Beyond The 45
Singles, EPs, Downloads
The Fatea office also serves as a home for our weekly Along The Tracks show on Folk Friday 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.
Cunning Folk - Cloudbusting
www.cunningfolkmusic.com
At first glance one of Kate Bush's less folk friendly songs, Cunning Folk's Prog/Folk approach actually suits it very well. The bones of the tune are there but reworked with a plucked banjo carrying the tune it turns into a slightly hesitant song which reflects the subject matter drawn from Peter Reich's memoir A Book of Dreams. IN turn that resonates with Cunning Folk's background in magic and folklore. Excellent. TM
Max ZT & Dan Whitehouse - Bury One's Head
www.maxzt.com
Hammered dulcimer player Max ZT and singer/writer Dan Whitehead have produced a song commemorating the three-year anniversary of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Max ZT's unique approach to the Dulcimer, sounding more like Tangerine Dream than a folk instrument is the perfect soundtrack to Whitehead's ruminations on the emotions of the scenes at Kabul airport in August 2021 as the US abandoned the country. TM
Lewis 'Burner' Pugh - Haunted Man
www.theburnerband.com
Lewis 'Burner' Pugh is an artist from Leeds influenced by everything from bluegrass and country through to skiffle and punk. He brings most of those to this song. Bluegrass picking, pounding drums and harmonica make a potentially chaotic mix. But he controls it all with a catchy tune, and to the point lyrics. TM
Still Blue - Brushstrokes
www.facebook.com/stillbIuemusic
Opening their song on gentle guitar and Cello Dublin band Still Blue build towards and epic wall of sound approach as the tune progresses. Vocally Nicole Lyons is a blend pf Cocteau Twins and Sundays and lives up to those comparisons well. If you want to hear a modern take on the folkier end of 90s indie pop, you've found your new favourite band. TM
Jason Kirkness - What's Wrong With Me
jasonkirkness.com
In a week where we were handed some truly awful country singles this stands out as country done right. Enough grit to give the song some bite, but with the touch points country fans expect, pedal steel, a dark brown voice and string chorus. There's hope for country music after all. TM
Gozer Goodspeed - Drink To The Absent Gods
www.gozergoodspeed.co.uk
Plymouth country blues singer Gozer Goodspeed comes back with a stomping tune. Inspired by the gift of a Diddly-Bo (one string guitar effectively) he has produced a song with enough power to light up all of Devon. Don't pass up the chance to see him live either. Whether with acoustic or electric guitar in hand Gozer Goodspeed is a raucous force to be reckoned with. TM
Marianne Leigh - What's A Girl Gonna Do?
www.marianneleigh.com
There has been a move back to guitar-based power pop singles recently, and Marianne Leigh is the latest to offer us a "traditional" pop song which drives along on a simple riff and a breathy vocal. A New Zealand native, now based in London she has been quietly working away on singles and EPs for a few years, but this is the one that will get her the attention she deserves for her neat update on 60s and 70s pop sounds. TM
Sam Slatcher - Pioneers
www.samslatcher.com
Sam Slatcher is a Singer-songwriter and community music practitioner from North East England. Her he offers us an acoustic song with harmonies and structure that recall Crosby and Nash's work from the early 70s.He says "The song introduces the mind and imagination of the early pioneers, particularly George Stephenson, whose vision for the Stockton & Darlington Railway would be world changing. It would literally 'set the world on track'." A good narrative lyric over a tune at once original and familiar. TM
Freda Leask - Mandolin Man
www.fredaleask.com
Freda Leask is a singer songwriter from the Shetland Islands. Her work varies from folk songs inspired by the Shetland environment, history, and dialect to compositions with a more rootsy Americana style. This blends those two sides of her music, with a distinctly country vocal over a very traditional sounding Scottish song. Inspired by a letter discovered in the attic of an old family home, about a young man entertaining fellow patients from his hospital bed with his Mandolin. A surprisingly hopeful optimistic song given the subject. TM
