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Introducing… Sorren Maclean!
Sorren Maclean is pleased to announce his forthcoming EP, Way Back Home, released 9th March 2015 via Middle Of Nowhere Recordings.
EP track 'Rows & Rows Of Boxes' is an evocative vignette that serves as the perfect example of Sorren's stripped back guitar and lyrically driven sound. You can stream and download it for free from the ABoF SoundCloud page.
Sorren’s delicate indie folk sound perfectly captures the desolate beauty of his homeland on the Isle Of Mull. There’s a warmth to his voice and guitar playing that gives the listener a feeling of closeness. This is none more apparent on EP track ‘If Not For You’, where one feels that Sorren could almost be in the room with you. While the title track Way Back Home portrays the longing desperation of life on the road, and the bittersweet homecoming that follows upon the journey back to a more sedate normality. There is a definitive and accomplished quality to Sorren’s sound that allows his voice and guitar to share the spotlight simultaneously.
Growing up on the Isle of Mull, Sorren began playing in bands from age 11. He recorded his debut album, Island, with Colin MacIntyre of Mull Historical Society, which led on to Idlewild singer Roddy Woomble inviting Sorren to co-write his second solo album, The Impossible Song and Other Songs, and they’ve been working together ever since.
As well as playing and touring with Roddy and Mull Historical Society, Sorren also plays in a duo with virtuoso guitarist Finlay Wells. He also produced the EP Echoes by singer Laurie Cameron, which was used in Channel 4’s Hollyoaks and his songs have appeared in E4's Beaver Falls.
Sorren regularly works and records with composer Donald Shaw of Capercaillie, creating music for the soundtracks to BBC Two’s acclaimed Hebrides series and the award winning childrens tv show Katie Morag, as well as many BBC documentaries including McQueen of Scots.
Sorren’s undoubted talent has seen him transcend his own musical projects, having performed on over 20 albums, including upcoming releases from Nashville singer Eliza Lynn and one of Scotlands finest exports, King Creosote whom he is supporting currently on tour. Catch him live at the following dates:
29th January - Warwick Arts Centre - Coventry
30th January - St Mary's Church - Ashford
31st January - The Marble Factory - Bristol
1st February - Ropetackle - Shoreham By Sea
2nd February - Union Chapel - London
3rd February - Union Chapel - London
Supporting Idlewild
7th March - ABC - Glasgow
10th March - The Institute - Birmingham
12th March - The Ritz - Manchester
13th March - Roundhouse - London
Supporting Roddy Woomble
9th April - Kings Place
London
With new album Winter Stay Autumn due before the summer and a support tour with Idlewild in March, 2015 looks set to be one of his busiest years yet.
The Capture Effect release download track ‘SKYwave’!
The Capture Effect have released their second download track, 'SKYwave', taken from their debut EP Frequencies due for release on 23rd March 2015 via Free Radio.
‘SKYwave’ charts the phone hacking scandal of 2011 with sampled news reports combined with up tempo fuzzy synth to transcend breakneck drumbeats and affected vocals. The track premiered on Artrocker and you can now stream and download it for free via the ABoF SoundCloud page.
You can also download a second EP track, 'London's Burning', for free from the ABoF SoundCloud page.
On Frequencies the London based five-piece have created intense rock music, spliced with electro-synth sound waves, bridged neatly by a compelling narrative told through provocative lyrical content. Each track tells an individual story as the band touch on myriad of topical subjects, both unique to the individual and to society as a whole.
Featuring Iain Littlemore (guitar, vocals), Adam Parr (guitar, keyboard, backing vocals), Andy Malliff (bass, samples, backing vocals), Adam Smith (keyboards, synth, guitar, backing vocals) and Stuart Roberts (drums), the band formed in summer 2014 after an extensive writing period together. Inspired by a shared love of Nirvana, Bloc Party, Biffy Clyro, The Clash and all things David Fincher, The Capture Effect set about writing music that built upon these influences while maintaining a sound very much their own. Indeed their name and the idea of incorporating news reports and samples in their songs came about after an amp picked up a live radio broadcast during rehearsal. The phenomenon is known as ‘The Capture Effect’ and the rest, as they say, is history.
Frequencies is released on 23rd March 2015 via Free Radio.
Noir | Noir announce ‘Claustrophobic Love’ single!
Noir | Noir are set to release their single, Claustrophobic Love, on 16th February 2015 via Nef Music.
To celebrate the release, the band have unveiled an ominous video, which premiered on Gigwise. You can watch it now on the band's YouTube channel.
You can stream the single on the ABoF SoundCloud page.
