Collaboration is something kindred, a bond of connection akin to nothing else in this world. When musicians join together, distant or close, the result can be invigorating and regenerative. Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, approaches have had to shift and renegotiate—and live performance has been especially affected. Collaboration has become that much harder but equally […]
Author: Charlotte Holroyd
WATCH: Jess McAllister – ‘The Bushiest of Beards’
Exeter based Jess McAllister has been busy through lockdown, not only releasing a full-length album in the last year but also sharing a magnitude of excellent homemade videos (including an inspired take on Sugababes classic ‘Overload’) and performing live wherever and whenever possible. Owning your own narrative and voicing personal experience is a large focus […]
Valleyheart: Lostboycrow’s Golden Era
Lostboycrow has always felt more than a simple musical identity, but a source for greater interpretation further than an artist moniker can surmise. Something more akin to a journey, a shared space, a state of home, which might be the reason why like-minded souls have latched on so tightly to the artist’s music. These are […]
2020 IN REVIEW: Bitter Sweet Symphonies’ Albums of the Year
While it is easy to encapsulate 2020 as a year of challenge and global crisis, the last twelve months have also spurred a great deal of reflection, community resilience and spirit. Initiatives like Tim’s Twitter Listening Party, Snow Patrol’s Saturday Songwrite and Bandcamp’s Bandcamp Fridays have shown what pure intention and dedication can create, especially […]
2020 IN REVIEW: Bitter Sweet Symphonies’ Tracks of the Year
2020 beckoned a new decade, and with it a whole host of change erupted. We’re glimpsing a global population gasping for transformation, buoyed by hope with an awareness that things can get better if we speak up and challenge it to be. The musical output of this year reflected a need for comfort as well […]
TRACK BY TRACK // Broken Hands – ‘Split in Two’
It is often dubbed the “difficult” second album, in most cases this statement duly proves to be mere superstition or rather an unfortunate belief in the folklore of artistic stagnation, while the creation of Broken Hands’ sophomore record was fairly straight-forward on the surface, its arrival into the world has been far from it. A […]
Emotional Cadence: Finding Resolution in Odina’s ‘What I Never Told You’
Hailing from the Catalan region of Spain, the now-London living artist, Odina is all set to release her debut album, What I Never Told You on 21st August. The record is a culmination of years of work from the singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, and is intrinsically a confessional project that deals with everything from heartache […]
IN FOCUS // Huck Hastings
A name change, a new sound, a rebrand – these elements together signalled the start of a new era for Sydney-based musician, songwriter and vocalist, Huck Hastings. After spending a few years out of sync with his solo project, due to other commitments and other musical projects, attention was diverted back to Hastings’ solo pursuits […]
MUSORELIEF: A Bitter Sweet Symphonies Online Festival
Bitter Sweet Symphonies was founded on the basis of two elements: music and community. The want (but more accurately, the need) to share good music with more than just oneself, to foster a collective space in order to start conversations, to spread the word about underground gems and celebrate this communal medium.
In Conversation With… OCTOBER DRIFT
After five years on the scene, October Drift released their largest body of work yet, with January’s drop of long-awaited debut album, Forever Whatever. A high octane melange of grunge, hard rock, pop hooks and shoegaze; the songs enclosed offer a focussed lens on the band’s career to date: from the revelrous ‘Oh the Silence’ […]
LIVE REVIEW: IDER + Art School Girlfriend at Band on the Wall, Manchester
Meg Markwick and Lily Somerville met at University in the early 2010s, it was there that pair formed a kindred alliance that would later transpire into a musical project called IDER. Soulful sensations of R&B and electronic pop serpentine to create a scintillating burst of new wave pop, contemporary and current but also reminiscent of […]
ALBUM REVIEW: October Drift – ‘Forever Whatever’
Debut albums often combine a collage of songs written and collected over a period of time, stitched together with the eagerness of infancy and the latitude to dream big, a first record can be anything it wants to be. Here in 2020, after many years of building the mechanics through endless streams of touring and […]
2019 IN REVIEW: Bitter Sweet Symphonies’ Albums of the Year
It’s been a year of double albums, retrospectives and optimistic introductions—in between we’ve set the record straight with Taylor Swift, campaigned for change with Greta Thunberg (via The 1975 and Fatboy Slim), and gone back to basics with Bruce Springsteen.
2019 IN REVIEW: Bitter Sweet Symphonies’ Tracks of the Year
A track has the ability to say so much and equally not enough, but in the same breath it has the capacity to launch a career. The single song culture of today is built on this rule. Dua Lipa, Lewis Capaldi, Lizzo, Lil Nas X, Mabel and Camila Cabello are just a few artists that […]
In Conversation With… YONAKA
From day one Yonaka embraced originality, displaying a fierceness that is breathtaking to behold and a formidable talent that any fresh-faced band would seize if they had the chance. Brighton has been the band’s home base from the start, and it seems that it was always meant to be like that, offering the four-piece freedom […]
LIVE REVIEW: Neighbourhood Festival 2019
What to say about this year’s round of Neighbourhood Festival? It was eclectic. The programming was focused on a few particular styles of music, yet the acts and what they brought in their live shows ranged from highly conceptualised spectacle, cathartic solitude, breathtaking precision, to beautifully collective uproar – as well as steadily providing entertaining […]
In Conversation With… STEREO HONEY
Currently touring the UK with emotive brethren Amber Run, London-living Stereo Honey are deep into a two-plus week span of live shows, utilising this time to unveil a host of new music as well as air beloved favourites, these dates symbolise the band’s first shows of 2019. The four-piece has been rolling under the radar […]
In Conversation with… SNOW PATROL
This autumn, Snow Patrol will embark on a UK/IE-wide tour in celebration of their forthcoming Reworked album, due 8th November. Industry accolades and career-affirming milestones have been rolling in since the five piece released their long-awaited seventh studio album, Wildness, last May; completing a third appointment at Bangor’s Ward Park last year (which saw the […]
LIVE PREVIEW: Neighbourhood Festival 2019
It’s that time of year again, as we reach the end of September the UK’s Northern climate becomes increasingly more seasonal, outdoor living starts to feel less practical, so we retreat indoors, and fill the hallowed spaces of cosy back rooms with renewed warmth. Just as festival season appears to be over for another term, […]
ON REPEAT: Five songs for your playlists
On Repeat: the place where we round up the most exciting new music releases. Five tracks, all recently released, featuring artists we can’t get enough of right now – so, almost certainly, you’ll find at least one song in this bunch to add to your playlists.