Emerson Snowe shares new single and video.

Today Brisbane newcomer Emerson Snowe has revealed the video for new single "Human" alongside details of his forthcoming debut EP ‘That’s Rock ‘n’ Roll’ which is set for release on Friday 10th May via Liberation Records.
 
Fresh from appearances at SXSW last month, Emerson Snowe will quickly return to the international stage, this time to perform showcases at Brighton’s The Great Escape as well as headline shows across the UK and Europe throughout May.
 
"Human" sees 24-year-old Emerson Snowe (real name Jarrod Mahon) deliver an uplifting and affirming anthem about overcoming life’s challenges as he grows to understand more about himself through his relationships. The accompanying video, directed by Johnny McKay, is an amusing visual capturing Jarrod’s sharp sense of humour with many streams of conscience centred against evocative backdrops.

Speaking on the track, Mahon said: “A lot of my recent tracks were written as if I'm talking to only one person specifically. Unlike my other songs this is me talking to more than one person; it's to my parents and trying to understand the relationship I have with them and how it co-aligns with who I am. I have always been quite aware of how I always self-sabotage and I feel it is coming back into my life more recently - but now that I have more of a goal I'm starting to see and feel beautiful things. I’m glad I'm here.”
 
Watch “Human”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLg5LLiPWBM

Emerson Snowe’s profoundly honest yet unconventional approach to music resonates throughout the new EP. "‘That’s Rock ’n’ Roll’ is collection of songs that were written 2 years ago after I ended one vice for another. I had no use in trying to find round-about ways of telling a memory rather than just literally telling it" explains Mahon. "A lot of what I do feels like an inside joke with myself, so naming my debut EP was no different."

"The EP touches on my impulsive nature, trying to understand others, understanding where one vice ends another begins and giving a lot of myself away and appreciating what is going on around me." He concludes: "I am open - what I write is diary entries and that’s how it will always be."

“Human” follows on from previous singles released last year, including the poignant “Could You Love Me?”, the infectious “Sunlight” and “If I Die, Then I Die” which has garnered international recognition, most recently on Jack Saunders Next Wave segment on BBC Radio 1, and saw Emerson Snowe picked as one of The Great Escape’s “First Fifty”.
 
‘That’s Rock’n’Roll’ EP will be released on Friday May 10^th via Liberation Records - streaming & purchase links here.
 
UK & European tour dates:
May 7 – East Bound Festival, Dublin
May 10-11 – The Great Escape, Brighton
May 12 – Gold Sounds Festival, Leeds
May 13 – The Old England, Bristol
May 14 – The Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham
May 16 – The Hug and Pint, Glasgow
May 22 - The Islington, London
May 24 – La Boule Noire, Paris
May 25 – London Calling, Amsterdam

Ex Hex - 'Rainbow Shiner' video + tour dates.

Pictured: Ex Hex press shot by Michael Lavine (click for high res)

"Knottier and gnarlier than its predecessors... It, too, rips. One heavy guitar lick bulldozes into the next, as the instruments collide and bounce off each other rambunctiously." - 8/10, Uncut
"Hip-shaking, thrill-seeking glam moves, new-wave anthems, and whistle-able melodies." - **** MOJO
"The Washington DC trio's zeal for radio rock rifferama is infectious... Deliciously immoderate." - The Wire
"Slicker and snazzier and shinier, but still designed with destruction in mind." - The Quietus
"A playful new layer to Ex Hex’ ultra-distinctive sound... Don your glittery outfits and get ready to mosh."  - **** NME
“’Making guitar music this boisterous and this exhilarating is actually a bit of an exact science.”  - **** DIY
“Another marvel of radio-rock craftsmanship.” - Q
“It’s Real lays a path for working through painful moments and re-empowering one epic riff at a time.” — NPR
“Ex Hex mine the areas of arena rock that have been forgotten to pop history, pledging allegiance to echo, overdrive, phasers and harmony, the very things that powered the airwaves in the days before MTV.” — Pitchfork
 

Ex Hex have taken new album 'It’s Real' (out now via Merge) on the road for a massive tour that will find the band hitting both sides of North America before crossing the Atlantic for shows in Europe next month. Today, the trio of Mary Timony, Betsy Wright, and Laura Harris present the music video for “Rainbow Shiner” which faithfully brings their album art to life and was directed by underground animator and cult cartoonist M. Wartella.

Of the video, Wartella says: “As artists, often our destructive tendencies come from the same place in our heads that creativity comes from, and that is what we aimed to capture in this psychedelic trip clip. Well, that and to rock your socks off! For real!!!”

Watch "Rainbow Shiner": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqRI5uN3fEE
Embed: 

The ferocious and anthemic “Rainbow Shiner” is what Ex Hex’s Betsy Wright describes as “a victory song about the power and love of music” Her mordacious central riff is coupled with dueling guitar-god solos that explode from the stereo spectrum.

