performance, film, audio and installation to explore the ways in which meaning is created and in particular, how context alters our reception and our personal understanding of events, which is interesting when we ourselves are forever only picking up fragments of information bursting at the seams of our tabs and webpages..
Pley itself, has the camera lens and viewer confined inside a structure specifically designed by the artist, hosting a series of encounters between three apparent strangers. The camera frame restricts your view of the structure, which is comprised of two closed areas, one inside the other. On top of this, at no point while watching the film does the viewer see beyond it. You struggle to understand any proper function, while its internal architecture remains ambiguous.
While it is made clear that some unknown set tasks have been undertaken by Tolmie’s devised characters who seem to know nothing of or about one another, everything is effectively and deliberately left undocumented.
Fragments of the interviews from the participants, by the artist strangely ties them all together after the isolation of their experience within the structure. Watching the participants reflect on their assumptions about each other, about Tolmie herself and about the tasks they were asked to fulfill makes no more sense of any particular purpose. This leaves you with plenty to deal with in your own reflections and perception of events and responses.
The non-linear edit interweaves the participants’ reactions and interpretations with sequences filmed with a fourth person: an actress marking time in the set. The woman appears to report back and reconnect with the outside world via her phone. We see her characteristics quickly seem to shift as she reveals different personas. It is through these scenes that we glimpse aspects of the set and its various props, such as a heap of gravel and a fish tank filled with water, mud and stones, which also may have been used previously by the three participants in their activities. Moving between the self assured actions of the actress and the dreamlike recollections of the participants, the film shifts our perceptions of what constitutes naturalistic and non-naturalistic behaviours.
Throughout the entire experience there is also a very unusual soundtrack, created by the artist, adding an almost David Lynch type feeling of tension, but you’ll have to get yourselves down here to hear for yourselves!
Whatever it is that we choose to take from the visual information that is given to us through Tolmie’s Pley, it still remains ambiguous but I know that it has left me asking questions about perceptions of all sorts of events and information that we happen to be on the receiving end of…
For More Information About Spike Island And All Its Events Click <a href="https://www.spikeisland.org.uk/">HERE</a>

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Exhibition: Pley

Very into this Lana Del Rey-esque debut track from LA’s Dream Harlowe. Moarte, inspired by meeting her biological father for the first time, drips with the classics influenced elegance of Lana, yet underneaths lies a darker, more sinister edge that truly sets her apart. In truth, this reminds me of NY’s once buzzed about Eddi Front, in it’s storytelling and air of nobility. Check out the video below, alongside the Soundcloud stream.
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Introducing: Dream Harlowe

Half Peruvian and half English is about as much information as we’re given when it comes to INCA, along with a misty, ambiguous image that echoes the spacious, enigmatic nature of her debut track ‘Wake Me Up’.
Based upon a pulsating, bass heavy beat bedrock, INCA’s striking vocals soar over the minimalist production as she appeals directly to the listener, forming a somewhat ethereal, repeating plea of ‘I need somebody like you’.
Definitely a one to watch in 2015, check out INCA’s debut effort below.
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Introducing: INCA

Having already drawn comparisons to the likes of Sonic Youth and The Jesus and Mary Chain, London’s INHEAVEN have made a very strong impact in a very short space of time. Emerging with the undeniably anthemic  ‘Regeneration’, the band had unleashed a call-to-arms to their peers and a wider youth culture, imploring the importance of the now as an answer to a pervading sense of angst. While ‘Regeneration’ may have been a raucous cry to the world, the band’s sophomore track ‘Slow’ presents itself as a muddier, darker affair, as it is sunk in off kilter guitar riffs and warbling vocals. In presenting ‘Slow’ INHEAVEN demonstrated a more intimate, vulnerable dimension to themselves and their sound, and combined with ‘Regeneration’ it only makes us that much eager to hear their next release.
 
