Beyond The 45
Singles, EPs, Downloads
The Fatea office also serves as a home for our weekly Along The Tracks show on Blues & Roots Radio and as a rule singles and Eps have generally gone in that direction whilst Fatea generally concentrates on albums and live reviews for our full length feature, but with more artists going back down the single route to keep themselves in the public eye, we thought it was time to reflect that in our offerings and as rules are made to be broken or at the very least adapted, welcome to the Singles Round Up.
Jackson Williams - Remember To Buy Yourself Flowers
www.jwsongs.co.uk
Jackson Williams are a Country blues/ Folk band from rural North Wales. This gentle country-tinged folk song was recorded as part of a live EP at Twm or Nant Theatre in Denbigh. The standout part of their sound are Deborah Jackson's vocals. Her cut glass voice is straight out of the English folk tradition and when that is combined with Skeet Williams guitar playing this delightful tune is a perfect blend of country and folk influences TM
Kaysha Louvain - Trouble
www.facebook.com/KayshaLouvainSinger
Kaysha Louvain describes herself as a "Retro-Pop/Country artist". And there is a neat blend of commercial country and 80s pop rock to this song. The song drifts along pleasantly for about 3 minutes before fading away. From a look around her social media Louvain's gigs are mostly acoustic and you can't help feeling that the song would have been better served with a simpler production. TM
Ajay Srivastav - Further Up the Road
www.ajayhq.com
This is fascinating, a blend of deltas, Mississippi and Ganges. With Tabla providing percussion, , Further Up the Road mixes Indian scales and styles with slide guitar.. All of a sudden a fairly conventional country blues shifts to classical Indian patterns that would be more at home on a Sitar than a Dobro. Fascinating, and with an Sittin' Down Too Long coming along, this could be the new sound on 2023. Totally original and I'll be in the queue for the album when it arrives. TM
David Edward Booth - Run
davidedwardbooth.co.uk
David Edward Booth is a songwriter, singer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer, based in rural Suffolk. This song has the feel of the wide-open spaces of East Anglia. Mostly country/folk based in style, he says that his "songs now flow as much from the worlds of Neil Finn and David Gray as they do from Nick Drake and Kris Drever", and you can here the Finn in this tune. Run is a reworked version of a sing that he has been playing for a while, according to his blog, and is a carefully crafted, gentle song. Both is a new name to me, and more proof of the depth of British song writing talent. This is the lead single from an album due out in June, and now on the list to investigate when it appears. TM
Dirty Laces - Seeker
www.dirtylaces.bandSeeker opens sounding like a sub Jesus and Mary Chain piece but quickly morphs into something altogether more epic. They are a Manchester based quintet, and the bass has the Peter Hook feel you might expect from a band born in that environment. If you want to pigeon hole it, I'd have to call it indie/prog, as it has the bite of 90s indie rock but with the wide screen feel of modern progressive rock. They have been supporting Inspiral Carpets recently and I would guess they are a dynamic live act. A new name to watch in 2023. TM
Bernie Heaney & Noel Boland - Everybody's Reaching Out
www.noelboland.com
An interesting blend of styles. Pedal Steel, pop guitars, a country singing style from Boland and a more MOR pop vocal from Heaney. But mix it altogether and you end up with a really quite wonderful, commercial folk/country song. Both established artists in their native Ireland, If this got to Radio 2 they would be instant stars in the UK as well. TM
Niamh McKinney - Up And Ran
niamhandstephenmckinney.bandcamp.com
Niamh McKinney is a singer-songwriter from Wicklow. "Niamh writes her songs acapella. Her musical partner & husband Stephen McKinney then crafts evocative guitar accompaniment which interweaves seamlessly with the songs". The acapella vocal with guitar and flashes of synth in the background make for an unusual sound. The lyrics have a touch of Kate Bush about them, but she avoids falling into the Bush/Amos trap that may songwriters fail to avoid. The slightly off key singing ads a different dimension to the song, and living up to her claim that the songs are "captivating by way of their ethereal sense of urgency & foreboding". TM
RJ Archer & The Painful Memories - I Can't Lose You
www.facebook.com/RJArcherMusic
What a great band name. This blues rock based song captures that elusive live in the studio sound. Bits of Rolling Stones, bits of ZZ Top, but a sound that is in the end all their own. Straight out of the seventies this is a stomping song that pretends to be nothing more than it is, good time rock and roll. If Robert Jon and the Wreck want a support act to complement their sound and maybe threaten to blow them off stage they are here. TM
Alice Howe - Somebody's New Lover
www.alicehowe.com
If you want to make a comparison for Alice Howe's sound, then think a female Tom Petty with a country twist. The Hammond organ led song has enough of the commercial country about it to get radio play, but lots more substance. Commercial without selling out, substantial without being bombastic. Sadly her website has one of those PR written about pages that leaves you none the wiser about the artist. So her music will have to speak for her and as that is really rather good, it does so very nicely. TM
Kate Ellis - Hurt
www.kateellis.com
If you thought that this was impossible to cover after Johnny Cash put Trent Reznor's song to the sword then Kate Ellis gets very close to another definitive version. The slide guitar that opens it is incredibly effective, but the keyboards that wash over it later on blunt that impact a little. Her press says that she "uses melancholy Americana and Folk to conduct fearless soul- searching". Tis was a brave attempt to do something different with the song that for the most part works well. As a way of pointing out her own songwriting and playing it works. Her album from 2022 Spirals is more than worth your time and features her own writing which is every bit as good as Reznor's. TM
Greg Spero - Twinkles
gregspero.bandcamp.com/music
You don't often get Jazz released as singles these days, and while this is an interesting piece and features some of the current names on the scene notably Makaya McCraven on drums, ex Miles Davis bassist, Darryl Jones (we'll forgive him the Rolling Stones for now) this drives along on a drum line that dominates the Weather Report style keyboards. In context on an album this probably works well, and as it prompted me to click save on Bandcamp it served its purpose, but as a stand-alone tune it offers little. TM
Calicos - Comedown
thecalicosbelgium.bandcamp.com/music
With a pop sound straight out of 1984, The Calicos are a Belgian band who believe in the chorus pedal drenched guitar of the mid-eighties. A powerful song with production of epic proportions. Thie press would have you believe this is Bruce Springsteen style Americana. But if there's a Springsteen comparison to be made it's to songs like Dancing In The Dark. There is a soft focus video of them driving round town in a convertible to made to go with this song. If you like your pop rock nostalgic try The Calicos, you'll like them. TM
Ivor Game - In The Woods
http://www.ivorgame.com/
Quiet, gentle folk music. We've looked at Game's songs here before and suggested that once you get drawn into these intimate songs you will be hooked. At just a minute and a half this is gone far too quickly. His lyric writing is something very special: "Everything I need to hear, is in the woods. All the answers are here, in the woods. It's the place to be You can rely on the tall trees. And I get a very different view of me." Buy this and you will be hooked and want everything he's recorded. It's worth it. TM
Fatea Showcase Sessions
The Fatea Showcase Sessions are a series of downloads featuring acts that we've really enjoyed and think that more people should get the chance to hear.
Pirate is the current session and features 16 fantastic artists check out the website to find out more about them and download your copy
www.fatea-showcase-sessions.co.uk for all the artist information.
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