Latest News
The Duke Spirit announce new album ‘Sky Is Mine’!
“…powerful rock…”
- Drowned In Sound
"...lush and spongey while also
swaggering along with a muscular
grace."
- Stereogum
"Easily one of Britain's best experimental rock outfits."
- Gigwise
"... a stellar return."
- Mojo
Following last year’s acclaimed album KIN and November's EP Serenade, The Duke Spirit march on with poignant new album Sky Is Mine, released on 18th August 2017 via Ex Voto Records. The album is available to pre-order now.
Taken from the album, new single Magenta premiered on Gigwise as well as Lauren Laverne's BBC 6Music show. The single is also available to stream now via the band's Soundcloud page and on Spotify.
Produced by the band themselves, and mixed by Bruno Ellingham (Massive Attack), the album also features guest vocals by long time friends Josh T Pearson (Lift to Experience) on the woozy ‘How Could, How Come’, and Duke Garwood on album closer ‘Broken Dream’.
On Sky Is Mine each song approaches, revises, steps back and looks for humanity on a planetary scale. From the shimmering melodies and prodigious power of tracks like ‘Magenta’ and ‘See Power’ to the energy-fuelled psychedelic rock of ‘Houses’ and ‘Yoyo’, the album flows with a dark, beguiling grandeur with the majestic allure of Liela Moss’ crystal vocals. Sky Is Mine looks at harm, control and lack of love but burns through it to find the essential human heart.
Talking about the album, front-woman Liela Moss explains: "Sonically, it's the most tender record we have made, the expansiveness will lift hearts but the rawness will burn through greedy fingers. Lyrically, this is where I stand... With feet cold and wet from standing in the sludge of fear that is the world we tread upon, this album snapshots a palpitating heart that values above all things, life. Half-finished sentences describe nasty bits and pieces, shards of cruelty as they are dissolved by being pissed on from a great height with a stream of golden, glowing benevolence!"
Continuing to prove themselves as one of the UK’s most enduring and distinctive rock acts, The Duke Spirit are known for their captivating live shows and will continue to hypnotise listeners with the sweeping power of Sky Is Mine.
Catch The Duke Spirit live at the following dates:
17th August - Bush Hall - London
Sky Is Mine is released on 18th August 2017 via Ex Voto Records and is available to pre-order now.
Introducing… HVMM!
"... a distinct, inspired swagger..."
- Gigslutz
Worcester’s apoplectic rockers HVMM are about to unleash their debut EP Talk To Me like I’m Dead on 1st September 2017 via ILA. It is available to pre-order now.
The EP includes the band’s single Lacerate and you can watch the video via the band's YouTube channel now.
You can also stream the single via HVMM's Soundcloud page and on Spotify now.
Kicking-off with their ferocious previous single ‘Lacerate’, HVMM combine blues rock influences with eerie bass lines and melodic riffs to create something truly powerful. Lead singer Andy Teece’s sharp, distinctive vocal steals the show, sounding akin to the likes of Jack White or Rage Against the Machine’s Zach De La Rocha. Upcoming double a-side single Beggars and Thieves / Going Postal continue the band’s anachronistic and subversive themes with Beggars and Thieves slamming head first into unapologetic, heavy-laced rock and Going Postal’s impressively slick vocals from lead guitarist Ebony Clay complimenting Andy’s charged sound perfectly.
“Try limiting any preconceived ideas when listening to the tracks and enjoy them for what they may or may not be to you,” Andy explains and goes on to say, “or choose to get suckered in by some standard marketing bullshit to help lead you down the road like a two-year-old, needing constant guidance when learning to use a knife and fork”.
Having met as a result of an unexplained scuffle in a county pub, Andy and Sam Jenkins (drums) formed the band in 2015. Andy and Ebony then went on to meet as a result of Ebony approaching him in his favourite coffee shop and after a caffeine- induced conversation followed by alcohol, Ebony found herself in the band. Ebony then called upon her old friend Jack Timmis (bass) and the line up was complete. Although the band are still new to the scene, their irrepressible and unforgettable presence on the live circuit, which is epitomised by their relentless energy, has seen them become the first British act signed to US label ILA
With Talk To Me Like I’m Dead there are no fucks given and HVMM are ready to share their raucous, terrifying sound with the rest of the world.