Manchester’s powerful new alt-rock quartet make it clear with their forthcoming single that their passion is very much worn on their collective sleeve. It is a relentless, pounding ode to bass-bin ruining riffs and stomping forward motion rhythms if ever you’re likely to hear one. The accompanying video, inspired by Silence Of The Lambs, further cements the fact that Noir | Noir live up to their dark, dark name.
The band are Finn Sedas (guitars, keyboard and vocals), Nora King (bass and vocals), Eoin Ryan (drums) and Manuel Alcaino (guitar and vocals). They haven’t just found their own sound - they’ve discovered their own noise. Yet this isn’t simply a case of turning speakers up to eleven and leaving it at that: there’s detail evident in their music that betrays a genuine maturity. With formal musical training married to a shared life-long love for the meatier and more experimental side of rock, and a respect for the importance of melody, it’s unsurprising to find hues of the tougher end to both Pixies and The Flaming Lips, along with early Black Rebel Motorcycle Club within the aural collage Noir | Noir paint.
They produce electrifying and truly exciting stuff that begs to be heard by anyone with an ear for darkroom realness served on a tough bed of grit, grime and sleaze. Since descending on Britain’s first devolved city earlier this year, the troupe have been very much in demand, with constant tour dates, a fast-growing fan base, and early support from BBC Introducing and Amazing Radio all pointing to a promising 2015.
HAWK release video for ‘Clock Hands’!
"HAWK combine post-punk and folk in a spine-tingling brew that'll take potshots at your emotional wellbeing" - The Line of Best Fit
"...a searing post-rock epic..." - Gigwise
HAWK release their forthcoming Clock Hands EP on 23rd February 2015 via Veta Records.
The video for EP title track Clock Hands premiered on The Line Of Best Fit and you can watch it now on the band's YouTube channel.
Previous single Hush premiered on Gigwise, and you can stream and download it for free via HAWK's SoundCloud page.
Hush's haunting video premiered on The Line Of Best Fit and you can now enjoy it on HAWK's YouTube channel.
The EP continues to explore the limits of light and shade. Title track Clock Hands combines soaring and ethereal vocals with a guitar and rhythm section that defy traditional melodic forms but retain an air of their folk heritage. Like a post-rock Daughter, HAWK’s talent for minimalist storytelling is evident on tracks such as ‘Fire In A Classroom’ and ‘Footsteps, but their ability to convey emotion through music and Julie’s amazing vocal range is just as strong. The intro to last year’s single and EP track Hush is wordless, yet is all the more powerful for it, and a spine tingling example of the band’s dark beauty.
Hush gained support from the likes of The Line Of Best Fit, Music Week (who tipped them as ones to watch in 2015), as well as Amazing Radio, BBC 6Music’s Tom Robinson, and XFM DJ and Blur drummer Dave Rowntree.
HAWK have been described as everything from noir-rock to alternative-folk. Based in London, Julie, Matt, Chris, and Sam hail from various corners of the UK and Ireland. Irish-born lead singer Julie Hawk (vocals and guitar) initially embarked on a solo folk career, and began collaborating with Matthew Harris (guitar) in 2012. After a year on the acoustic circuit, the fledgling duo joined Sam Campbell (drums) and Chris Handsley (bass) to form the band you hear now, adding a new abrasive edge to their sound while retaining the delicacy of their acoustic roots.
Clock Hands is released 23rd February via Veta Records.
Between Mockingbirds release video for ‘Do You?’
Between Mockingbirds have released a trippy music video for their latest download track, Do You?. It premiered on Gigslutz, who described it as "..a hard-faced track from a band of the future".
You can watch the video on Between Mockingbirds' YouTube channel.
The track premiered on Artrocker and you can download and stream it for free via the ABoF SoundCloud page.
Do You blends 90s American college rock and a heavy dose of politics with the band being inspired by 2014’s Scottish Referendum. Although the band are influenced by heavy rock acts like Queens of the Stone Age, the track has a definite 90s feel about it, reminiscent of hazy US college days in the sun, but this has a definite modern feel taking the best of those halcyon days and combining them with an edgier flavour - think Dinosaur Jr. meets Cloud Nothings.
With the referendum having a huge effect on the whole of Scotland, Do You’s lyrics are told from the perspective of a ‘Yes’ voter. The feeling of excitement around the Yes Campaign was incredible but with the No result, many were left feeling dejected, disappointed and disaffected. It’s no surprise that Scotland’s creatives have been inspired to voice their anger and frustration and Between Mockingbirds display this perfectly as guitarist / singer Michael Davitt sings: “Why ask for change and expect to be the same, do you look around yourself at all?”