Follow our <a style="font-weight: bold; color: #f8f8fc;" href="https://open.spotify.com/user/crackintheroad/playlist/1UB6gJIZpmiO0H2zmSbg02" target="_blank">Spotify On Repeat playlist</a> for a selection of the current hottest tracks.
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Introducing: INHEAVEN

Picking up the now frighteningly successful Oh Wonder strategy of releasing one song a month, UK duo Giants (Ben Burrows & Rich Cooper) take it one step further by adding a unique twist of their own – calling in a guest vocalists for each track. Think of it like an indie Disclosure meets Oh Wonder, in terms of strategy. Last months offering, Forfeit, featuring London’s YADi had elements of Two Door Cinema Club and Foals to it, whereas Aprils effort, Sparks Fly, calls in the vocal talents of We Are Scientists’ devilishly handsome frontman Keith Murray, and is another potential future indie favourite. Certainly a fascinating concept, and one that would no doubt make for a raucous live show as front(wo)men swap in and out, it’ll be interesting to see where Giants go from here (please bring in Adam Lazzara for a track). Check out both tracks below.
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Introducing: Giants

This debut track from London duo JOYYA arrives with one of the most addictive hooks of the year. Having been writing and producing together for the best part of three years, Ben Dancer and David Pullen have now released Seven, the first taste of their exciting new project. Songwriting wise there are elements of the likes of indie pop outfits Foster the People and courtship., whilst managing to maintain a decidedly British feel to it. With more music expected next month, including a track featuring saxophonist John Waugh (The 1975), and plans for live shows in the works, the duo are all set to hit the ground running. Check out Seven below.
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Premiere: JOYYA – Seven

This is how you do a debut track. London outfit Sun Machine nail the hell out of Have You Seen It, It’s Alive, a psych-rock masterpiece made for the live stage. Touches of 2013 success story Tame Impala as well as CitR favourites Sunboy, it’s brash, bold and, as it reaches it’s giddy peak, strangely uplifting. Check out Have You Seen It, It’s Alive below. (<a href="https://www.thisisfakediy.co.uk/articles/news/listen-sun-machine-share-debut-track-have-you-seen-it-its-alive/" target="_blank">via</a>)
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New: Sun Machine – Have You Seen It, It’s Alive

Max García Conover released one of last years most underrated records, in the form of Motorhome. His storytelling ability really shines on every composition, most notably the heart-wrenchingly raw Fire On i295, and his latest track whilst sees a deviation in sound, is no less majestic. Described as being “about memory — the beautiful, tragic capacity we have for carrying around little remnants of ourselves”, it’s almost Springsteen-esque as points, yet soaked in an almost John Hughes sense of romanticism. Check it out below.
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New: Max García Conover – Streetlights

Seemingly appearing out of nowhere with songwriting and production credits on Beyonce’s latest album, BOOTS’ rise to fame was sudden and meteoric. Having shed some of the mystery surrounding his identity, the New York based musician has dropped his latest track, Dust, alongside a video directed by and staring Cara Stricker. Lustful and daring in equal measures, it’s a further indication as to just why he’s one of the most highly sought after composers in the world right now.
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Video: BOOTS – Dust

LA’s Joni Payne released an EP last year that caught my attention with it’s merge of Weeknd-esque songwriting and smooth, Jai Paul style production. Returning with her first new material of the year, Stick to Weed, a slick-as-they-come break-up anthem, it’s ethereally effortless and an absolutely glowing listen. In her own words, “I think that when the vices in life get to be too much it can be helpful to hit reset, and go back to the basics. For me, this song is about recognizing when things might be getting too heavy, and slowing down before you’re in over your head.” Stick to Weed is well and truly the sound of a hugely confident artist hitting their stride. Check it out below.
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Premiere: joni payne – stick to weed

The Harpoons are one of those ‘if the world were a fair place these guys would be the biggest band in the world’ acts for me. Having released one of the tracks of the year a few months back in the form of Do You Want My Love, the Melbourne quartet are back with Reassurance, another dance infused number. There’s a real underlying soulful kick to their music that makes it so downright addictive, almost reminding me of elements on the classic first Disclosure record. Check it out below.
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New: The Harpoons – Reassurance