Ex Hex were already one of America’s best guitar bands—but on ‘It’s Real’, their musical savvy has thrillingly combined with anything-goes curiosity, studio experimentation, and a dedication to refinement, resulting in an album that’s ready to be played at maximum volume.
 Single "Rainbow Shiner" offers a prime example.

Ex Hex European live dates:
May 23 - Stereo, GLASGOW (UK)
May 24 - Brudenell Social Club, LEEDS (UK)
May 25 - Deaf Institute, MANCHESTER (UK)
May 27 - The Exchange, BRISTOL (UK)
May 28 - Village Underground, LONDON (UK)
May 29 - Hare & Hounds, BIRMINGHAM (UK)
May 31 - Botanique, BRUSSELS (BE)
Jun 01 - Best Kept Secret Festival, HILVARENBEEK (NL)
Jun 03 - La Maroquinerie, PARIS (FR)
Jun 04 - Exil, ZURICH (CH)
Jun 05 - Blue Shell, COLOGNE (DE)
Jun 06 - Molotow, HAMBURG (DE)
Jun 07 - Privatclub, BERLIN (DE)

Piroshka + Bad Idea. Brudenell Social Club, Leeds. 31.03.19.

15 minutes before Bad Idea walk on stage the Brudenell isn’t exactly full and I’m wondering if this is going to be one of those gigs where great bands play to almost no people. Thankfully there’s a decent number in by the time opening act Bad Idea begin their set of catchy, lo-fi, guitar drenched indie pop. This is a hard working band. Formed less than two years ago but with the best part of 40 gigs played and two singles released already Bad Idea mix often delicate, summery, jangly guitar sounds in songs such as ‘Date ‘Night’ with noisier, heavy, fuzzy bass and drum driven numbers such as ‘Boy Racer’.  After a song suffers a mis-start singer Sarah Sefton apologises, telling us how nervous she is. Apologies are unnecessary, as are the nerves, Sefton has one of those voices you can listen to for hours. Not unlike that of Harriet Wheeler (those of a certain age will remember The Sundays). Delicate, fragile but one that blends perfectly with Bad Idea’s catchy hooks and the more subtle, background vocals of drummer Daniel Johnson. I don’t doubt we’ll be hearing more about Bad Idea in the not too distant future.

Bad Idea

Bad Idea

Bad Idea

Bad Idea

Bad Idea

Piroshka – not a ‘supergroup’ but they are made up of drummer Justin Welch (ex Elastica), bass player Michael Conroy (Modern English), guitarist KJ ‘Moose’ McKillop (Moose) and vocalist/guitarist Miki Berenyi (Lush) – stroll on to a now somewhat fuller venue and give us a guitar drenched set of perfect indie pop. Live Piroshka are a six piece, supplemented with keyboards, percussion and additional backing vocals. Their sound is different from that of their previous groups. More edgy, tougher and darker but with Berenyi’s unmistakeable vocals and a clear nod to everything that defined the late 80’s/early 90’s ‘alternative’ music scene.

Opening song ‘This Must Be Bedlam’ (also the opening track on excellent debut album ‘Brickbat’) hooks the punters in immediately with it’s catchy, repetitive beat, layered sound and disdainful lyrics. ‘Run For Your Life’ follows and is, perhaps, where we here the most obvious comparison to Lush. Piroshka power through the whole of Brickbat meaning it’s a gig of songs that at one point might be pounding drums, shimmering, feverish guitars and digs at the state of current politics and opinions – ‘Hated By The Powers That Be’, whilst minutes later ‘Blameless’ and ‘Heartbeats’ are gentler, bittersweet and personal. Whilst it’s hard not to think of Lush when Berenyi sings, Piroshka’s lyrics are generally far harder hitting as they rally against todays ills – greed and inequality (‘Never Enough’), constant bad news, school shootings and, of course, the absolute mess that is Brexit.  If you absolutely had to compare the live sound of Piroshka to that of other bands you might say there are small hints of Cocteau Twins, a touch of The Breeders and tiny amounts of Stereolab but ultimately Piroshka are Piroshka, four musicians each with a distinguished past who have come together to form something much more than the sum of it’s parts. And it’s clear from the smiles on stage that they enjoy what they are now doing. Ending their set with ‘What’s Next’, a song that has such a captivating, uplifting beat it’s easy to avoid it’s focus – “I’m terrified that the long forgotten days when we were divided are back again.” After leaving the stage for the briefest amount of time they return to announce their final song will be a cover, one that “If you recognise this you must be really old.” Feeling my age it took only seconds before I did and we get a perfect version of The Au Pairs ‘It’s Obvious’, released 39 years ago.

Piroshka

Piroshka

Piroshka

Piroshka

Piroshka

Piroshka

Piroshka

Piroshka

Piroshka

Piroshka

Piroshka

Piroshka