Harry Styles hit “As It Was” gets “pounding percussion, spooky vocals, and a big flamenco-horn finish” as part of J Hacha De Zola’s “wild reimagining.”

Hacha’s next album mentored by Fernando Velez (co-founder of Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings), mixed by John Agnello (Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr.)

 

+++

J Hacha De Zola as photographed by Christine Samaroo
 
+++
 
PLAY, POST & SHARE

J Hacha De Zola | “As It Was” (A Harry Styles Cover)

[STREAM]: https://fanatic.lnk.to/JHachaDeZola-AsItWas-AHarryStylesCover
+++
J Hacha De Zola | About | “As It Was” (A Harry Styles Cover)
“No matter his source material, he’s more likely to invoke garage rock or Tom Waits than he is the Top 40 charts. And that holds on his latest, a wild reimagining of Harry Styles’ monster hit ‘As It Was’ complete with pounding percussion, spooky vocals, and a big flamenco-horn finish.”  – Cover Me Songs
“Pop music is hard to emulate,” Hacha De Zola explains. “It is performed by super-talented folks, with such dynamic, acrobatic vocal abilities, that attempting to emulate it is a tightrope act fraught with peril. I cannot say that I am a fan of popular music for the most part, but I understand why it is popular.
“This is another reason why I find attempting these covers to be so difficult. I like to force myself to do something that is uncomfortable for me. In the past, I have covered Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, Lorde, and others. I would invite anyone to try to cover one of these songs!
“I actually connected with the lyrics. I found them quite sad and bittersweet, especially these days after suffering the deeply personal loss of my mother. When you suffer such a personal loss, one often feels very alone coping with the pain. So I actually found the overall mood of ‘As It Was,’ particularly the hook, to be quite on point with how I have been feeling lately.”
+++
J Hacha De Zola | Without A Tribe | Sixth Full-Length Album | Release Date TBD
“With my previous album (2021’s East Of Eden), I was focused on trying to be something I never considered myself to be: A Singer.
“Previously, I wasn’t always quite focused on the ‘economy of songwriting,’ that is to say, concentrating on the ‘effectiveness’ of a song, as I would often go off on these rather self-indulgent musical tangents.
“With East Of Eden, I made it a focus to always keep the listener in mind and to put myself in their own shoes when considering songwriting/arrangements.
“For Without A Tribe, I’m doubling down on this approach — and taking it even further — while still borrowing heavily from R&B, Soul and Doo-Wop elements where the focus is on the vocals and overall vibe.
“To accomplish this, I reached out to Fernando Velez, a founding member of Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings. Fernando’s deep knowledge of Soul music was vital in getting the vintage sounds we were going for. We were heavily inspired by the New York, Philadelphia, and New Jersey vocal group styles from the 60s. We also incorporate Psychedelic, Spaghetti Western and even Mariachi flavors.
“Hopefully we have blended these familiar sounds in a way that feels new. To nail the vibe, we used an old school approach in producing this record, including asking legendary producer John Agnello (Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., Kurt Vile) to mix Without A Tribe.
John refined and locked in the sound we were shooting for using vintage analogue gear. There was a lot of intent behind the creation of Without A Tribe and I’m excited to put this new record out into the world very soon.”
+++
J Hacha De Zola | Links 
ASSETS : WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : YOUTUBE : INSTAGRAM : BANDCAMP : SPOTIFY : APPLE
 
+++
 
Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion | Contact
 
WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : YOUTUBE : INSTAGRAM : SOUNDCLOUD : SPOTIFY : BLOG : E-MAIL

Debut from Ivory Fields offers “defiantly avant-garde swathes of sound that hint at dream-pop and dark, left-field techno,” says Buzz Bands.

“Sears you like a slice of dark New Wave... brimming with a mélange of enticing synth sounds... danceable and mysterious.” — Glide Magazine

 

+++

 

Ivory Fields (L-R): Alejandro Cohen, Mahadev. Photo credit: Aaron Giesel.