Veronica Drozdowski - Merry-Go-Round
www.veronicadmusic.com
A 16-year-old singer with her first single. Mature beyond her years writing with a full band backing her makes this as good or better than many of the singles produced by far more experienced artists. As our live review said recently, one to watch now and for the future. That the single was supported by Nikki McGuiness from Creation X Studio shows that it's a lot more than the Fatea team that reconise Veronica's potential. TM
Emma Jane - Gairbraid Ave
www.emmajaneofficial.com
Bluesy singer Emma Jane adds to the tribute songs to Glasgow streets with Gairbraid Ave. A simple piano ballad that reminisces about a part of the city that has been gentrified and embellished by the council in recent years. A gentle and beautiful song. TM
Otherish - My Lagan Love
www.facebook.com/otherishspirits
Irish folk led by Neil Óg Martin's Cello, and Paul Bradley's singing. A tune that drifts past like an Irish mist yet leaves an impression, mostly from Bradley's delivery of what they call "a gem of the Irish canon, My Lagan Love is an ancient air from Tír Chonaill, given yearning words by Joseph Campbell from Belfast over a hundred years ago." TM
3Times7 - Guitar, Good Whisky
https://www.3times7.co.uk
Acoustic blues of the most basic variety. This is all about the performance and 3Times7 deliver a good time tune with verve. Boogie piano a 12-bar guitar and a great bluesy voice from Jenny look back to the earliest days of Blues without ever sounding old fashioned. TM
Chloe Matharu - Sailing's A Weary Life
www.facebook.com/ChloeMatharuMusic
We've featured Harpist and professional sailor Matharu's music here several times and she produces excellent songs which offer something that bit different. Her vibrato laden voice and harp always stand out. She has released this electronic setting of a Scots traditional song, "to highlight issues of health and safety breaches onboard modern ships having witnessed an avoidable maritime accident." TM
Erica Steenkamp (Erika and the Wildebeest) - Julietta
www.facebook.com/steenkamperica
A folk/pop song in the style of American singers like Jewel this is a story highlighting the human side of refugee. Erica says "JuIietta is a refugee from the Ukraine. Meeting her inspired me to write this song but in essence, I wrote this song for every refugee" "Crossing over, CaIais to Dover, boat saiIed over a restless sea, trucks, and trailers, in a shipping container. Someone soId her a one-way ticket down a one-way street." A good song about an important issue. TM
Maverick Persona - Bite For Freedom
www.facebook.com/maverickpersonamusic
Describing themselves as an "Electronic Experimental Psychedelic Pop Rock Spoken Word New Jazz World Music duo from Italy" Found sound, heavy beats and abstract electronics may sound like a recipe for chaos, but this is a coherent intriguing single form an album due in November. TM
Little Lore - This Building Is Condemned
littlelore.uk
London based; Indie-Americana singer-storyteller brings is her usual sharp, observational songwriting. She says, "This song was inspired at a cross section between a play by Tennessee Williams called This Property is Condemned, and the idea of a condemned building as a metaphor for how it feels to be a post-menopausal woman." Strings add to the melancholy of a tune that is otherwise driven by an insistent bass and drums patter, and Little Lore, otherwise Tricia Duffy, whose voice has that element of sweetness which reinforces the points being made in the words effectively. TM
Janet Devlin - Daddy
www.janetdevlin.com
A song that undermines the upbeat country tune with some undeniably sinister words about a controlling relationship. More country done right with a strident voice fronting a contemporary backing with all the power and none of the bland. TM
Jess Moskaluke - Second Hand You
www.jessmoskaluke.com/site.php
And this is Country pop done right. Big drums, a big voice and guitar to offset the synths. The Canadian country singer and songwriter released her first album 10 years ago so this the work of a mature artist producing a song that should trouble the country charts if there is any justice. 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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