“I’ve been brainwashed into thinking that I need you.” There’s a solemn serenity to the revelatory victories heard on Brainwashed, the new single from Meadowlark. A gorgeous harmonious indie folk feel breaks through with a conflicted, but empowered narrative. The melancholy aura comes with the sunk cost felt from romantic failures, but once love is lost it almost never comes back.
Brainwashed effectively embodies the sentiment, like a token of a feeling that’s all too familiar in the universal scope of romantic trials. The arrangement is dynamic, it brings contrast with contemporary quips known to Nick Drake and Joni Mitchell to match an indie folk influence akin to Darlingside or Sufjan Stevens. Brainwashed lands soft, but the lyrics hit hard. It’s a good vibe in any light, or a reminder of desire gone sour.
Hear Brainwashed now on our Emerging Folk Playlist.
Minda Lacy is introspective on her new single Loneliest Bug. She contemplates the conundrum of friendship and comfort. It recalls the age old sentiment that you get what you give, and Lacy’s performance effectively translates the internal struggle on how to find that balance. This slow folky trot suits her prescribed influences of Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen. Lacy adds her own instinctual beauty to compliment their storybook tendencies. She also adds some of the candid modern jest of Courtney Barnett.
The title track is just one highlight of her new 11 song album. There are upbeat fits like the eccentric Eyeball Song and classic furious folky upticks like Angry Song. That fury is complimented by more introspective works like the aforementioned title track, as well as highlights It’s Ok and Squeezed Out. Collectively a charming release that trends more Americana than indie folk, the Portland based artist cements her own status as new American Songwriter. Someone needs to tell these story’s, Lacy’s got our vote.
Hear Loneliest Bug now on our Emerging Folk Playlist.
Dark indie folk has an ally in the works of Hannah Wyatt. She has caught our attention once again with her magnificent single dagger. The quiver and conjured hurt heard in the vocal performance is enough to turn heads. Her performance speaks volumes, it casts cinematic visions of war torn widows and scorned past lovers, of the abused and broken, of the vindictive.
The song bypassed the need for catchy melodic quips in exchange for pure emotion and brooding progressive drama. The eery strings add to its thematic elusive nature. Fans of Big Thief and Gregory Alan Isakov will surely connect with this sound.
Hear dagger on our Emerging Folk and Indie Country Playlist.
The legacies of The Band, Dr John. and Little Feat find fresh footing on King Kong, the new single from The Whiskey Treaty Roadshow. This classic NOLA inspired Americana arrangement hits all the marks. Trademark horn fills pump between the vocals and swell within the verses, as a percussive piano accents the chart around the drums iconic shuffle. Its most striking characteristic is the emphatic vocal performance, one that’s ready to leave it all on the stage.
This is how singer’s used to sing, or at least the manner that the mainstream preferred. The Joe Cocker’s and Janis Joplins of the world, those who made us wonder how they did it night in and night out. To us King Kong does it better than the adapted feel of a Nathaniel Ratliff per se. King Kong really captures that eras aura, and on this magnicent release they present it LIVE, a detail that has us excited to see the Whiskey Treaty Roadshow in concert.
Hear King Kong now on our Emerging Folk and Indie Country Playlist.
The Wild Is Calling 