+++

Ivory Fields | In The Press

“Combines densely layered synths, beats, guitars and vocals… defiantly avant-garde swathes of sound that hint at dream-pop and dark, left-field techno.” — Buzz Bands

“A spooky beat that sears you like a slice of dark New Wave... brimming with a mélange of enticing synth sounds... danceable and mysterious.” — Glide Magazine

“Feels like ODESZA and The Flaming Lips got together for an exploratory electronic jam session, in the best of ways.” — Independent Clauses

+++

Ivory FieldsS/T LP

(Simballrec / Office of Analogue and Digital)
Out Now

Streaming Link:

STREAM FULL LP
 
 

Track Listing:
 
01. Everything Is Okay
02. As If (STREAM | VIDEO)
03. Well Well Well
04. Land And Sea Boundaries (YOUTUBE | SOUNDCLOUD)
05. Blasted (STREAM)
06. GV
07. Bells
08. Saint Colors
09. Following The Path
10. Notice All Of These Things
 
+++

PLAY, POST & SHARE
 
Ivory Fields | “As If”

[VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ADhf46Vxv0
[STREAM]: https://Fanatic.lnk.to/IvoryFields-AsIf
+++
See the video for “As If” by Ivory Fields streaming at Glide Magazine and read more about the duo at Buzz Bands!
+++
Alex Pelly, the director of “As If,” the new video by Los Angeles duo Ivory Fields, incorporates multiple generations of video technology, both analog and digital, into her work.
“The ‘As If’ video illuminates the band in flashes of warm and cold light generated through audio reactive modular video synthesis, and filmed on an 80s security camera. I was highly influenced by 80s industrial music videos,” she explains.
“‘As If’ is more of a goth-inspired track than others on the album,” says Alejandro Cohen of Ivory Fields about the single from the duo’s self-titled debut. “There are hints of Alien Sex Fiend and Love and Rockets in there.”
Mahadev, the other half of Ivory Fields explains, “I was listening to a lot of Cleaners from Venus and Simple Minds while I was out on tour. When I got home, I opened up some new ideas that Ale sent me and ‘As If’ was one of them.”
+++

“Ale came with the title ‘Blasted’ first, which inspired the song,” says Mahadev of the duo’s latest single. “Dazzling goods blasting out, but never seeing them shine during war time or any time.”

.” Cohen adds, “‘Blasted’ is our closest example of a pop track, but in our own abstract and cosmic way.”
Hear “Blasted” by Ivory Fields at New Noise or at the link below.
[STREAM]: https://fanatic.lnk.to/IvoryFields-Blasted
+++
Ivory Fields | About

 

Ivory Fields (Out Now, Simballrec / Office of Analogue and Digital) is the self-titled ten-song debut album from the Los Angeles-based duo of Mahadev (f/k/a Matt Gangi) (GANGI, Fake Estates) and Alejandro Cohen (Pharaohs, Languis.)
 
In their own words, Ivory Fields “combusts layers of synths, drum machines and guitar over songs composed more around sonic imagery than chord progressions.”
 
The description is as accurate as it is mysterious. Indeed, the music here often feels like it is both floating just out of grasp, and overwhelming and omnipresent at the same time.
 
Even so, Mahadev reminds that the record is grounded in a “flare for pop context in its songwriting and production.” Cohen concurs, saying, “Ivory Fields mixes a desire for pop songs, dance production values, and experimental influences.”
 
The album’s upcoming singles – the electro-goth inspired “As If” and the danceable glow of “Blasted” – contain these musical multitudes. Catchy and eluding capture.
 
In reality, this music was dormant for some time, which belies how relevant and modern it sounds in its reverence for contemporaries (Animal Collective, Geneva Jacuzzi) and classic artists of the genre (Psychic TV, Wire.)
 
Cohen elaborates on the latter, explaining that Ivory Fields actually began “as a loose tribute to Dome –the experimental side project by members of Wire.”
 
Mahadev adds another touchstone, saying, “My friend, David Chaim Cohen (who mastered this album) said he heard The Legendary Pink Dots in the record. That made me happy, since I was actually listening to their album Brighter Now quite a bit at that time.”
 
“That time” was many years ago.
 
“Ivory Fields has been years in the making,” Mahadev says.
 
Many of the synths and vocals on the record were tracked between 2010 and 2012 in what Mahadev describes as “a slow-burning collaboration.”
 