Australia once again proving why it’s leagues ahead of the game when it comes to exciting, electronic pop music. Having only been around for a matter of months, and their debut single only uploaded a few days ago, it’s clearly very very early days, for Laurasia, but if Rainmaker is anything to go by, then they’re definitely one to keep an eye out for. Mixing off-kilter pop with more radio ready influences, the likes of Grouplove and CHVRCHES spring to mind, it’s vibrant, colourful and just downright enjoyable. Check out Rainmaker below, thanks to <a href="https://www.hillydilly.com/2014/09/laurasia-rainmaker/" target="_blank">Hillydilly</a> for the heads up.
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Introducing: Laurasia

We’ve been going through some changes here at Crack in the Road; a new website, a new logo that’s about to be finalised, a new arts section of the site and event plans have all sent us in a bit of a tizz. With all that in mind, this might be the appropriate moment to apologise for the state of our output over the last week or so. We should have everything back up and running soon.
Until then, a statement of intent.
Crack in the Road has always been made up of writers from all around the globe. We value this highly, but sometimes it means that decision making can become convoluted. What we want is a clear voice. For us the most visceral and human way of conveying this is by taking the website IRL and connecting with you guys in the real world. The last CITR LIVE events were a great start but we want to take this further.
Below are the details of our first in the ‘Crack in the Road Presents’ series, a series of free events showcasing local bands, producers and artists. What should follow in the next 2 months, are a series of announcements concerning pop up exhibitions, the next stages of CITR LIVE and the announcements of future CITR Presents shows. These 3 ways of communicating with you will be held both in LONDON and BRISTOL. Until then, we hope to see you all at the Montague Arms in Peckham on the 24th of May.
Joel x
 
MONTAGUE ARMS, 289 Queens Road, SE15 2PA
24 MAY
FREE ENTRY
7-11pm
EVERYONE AT THE SHOW IS INVITED TO A HOUSE PARTY. LOCATION TO BE REVEALED ON THE NIGHT.
 
OXBOW LAKES
 
<a href="https://soundcloud.com/oxbow-lakes" target="_blank" rel="nofollow nofollow">https://soundcloud.com/oxbow-lakes</a>
+
HOUSE IN TREES
+
MUTE
<a href="https://soundcloud.com/mute-15">https://soundcloud.com/mute-15</a>
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VONDELPARK (DJ)
<a href="https://soundcloud.com/mute-15">https://soundcloud.com/vondelparkmusic </a>

CITR Presents: Oxbow Lakes, House In Trees, Mute & Vondelpark (DJ set)

Lauran Hibberd’s songwriting has a real sense of personality and character to it – a trait that’s increasingly rare in a passively playlist orientated world. With a string of promising releases over the course of the past year, her most recent single, Eliza, is potentially her most confident yet. Slightly-saccharine but not cheesy indie-pop done really well, expect to hear this on a TV advert at some stage in the near future. Check it out below.
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New: Lauran Hibberd – Eliza

This debut single from LA’s GEO has a real throwback 2010’s blog-pop vibe to it – yet manages to simultaneously feel resoundingly modern. As the Soundcloud tag alludes to, Good Morning is pure vibe, but in a scintillating way; perfect for the long summer days we’re having right now. Check it out below.
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New: GEO – Good Morning

Marika Hackman has contributed this beautiful version of O’ Come, O’ Come, Emmanuel for Daisy Digital’s curated It’s Coming On Christmas compilation, in aid of <a href="https://coppafeel.org/" target="_blank">Coppafeel</a>. As with her recently released single, Drown, it’s Hackman’s vocals that steal the show, simultaneously mesmerising and delicately tender. Several other CitR favourites also feature on the compilation, including Billie Marten, The Half Earth, Ajimal and Kate Miller, which can be purchased <a href="https://daisydigital.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">here</a>. Check out O’ Come, O’ Come, Emmanuel below, alongside a performance of album track, Claude’s Girl, for <a href="https://diymag.com/2014/12/10/marika-hackman-claudes-girl" target="_blank">DIY Mag</a>.
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New: Marika Hackman – O’ Come, O’ Come, Emmanuel