You can also catch HVMM live at the following dates:
1st July - Prince Of Wales - Kettering
22nd July - Tramlines Festival - Sheffield Tickets
2nd August - Robin 2 - Wolverhampton Tickets
5th August - The Iron Road - Evesham Tickets
2nd September - EP Launch - Marrs Bar - Worcester
Talk To Me Like I’m Dead is out on 1st September 2017 via ILA and it is available to pre-order now.
Mt. Doubt shares free track ‘A Natural Swimmer’!
"...mixes stark, jangling guitars
with confessional lyricism..."
- Team Rock
"...a blend of jangly guitars and stark lyrics, creating dark, pure indie."
- The List
"...distinctive vocals and accomplished songwriting..."
- The Scotsman
To celebrate the release of their new EP The Loneliness Of The TV Watchers, Edinburgh-based sextet Mt. Doubt have now shared free download track A Natural Swimmer. The EP
is out now via Scottish Fiction Records and is available to buy and stream on iTunes and Spotify.
A Natural Swimmer is filled with whirring melodies and a feel-good chorus that will have you singing along for days . It is available to download for free on Mt. Doubt's Soundcloud page now.
Reflecting on the everyday sense of disillusionment and fear that affects all of us, The Loneliness Of The TV Watchers is a heartfelt collection of indie-rock ballads. From the luscious harmonies and uptempo beats of Tourists - which is inspired by Bargery’s fear of flying - to the poetic lyricism and sweeping melodies of ‘Purity’, each track offers an insight into the banality of everyday life. As Bargery’s impassioned, deep baritone flows, with strong shades of the likes of The National or Frightened Rabbit, each anthemic creation tugs at the heartstrings with a twinkling honesty.
Since the release of their critically acclaimed albums In Awe Of Nothing and My Past Is A Quiet Beast, Mt. Doubt have received praise from the likes of The Scotsman, The National, The Skinny as well as BBC 6Music and BBC Radio Scotland to name but a few. They are also no strangers to the Scottish live circuit, having performed at T In the Park, Brew At The Bog and supported We Were Promised Jetpacks, Admiral Fallow and White Lies amongst others.
Mt. Doubt's new EP The Loneliness Of The TV Watchers is out now via Scottish Fiction Records and is available to buy and stream on iTunes and Spotify.
Jay Baruchel Joins Chapterhouse Publishing As Chief Creative Officer!
Chapterhouse Comics is proud to announce its latest super team-up with Canadian actor, writer and director Jay Baruchel (Goon: Last of the Enforcers, How To Train Your Dragon), as he joins the Chapterhouse family as investor, owner and Chief Creative Officer.
Founded in 2015, Chapterhouse is Canada’s largest comic book publisher. The company, headed by CEO Fadi Hakim, has been making leaps and bounds promoting Canadian talent and flagship superhero Captain Canuck, along with more than 16 other monthly titles in addition to archive classics, graphic novels and prose novels.
Chapterhouse is proudly Canadian, flying the flag for diversity, with an appeal to comics fans worldwide - something that Jay and founder Fadi first bonded over.
“What started with a conversation about bringing Captain Canuck to the big screen very quickly evolved into my asking Fadi if I could invest in Chapterhouse,” says Jay. “As both a patriot, and a lifelong nerd, the breadth of vision and daring that Chapterhouse had already displayed in their two short years was nothing short of staggering.
“This was the kind of thing we’d talk and dream about as Canadian kids - a home grown Canadian extended comic book universe. This was both an adventure and holy mission, and one I knew I had to be a part of.” Chapterhouse and Jay are planning to take the company and their characters to new heights, as Jay succinctly puts it: “We want to be the home for superheroes the big publishers don’t have the balls to create.”