This scenario is similar to Mahadev’s other recent release as one-half of GANGI. That duo’s “As Fake Estates” EP is also comprised of songs created many years prior to being shown to the public. Somehow, in both cases, it feels right that these compositions have had the time to silently evolve.
 
“The album wasn’t completed sooner, not because of lack of inspiration or too much time in the studio,” Mahadev explains. “We took our time to let it smolder, and either because of what was brought to light through the burning of time, or because of the process of completion we achieved by looking back into the fire, Ivory Fields is work we are very proud of.”
 
The self-titled debut album by Ivory Fields is out now via Simballrec / Office of Analogue and Digital preceded by the singles “As If” and “Blasted.” Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.
 
+++
 
Ivory Fields | Links
 
ASSETS : FACEBOOK : INSTAGRAM (ALE) : INSTAGRAM (MAHADEV) : TWITTER : YOUTUBE : BANDCAMP (SIMBALLREC) : BANDCAMP (OOAAD)
 
+++
 
Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion | Contact
 
WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : INSTAGRAM : YOUTUBE : SOUNDCLOUD : SPOTIFY : BLOG : E-MAIL

I Was A King on “Growing Wild” music video: “A lightning storm hit us and the lamps and power at the biker garage started flickering before it went all black.”

Norwegian duo’s ninth album “Follow Me Home” out this Friday. “Impeccable… abrasively beautiful.” — MAGNET | “Keeping the hook count high.” — Brooklyn Vegan

+++

I Was A King (L-R Anne Lise Frøkedal, Frode Strømstad) as photographed by Donald Milne

+++

PLAY, POST & SHARE

I Was A King | “Growing Wild”

[VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uuhetcfyBQ
[STREAM]: https://Fanatic.lnk.to/IWasAKing-GrowingWild
+++
See the video for “Growing Wild” by I Was A King at MAGNET here or listen at Brooklyn Vegan here or at the links above.
+++
“The more time I spend with this song, the more I’m almost frightened by how incredible it is.” — Austin Town Hall
“We used a couple of more traditional folk instruments on ‘Growing Wild,’” says Frode Strømstad of I Was A King about the Norwegian duo’s latest single. “The song describes living alongside darkness and chaos, but also summoning the courage to face it. There is an element of comfort in the phrase: ‘just like you I’m not afraid.’”
About the video for the song, Strømstad explains, “Back in August we played a small show in a biker garage in our hometown, and our good friend Donald Milne came over from Scotland to film the show. The idea of making this video came out of a happy accident, as a lightning storm hit us toward end of the night, and the lamps and power at the garage started flickering before it went all black.
“Donald made us go back there early next morning when the power was back on, and he got some more shots of us that blended in nicely with the clips he made night before. One of the bikers was there, too, and helped with swinging the ceiling lamp back and forth while Donald was filming.”
+++
I Was A King

Follow Me Home LP

(Coastal Town Recordings)

Oct. 28, 2022

 
 

Track Listing:

01. All This Time

02. Down

03. Follow Me Home (STREAM)

04. Growing Wild (STREAM | VIDEO)

05. Here At Last (STREAM)

06. Know The Way

07. Flag

08. Leave

09. Lo Pressure (STREAM)

10. Getting Colder

11. Sweet Things

12. Wood & Stone

+++

I Was A King | Live

11/02/2022: Stavanger, Norway @ Tou Scene

11/03/2022: Oslo, Norway @ Kampen Bistro (w/ Gary Olson of The Ladybug Transistor)

11/04/2022: Porsgrunn, Norway @ Ælvespeilet Kulturhus

11/05/2022: Moss, Norway @ House Of Foundation

+++

I Was A King | About
 

The front cover art for Follow Me Home, the ninth album by Oslo, Norway’s I Was A King (Coastal Town Recordings, Oct. 28) displays dotted lines that correspond to colorful cutouts on the back cover, one for each of the album’s twelve songs.

This is an innocent, childlike prompt to play it like a puzzle, literally, but on a more figurative note, this bit of fun also feels like a suggestion to fill in the blanks on what these songs mean to the listener.