Perhaps the only place to hold an exhibition about imprisonment given its <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conciergerie">history</a>, the Conciergerie de Paris hosted a selection of François Pinault’s famous art collection. The exhibition, entitled A Triple Tour, featured works by 22 different artists centred around two different types of imprisonment; Crises and Imprisonment, which focused on the types of imprisonment we face as a society and The Individual and Imprisonment which explored just that.
The exhibition begins with Diana Thater’s Chernobyl, an installation of video footage projected on to large screens, placed in a way that closes in around the spectator. It is not immediately clear what the link is between the videos, which show eerie footage of a desolate landscape, and imprisonment but the exhibition leaflet explains that Thater ‘initiates a dialogue between the site and the work, the visitor’s attention vacillating between awareness of the actual site and the projected illusion.’ 
The exhibition continues through the Hall of Whispers by Bill Viola; a dark passage lined with videos of people speaking, whose words are barely audible as they are each gagged by a white cloth; undoubtedly a comment on the individual’s suppressed political voice. The exhibition then opens out into a large gallery of paintings, videos and sculpture by different artists which consider the link between politics and war and imprisonment, including Boris Mikhaïlov’s paintings of propaganda from Soviet Russia, showing Stalin sporting a rather fetching shade of red lipstick.
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One pertinent issue which is revisited time and time again in French works of art is immigration and integration in or exclusion from society.  Mohamed Bourouissa’s Temps Mort shows video footage of a conversation via text message which is heavy with slang and text speak, which are sometimes viewed as an attribute of the marginalised. Considering the physical setting of society is Julie Mehretu with two paintings depicting hectic landscapes which illustrate the chaotic existence of urban life.
The second part of the exhibition begins with what appears to be a day out from a retirement home; scarily lifelike dummies of elderly men sit in wheelchairs, some even moving, clearly uninterested in the surrounding art. It turns out to be Sun Yuan & Peng Yu’s aptly named Old Person’s Home. The leaflet explains that the artists ‘[challenge] notions of perception, death and the human condition, combining their relentless obsession with death with an almost comical interest in the macabre,’ so you don’t feel too bad for sniggering.
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Also in this part of the exhibition are paintings by Llyn Foulkes which incorporate odd objects such as human hair and Tetsumi Kudo’s series of works which depict variously deformed genitals in cages, amongst other sculptures and videos which explore the idea of imprisonment and the mind/body paradigm. Even Damian Hirst’s The Fragile Truth makes an appearance.
The idea of societal marginalisation is revisited in this part of the exhibition but the works are more personal to the artist. Chen Zen’s Sleeping Tao, showing dusty French novels encased in a glass box covered with Chinese characters, illustrates the link to his native China versus the subsequent fascination he developed with the western world upon coming to Paris to pursue his studies. Freidrich Kunath’s The Past is a Foreign Country, a mannequin wearing summer clothing whose head is encased in a sort of snow globe, demonstrates the divide he feels between two cultures after he left his birthplace in East Germany to live in sunny Los Angeles.
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The exhibition ends with Michelangelo Pistoletto’s La Gabbia, a large mirror covered by metal bars to give the appearance of a prison cell. In fact, the exhibition actually began with this work but I, at least, had not noticed that it was part of the art work then and so I left the exhibition that little bit more aware of the concept of imprisonment; exogenous and personal.
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À Triple Tour exhibited at the Conciergerie, Paris 
22nd October 2013 – 6th January 2014 
<a href="https://www.monuments-nationaux.fr/en/actualites/a-la-une/bdd/actu/1299/a-triple-tour-collection-pinault/">More information</a>

