Swing and Sway to Bungalow Song, the new single from Brooklyn based Songwriter Elijah Mann. The groovy upbeat tempo design brings elegant contrast, melodically dipping between moments of bliss and sweet melancholy. A layered composition unfolds like a revelatory journey, cleverly returning to its trademark chorus before trailing again to some unbeaten path ripe with classic influence.
Tasty vibrating picks and pops recall the classic playing of Neil Young or even the Grateful Dead, reimagined with indie folk appeal in the spirit of Sufjan Stevens or Darlingside. Altogether NPR ready to rock the radios mountain stage or pick you up from your lounge blanket at the local folk fest. Upbeat and initially presenting as possibly mainstream, it’s Mann’s minor melancholy chord palette that gives him widespread potential. With rhythmic contrast Bungalow Song could please the happy hippie and dark indie folk crowd alike.
Enjoy Bungalow Song now on our Emerging Folk Playlist.
Misra Recordings was pivotal in energizing the careers of some of our favorite indie icons like Destroyer, Phosphorescent, and Great Lake Swimmers. So its not small feat when 15 year old Pittsbugh native Gabriella Salvucci inked a deal with the label. Currently they are championing her recent release Peace Offering. The 7 song collection displays an intuitive songwriter wise beyond her years. Boasting a new toolbag of modern poetry and updated experience, this clever observer paints her lyrical canvas with images only today could tell.
The songs have classic appeal, but are undeniably modern. She shares this trait with Conor Oberst, as Bright Eyes brought that same excitement when they burst onto the scene at the turn of the century. We also hear slight similarities to Phoebe Bridgers, Clairo and even Courteny Barnett.
There’s a progressive trait to Gabriella’s writing, a connection between the musical swings and evolving narratives. Her innocence is in tact, its just considerably more intellectual and offers rare insight into the mind of todays adolescents. In that manner she should connect with an older audience, a group who was once just like her, wanting to embrace a prophetic prodigy who can retell their enlightening with natural melodic grace.
The title track to Peace Offering is currently featured on our Emerging Folk Playlist.
Sabine is serene on Forever and a day. While listening to the song we were hit with a wave of 90s nostalgia, the height of the coffeehouse singer songwriter movement. Relics of Lilith Fair, artists like Lisa Loeb and Natalie Merchant. There’s also a hint of soul in the spirit of Traci Chapman.
Sabine is a rare Wales wonder. A mythical delight, clambering through the crowded singer songwriter scene. Waiting for her moment and embracing her truth. That sentiment known to the breakout classic Once. Faithful to the script, Forever and a day has its own emphatic moment. It comes in the songs second movement, an unexpected bridge that overwhelms the first section.
The artist finds her second level, digging into the passion and raw inherited talent as she pleads. “I can hear the sound of your heart beating.” That exotic moment of intense passion and beauty is enough to seal the deal. Peel back the opening layers of this single for the payoff discovery, that wonderous reveal brings intense ecstasy. As if to scream she knows it is within her, reserved all along like her secret weapon, devilishly divulging it in one final convincing swell.
Hear for yourself, hang on to Forever and a day now on our Emerging Folk Playlist.
We gasped in wonder at the anomaly that is Beware Wolves. The artist just dropped a prolific collection of works, 9 Volumes to be exact. Are more to come? And out of what manic spurt of inspiration were these conceived? Not to mention, there’s layers of melodic beauty and innovative storytelling throughout. These aren’t Van Morrison trying to drudge his way out of his record contract. These are well calculated works that speak to a scope of influence.
In essence this songwriter brings Laurel Canyon appeal, or perhaps a cousin of Tin Pan Alley’s legacy but with a more modern indie feel. Bred from the dust of that coonskin cap worn by Nebraska era Springsteen and Blue era Joni Mitchell. Poetic guitar playing and swift thrashing chord changes that brings surprise and movement. A genuine vocal delivery, splurged over in the moment live sessions unaware of what hum or haze coats the shadows beneath.
Perhaps they just don’t care, addicted to the authenticity and charming affect that draws us to demos and bootlegs of our favorite songwriters. There are glimpses of this in modern times, most notably from controversial songwriters like Ryan Adams and Red House Painters, tortured souls whose personalities might be better left hidden in the shadows so we can shamelessly enjoy the genius of their song. We see both of them, and all the above, in the marvel that is Beware Wolves. Perhaps its best they stay hidden, the music, however, is flying too far below.
Start from the top and let these songs wash over you. You’re bound to find a dozen or two that speak to you significantly. You won’t, and you can’t, deny this massive statement. Something suspicious this way comes.
After the War is featured now on our Emerging Folk Playlist.
The Wild Is Calling 