Album opener “All This Time” is a just shy of two-minute prologue, foreshadowing the bits of melancholy carried throughout the album, fully realized on the following cut “Down.”

Gentle whispers

from the ground

you’re awake

but you’re still dreaming of the sound

when the shadow calls

breathing down your neck

awaiting a response

The feelings these lyrics evoke are moving, delivered with the insistent, singular-sounding combined voices of the band’s co-writers Frode Strømstad and Anne Lise Frøkedal, and bringing about that deep understanding of shared human condition that, even when packaged in the few minutes of a pop-rock song, is powerful enough to move mountains (and navigate fjords!)

In the case of I Was A King, the band has been around long enough to navigate without a map. Follow Me Home is clearly the sound of hard-won confidence.

Formed by Strømstad in 2006, with its debut album released in 2007, I Was A King continued at a steady pace for the next seven years, appearing on almost as many record labels throughout. Some may say the band’s sound went through just as many iterations during this time.

2009’s self-titled sophomore album featured contributions from Sufjan Stevens and Gary Olson of The Ladybug Transistor (on the Follow Me Home single “Growing Wild” you’ll be reminded of Sufjan’s banjo flourishes mixed with the opening notes of a Sonic Youth tune.)

2010’s Old Friends brought elements of Big Star and The Stooges into the mix and in 2012 indie rock icons Robyn Hitchcock and Norman Blake (of Teenage Fanclub) came on board to co-produce and perform on the band’s major label debut You Love It Here.

Following 2014’s Isle of Yours, I Was A King finally took a respite before returning for 2018’s Slow Century. 2020’s Grand Hotel followed.

2022’s Follow Me Home is perfectly titled. The album feels like kicking up your feet in front of the fire after a long journey that was trying, but filled with experience.

In reality, that warm fire would have likely been welcomed during the Follow Me Home recording sessions.

“We recorded Follow Me Home in December of 2021 in a building that had been a very important hub for Norwegian music over the last 20 years,” Strømstad explains. “While we were making the album, the building was emptied, and the heat and water shut off. It has since been demolished.”

Even under these considerably less-than-ideal circumstances, Strømstad and Frøkedal managed to make another reality of the time – producing these recordings during a lockdown – work to their advantage. The minimal take on the sound that I Was A King had been traveling towards all this time is its strongest asset on Follow Me Home.

“The previous two records were very band-oriented,” Strømstad says. “We felt that doing it as a two-piece this time would be a fresh approach, playing instruments we normally don’t play just to get some different ideas and textures and keeping it as simple and organic as possible.”

With Follow Me Home, Strømstad and Frøkedal had to fill in the blank spots in their process, just like the art that adorns the album cover. When the audience places the pieces, a colorful image emerges.

Follow Me Home, the ninth album by Oslo, Norway’s I Was A King, arrives on Oct. 28, 2022 via their own label Coastal Town Recordings. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

+++

I Was A King | Links

ASSETS : FACEBOOK : INSTAGRAM : TWITTER : YOUTUBE : BANDCAMP : SPOTIFY : APPLE

+++

Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion | Contact

WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : INSTAGRAM : YOUTUBE : SOUNDCLOUD : SPOTIFY : BLOG : E-MAIL

“Reaching levels of ultimate leisure,” the crushedvelvets “have captured the purest essence of this backdrop with utter confidence,” says Ghettoblaster.

Stereo Embers calls these songs, “Dreamy and soulful shuffles that have all the night-kissed grace of Julee Cruise and the poetic finesse of The Jazz Butcher.”

+++

 

  

Dani Meza of the crushedvelvets as photographed by Cristopher Cichocki

+++

PLAY, POST & SHARE

the crushedvelvets | “Neon Nights (Chinatown)”

[STREAM]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-Gb1W4eiuQ

+++

“The vibe is reaching levels of ultimate leisure... Dani Meza and company have captured the purest essence of this backdrop with utter confidence.” — Ghettoblaster

Dani Meza has just released the third in his three-song EP series as the crushedvelvets. Hear “Neon Nights (Chinatown)” now via Ghettoblaster Magazine or at the link above.