Exhibition Review: À Triple Tour

Having blown away every crowd at SXSW this year, and now with his debut <a href="https://www.songkick.com/events/18013049?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=upcoming%2Fdaily_digest&utm_content=buy-tickets-button" target="_blank">London show</a> announced for later this year, 4AD artist SOHN has returned with new track Lessons. Building upon the walls of synths that marked his initial outings, it’s darker, more composed and as eerily soulful as ever. Check out Lessons below, presumably taken from his debut LP, expected next year.
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New: SOHN – Lessons

It’s fair to say that Juice’s online presence might need a little bit of work; with a Twitter feed for her old band that appears to have been inactive for well over a year (alongside announcing a debut album for 2012), no Soundcloud, and links to Reverb Nation (people still use Reverb Nation?!)… or maybe she’s just playing it very cool. Anything, there’s nothing wrong with her newest track, All Tied Up, a gloriously uplifting folk-pop outing. Check it out below.
<iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 442px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=2847263546/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" width="300" height="150" seamless=""><a href="https://juiceismusic.bandcamp.com/track/all-tied-up">All Tied Up by Juice</a></iframe>

New: Juice – All Tied Up

Austin’s ESC (Elliot Cheng) has just released his rather brilliant debut EP, Reminders, a colourful mix between the recent Nile Rodgers led Chic revival and smoother R&B a la Frank Ocean. So it skirts precariously close to cheesy, yet it’s the intelligent songwriting that allows it to do so, without becoming unbearably sickly sweet. Whilst the production may not quite match up to the work of the aforementioned Rodgers, the ideas and melodies (Call Your Phone and Only One especially.) are definitely there. Check out a couple of highlights below, including a Kanye West rework, and grab the full EP over at <a href="https://quinoawest.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Bandcamp</a>.
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Introducing: ESC

William Karmis aka Chicago’s Zoo Brother conjures up the sort of dreamy riffs that Wild Nothing and The Drums would be insanely jealous of. His new single, Fourth of July, is a myriad of reverb soaked vocals and gallant wails and shrieks, perhaps openly influenced more by the likes of Animal Collective, than the aforementioned artists. Fourth of July comes with the equally as addictive b-side, Please Don’t, centred around yet another killer hook. Check out both tracks below, as well as the fantastic artwork above.
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New: Zoo Brother – Fourth of July / Please Don’t