Canadian superhero Captain Canuck, created by artist/writer Richard Comely and illustrator Ron Leishman, first appeared in Captain Canuck #1 in 1975. Since his inception, he had fallen off the radar but, Chapterhouse has given life to the character once more.
Chapterhouse and Jay Baruchel want to tell stories that Canadians can be proud of, and that the rest of the world is excited about as well. Fadi explains, “We are one of the most ethnically and socially diverse countries in the world. I want our writers and artists to write and draw what they see, and not have to be apologetic for it, as Canadians often are. I want to see the Pitiful Human-Lizard ride through Parkdale atop the 504 streetcar to get around; I want to see Captain Canuck and Northguard back-to-back in a throw-down that levels Toronto’s Dundas Square, I want to see Redcoat and Kebec split a Donair in Halifax. I want to lionize the land I live in; I want its people to have a pipeline for their stories and ideas that are distinctly ours; I want the world to read them and wish they lived here… or at least visit!”
Chapterhouse founder Fadi Hakim’s love of comics all started with Canuck himself. Perusing the Dixie Fantastic Flea Market in Mississauga, Ontario, as a kid in the late 70s, skimming past the more mainstream choices of the era, his eyes were instantly drawn to Captain Canuck #1 - a bold cover with the Captain standing heroically in front of a hopeful, yellow sunset, hands placed on his hips, with the red and white Canadian flag waving majestically behind him. “It was like candy to my eyes, I had to have it and collected any Captain Canuck that I could get my hands on thereafter.”
Recently, Jay co-wrote the Free Comic Book day edition of Captain Canuck: Year One with Chapterhouse Editor-In-Chief and series writer Kalman Andrasofszky. The comic is first of a three-part series illustrated by Marcus To (The Flash, Red Robin), featuring a cover by David Finch (Batman: The Dark Knight).
Now, after just two years, Chapterhouse has announced a partnership with Diamond Books, which means its titles will be distributed throughout North America and Europe. The Canadian publishing powerhouse intends to expand into other territories, and to reach brand new fans. The announcement is well timed, as the world could use a hero like Captain Canuck right now; someone who stands for all that is good and pure, and who is proud of his country, but concerned for people all around the globe, and who represents the Canadian spirit and the best of us all.
If you'd like to find out more about Chapterhouse Comics or A Badge of Friendship's PR services, please email info@abadgeoffriendship.com.
Hawk unveil new single ‘Sin’!
“…waves of heavy percussion and
intertwining riffs." - DIY
"...emotional..." - Stereogum
“…stunning…” - Noisey
“…simply sublime…” - The Line of Best Fit
HAWK are back with another truly majestic release, combining an abrasive edge with celestial vocals and activism at its core. Their forthcoming single Sin is out on 14th July 2017 via Veta Records.
The audio for the single premiered exclusively on The Line Of Best Fit and is available to stream on Spotify now.
Sin addresses the need to embrace female sexuality and autonomy, instead of demonising it or ignoring it full stop. The track is propelled forwards by front woman Julie Hawk’s poignant, crystal-clear vocals and twinkling hooks, oozing a sweeping grandeur throughout. Filled with an empowering grace, Sin asserts that we should be proud of being sexual and recognise the power of consent. It’s about stepping out of an age old framework that women should be ashamed of promiscuity or expressing self-love. Julie explains “it’s shouting about embracing our feelings, our cravings, our pasts, and even our mistakes, as we define them. We wear them on our skin and let them empower us as women”.
HAWK originally formed in London in 2014 to hone their unique style of grunge-filled indie. They now produce all music themselves and have also recently started working with Rocky O’Reilly (And So I Watch You From Afar) to help develop their post-rock sound.
Since the release of critically acclaimed singles such as Take It Away, Mirror Maze and Once Told, HAWK have received support from Noisey, Stereogum, Wonderland, DIY and The Line Of Best Fit to name but a few. Their music covers a range of topics including inequality, gender-preconceptions, and generalisations faced by different social groups whilst still managing to exude a dreamy, haunting elegance with each offering.
Sin is out 14th July 2017 via Veta Records and is available to stream on Spotify now.