+++

In describing Meza’s music, his producer, Chris Schlarb — known for his work with Mike Watt, Sufjan Stevens, Nels Cline, and others — says, “Dani Meza is a throwback to the musical iconoclasts of yesteryear,” adding in reference to Meza’s hometown of Indio, California, “If you’re looking for oblique sounds, you’ll find them in the desert.”

Meza explains, “These new songs and style came about from necessity. After my medical incident (an aneurism and two strokes) it changed my perspective on how to write and perform.

“These songs were written while I was healing. My vocal delivery has to be more laid back, so the slow, grooving pace of these songs were built and written as to not over stimulate myself. At times, you can hear the tension in the music and in my voice when I have to hold back.”

Stereo Embers Magazine calls the crushedvelvets track “Dig To Me,” “a perfect example of Meza’s new musical identity. A smooth number that’s set against an astral soundscape. Dreamy and soulful shuffles that have all the night-kissed grace of Julee Cruise and the poetic finesse of The Jazz Butcher.” Hear “Dig To Me” here.

+++

the crushedvelvets

EP 3

(S/R)

Out Now

Streaming Link:

STREAM FULL EP

Track Listing:

01. Neon Nights (Chinatown) (STREAM)

02. Stun Gun

03. Drifting

+++

the crushedvelvets

EP 2(S/R)Out Now
Streaming Link:STREAM FULL EP

Track Listing:

01. Dig To Me (STREAM)

02. A Hero's Sin

03. The Way You Were Made

+++

the crushedvelvets

EP 1

(S/R)

Out Now

Streaming Link:

STREAM FULL EP

Track Listing:

01. Like I Do (STREAM)

02. Intertwined

03. Mosaic

+++

the crushedvelvets | About

After citing Al Green, Marvin Gaye, and Prince as influences, it is only natural that Dani Meza of the crushedvelvets concludes, “These songs are all about the groove.”

The nine new tunes by the crushedvelvets are presented three at a time, as if placed on a dark club’s bar like mixed drinks over the course of a mild summer evening.

For Meza, getting to that stone cold groove meant first getting his own groove back, and not just in the sense of the popular turn of phrase. Meza literally lost his ability to write and perform following an aneurism and stroke.

“These new songs and style came out of necessity,” Meza confides. “The incident forced me to change my perspective on how to write and perform. My vocal delivery had to be more laid back and the groovy pace of these songs keeps me from over-stimulating myself.”

The circumstances surrounding these recordings are out of the ordinary, but for listeners, they are even more alive with Meza’s soul and survival because of it.

“These songs were written while I was healing and the influences on this sound and these songs comes from the variety of musicians and bands that I listened to while I was recovering,” he says.

In addition to the aforementioned artists, Meza also mentions Serge Gainsbourg, Julee Cruise, and Erik Satie.

“I wanted to combine my love of R&B and Soul music with surreal sounds and imagery,” he explains.

With this concept in mind, Meza knew he should reach out to producer Chris Schlarb, an artist in his own right with several releases on Sufjan Stevens’s Asthmatic Kitty label, as well as  production credits for releases on Asthmatic Kitty, Joyful Noise, Jealous Butcher and many more.

“Chris knew exactly what I was trying to achieve and gathered the players he knew would bring my new songs to life,” Meza says.

Musicians Davin Givhan (Bass & Guitar), Ben Lumsdaine (Drums & Percussion), and Heather Sommerhauser (Keyboards & Backing Vocals) join Meza on Guitar, Keyboards, and Vocals.

“At our very first session, the songs seemed to fall into place on their own. I had no ambitions other than capturing the groove,” Meza remembers.

In conclusion, Meza drops an inspiring reveal of his continuing ambition on the other side of emerging from recovery.

Following the release of these three EPs, he plans to take the songs he amassed during his healing and head back into the studio to start working on “one of the many albums I have ready to record.”

Dani Meza of the crushedvelvets is available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

+++

the crushedvelvets | Links

ASSETS : INSTAGRAM : YOUTUBE : SPOTIFY : APPLE

+++

Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion | Contact

WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : INSTAGRAM : YOUTUBE : SOUNDCLOUD : SPOTIFY : BLOG : E-MAIL