I first met Hana Elion and JJ Mitchell AKA Overcoats during the soundcheck of our <a href="https://love-london.co.uk/events/crack-in-the-road-presents/">last London live show</a>. 
That evening I watched their magical mix of electro-folk and soul slowly seduce the crowd. Afterwards we got chatting by the bar and the duo told me of their travels from Brooklyn to Dublin then across the UK. 
Now November is almost here and as the leaves begin to brown, Overcoats are kicking off a <a href="https://twitter.com/thisisovercoats/status/659070155402645505">US tour</a> with plans to return to the UK before the year is out. I caught up with them to talk synchronised dancing, last suppers and life lessons.
Hey guys, so what’s been going on since you performed for us at The Old Blue Last back in September?
J: After the show, we headed down to Cornwall for a month. We worked on a lot of new material, did some waitressing part-time, and finished putting together our tour of the Northeast of America.
H: Don’t forget the swimming – we did a lot of swimming.
J: We’re excited to announce that we are now working with the folks over at Mute management so that’s been great fun getting to know them and planning the future.
<a href="https://api.crackintheroad.com/images/2015/10/12194460_10153860925885628_1709278513_o.jpg"><img class="size-large wp-image-31790 aligncenter" src="https://api.crackintheroad.com/images/2015/10/12194460_10153860925885628_1709278513_o-1024x680.jpg" alt="Overcoats" width="640" height="425" srcset="https://api.crackintheroad.com/images/2015/10/12194460_10153860925885628_1709278513_o-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https://api.crackintheroad.com/images/2015/10/12194460_10153860925885628_1709278513_o-300x199.jpg 300w, https://api.crackintheroad.com/images/2015/10/12194460_10153860925885628_1709278513_o-50x33.jpg 50w, https://api.crackintheroad.com/images/2015/10/12194460_10153860925885628_1709278513_o.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /></a>
Its been a bit of a whirlwind since 2015 for Overcoats, tell us a bit about how you came together and how you ended up spending 6 months in Ireland?
H: JJ and I met in university and had been singing together for years. A combination of one of the coldest New England winters either of us had ever experienced and some things that were going on in both of our personal lives prompted the idea of writing music as a coping mechanism. We started writing as a way for us to try to understand our own feelings, as well as empathise with each other’s. Both of us had written music before and been in various bands, but everything about making music changed for us when we wrote together. It was kinetic, and so so honest.
J: Everything happened very quickly. Hana was working in a recording studio at the time, and so we just kept writing and recording and eventually we put the stuff online. Dublin was a way for us to get out of New York and go try and wing it somewhere new. We wrote a ton of new material and met really unforgettable people along the way.
H: Also, I think we may need bad weather to write good music.
J: Yes. The rain was very necessary.
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So take us through the songwriting process 
J: Writing songs together feels really natural to us. There are a few different ways that we do it. Sometimes we work from an idea—a feeling or an experience—and we try to find the right words and the right mood to portray it. Other times we start from a short melody that one of us has been working on, or sometimes the beginnings of a verse. With The Fog, it was actually the percussion that inspired the melody and lyrics. So there have been a number of ways. Just this past week, we had to experiment with writing together from across the pond. Hana flew back to the US before me but we refused to stop working on our latest idea. About 25 emails went back and forth, with voice memos, garageband clips, and finally a full blown demo in logic. Something funky is going on with the two of us. We have exactly the same vision for the kind of sound we are trying to put out into the world. We know when something sounds right. We know when it sounds like Overcoats.
Cool in-sync songwriting, kind of like your dancing! Speaking of which, what’s your favourite dance move?
H: Oh, that’s an easy one.
J: How can we explain this? It’s called “hip-frog.”
H: Basically, in “Smaller Than My Mother,” the fourth track off our EP, there’s a moment towards the beginning where the beat drops. When we play the song live, we break into this move that involves moving one hip and jutting your leg out like a frog (don’t ask).
J: There might be footage of this, but don’t look it up. Better to be surprised when it happens.
Haha, during your visit to the UK you must have come across some interesting places. What were some of your favourites?
J: Our favorite place that we visited was actually Saatchi Gallery in London. We were locked out of the apartment we were staying in (long story…) and we had been wandering around the city for hours. We made it to Saatchi and thought we had found heaven. Every piece of art in there…we would enter the next gallery room and both just be like “Oh my god, oh my. Oh wow.” Definitely disturbing everyone else around us. We finally had to pull ourselves away when the gallery monitors told us the gallery had closed ten minutes earlier.
H: Cornwall was definitely one of my favorite places we visited, as I had never been there before. The views were breathtaking. Another great spot was this club we played in Exeter – Cavern. We met really wonderful people that night and had an absolute ball.
What’s next for Overcoats? Any new music planned or sneak peeks you can give us?
H: Lots of new music coming. We’re recording several new tracks this month and are playing a bunch of shows in and around NYC. If anyone’s New York based, we’ll be at Rockwood Music Hall on November 6th and Pianos on November 14th.
J: After that, we’ll be back in London in December!
Favourite venue?
J: I’d have to say The Old Blue Last is up there on the list. The vibe there was pretty great. We also love Pete’s Candy Store in Brooklyn. The part at the back, where all the live music happens is like a train car. Im not sure if it’s actually an old train car or if it’s just modeled to look like one. Either way, it’s cute AF. It’s where we played our first ever New York gig.
H: Both really good choices. I also loved the Islington, because of the intimate vibe and the really fun staff.
Ok, so now lets go a bit off piste, If you were on death row what would your last meal be?
J: Probably eggs. Not because we love eggs. It just seemed to be the only thing we ate while on tour. So many EGGS. I guess we could almost call it comfort food? Actually nevermind, I wouldn’t want an egg.
H: I think we would request salt and vinegar crisps. But maybe also eggs.
Wow I thought my question was random but EGGS? If you could turn into any animal, what would it be and why?
H: Lion. I’m a leo, so…rawr.
J: Meerkat. Definitely.
One thing you’ve learnt this year?
H: When traveling/touring/generally living a nomadic life, be each other’s home. That will get you through.
J: Also, there’s nothing that can’t be danced off.
H: It’s been a learning experience, for sure.
If you’re on the East Coast of the US you can catch Overcoats across November, otherwise the dreamy duo are returning to UK in December. In the meantime you can keep up with the latest from Hana and JJ over on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/thisisovercoats/?fref=ts">Facebook</a> & <a href="https://twitter.com/thisisovercoats">Twitter</a>.

Interview: Overcoats

With their mysterious, enchanting imagery and current anonymity (although being the internet detective that I am, it didn’t take me too long to find out their identities), Lovelier Other clocked up an impressive 12,000 plays of their debut track, Leave This Behind, which surfaced toward the tail end of last year. New cut Hidden Shelters picks up where their debut left off, with floaty-ethereal pop, almost too slick and sonically perfect for words, from the smooth vocals to the soaring string sections. Check it out underneath.
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New: Lovelier Other – Hidden Shelters

Italian quartet Polar Station mix elements of The XX with Foals on their debut track Sandcastles. Atmospheric and glistening with potential, centred round a chorus hook that Yannis would kill for, with a larger production budget behind it, and the right team, Polar Station could really amount to something rather special. Check out Sandcastles below.
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New: Polar Station – Sandcastles

It’s been a whole since San Francisco based producer Avalon Emerson has graced the pages of CitR, <a title="Introducing: Avalon" href="https://admin.crackintheroad.com/music/9816-introducing-avalon-s/">back then she was writing songs</a>, right now she’s making house music, which is arguably better than her original output. This new disco heavy cut is a dramatic and sensual little treat, soulful samples, clashes, stomps, the kitchen sink; you name it. Shit like this is made for the dance-floor, and I’m sat in my smoke filled bedroom. Shame.
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New: Avalon Emerson – Caroline

Brock Berrigan, the New York based beatmaker, has just released his latest collection of hip-hop instrumentals. Sample heavy, the album maintains a fine line between calming and propulsive. An outstanding feature of Berrigan is how, on each track, the sound subtly evolves as it progresses. The fact that the majority of the beats are under two minutes long, which is a refreshing change from the number of overlong instrumental albums, assists in Good Company not outstaying its welcome and remaining an engaging listen.
You can hear elements from traditional New York rap seeping through the mixtape, but Brock Berrigan is far from a revivalist. The beats, while having a foot in the past, with the snippets of old soul and funk horn samples, are arranged and layered in such a way that is undoubtedly contemporary. This forward thinking is most apparent on the songs that he produces with other artists, such as the excellent Toy Machine Shirt with Jalentuna.
This is an enjoyable beat tape and, considering you can currently grab it for free, there should be no reason not to head over to Bandcamp and download it.
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Crack in the Road

Introducing: MU

IYESNo Wonder

Introducing: Macy Todd

RIVKASun Shadows

Gospel KidTrain

Francis LungTsunami Blues (Cause Of Me)

George Maple X SlimeBegan To Say

FFFRRANNNO1010

The Japanese HouseFace Like Thunder

Softer StillWishing Well

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Tei ShiBassically

MIOAll About It

Ifan DafyddCelwydd

Exhibition: Pley

Introducing: Dream Harlowe

Introducing: INCA

Introducing: INHEAVEN

Introducing: Giants

Premiere: JOYYASeven

Sun MachineHave You Seen It, It’s Alive

Max García ConoverStreetlights

BOOTSDust

Premiere: joni paynestick to weed

The HarpoonsReassurance

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Lauran HibberdEliza

GEOGood Morning

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SOHNLessons

JuiceAll Tied Up

Introducing: ESC

Zoo BrotherFourth of July / Please Don’t