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 […]
Manchester-based trio Café Spice, fresh off a signing with Liverpool indie label, Snide Records, are back with a new harmony-soaked ballad, ‘She Loves and Leaves’. To be direct, it’s as warm and comforting as french toast.
It’s often asserted by non-musicians that “truly great songwriting is based in emotional honesty.” This grotesque oversimplification completely sidelines the technical demands of the craft, leading many to the conclusion that all one needs is “three chords and the truth” (in the words of the great Harlan Howard), and you’re good to go. There are […]
We’re living in confusing times. Lockdown has disturbed our natural rhythms. There’s time to think; perhaps too much time, and not all the thoughts are welcome. Looking for something to soundtrack this state of uncertainty, the unsettling internal dialogue, the wonder of what’s next, and the quiet reflection?
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.
Shimmering into view like a late ’60s teleportation effect, Damsen’s new tune ‘Something Good’ evokes the anxiety of our times and soundtracks it with sliding jazzy guitars and oceanic instrumentation. And also it alleviates the boredom for a bit. It’s a song about bettering oneself, shaking the dust off of an old relationship, and it […]
With a trademark self-assuredness balanced alongside open-hearted emotional fragility, Manchester based alt-indie singer songwriter Lindsay Munroe is a regular favourite of ours here at Bitter Sweet Symphonies. As she builds towards the release of her new EP, Our Heaviness (due in May), Munroe follows up her previous single ‘Mirror’ with this latest number, ‘Split.’
Live events might have ground to a halt in the very unusual lockdown times that we’re living in, but music isn’t stopping, and punk in particular has a history of thriving in times of adversity. We have been witnessing a bit of a moment of spotlight for the genre in recent years, but this might […]
With comparisons drawn early in her career to the likes of Joni Mitchell and Laura Marling, Genevieve Dawson is an artist we have been keen to champion here at Bitter Sweet Symphonies for several years, since the release of her debut EP Things My Mother Tells Me back in 2017. The Edinburgh-born, London-based singer made her […]
Los Angeles singer-songwriter A.O. Gerber started writing her new single while driving to Lincoln City, Oregon, on her first solo tour.
Over the last couple of years, and over a good number of brilliant live performances, Indian Queens have done something that every band should do before releasing their first long player: they have built very strong foundations for it to stand on. They have refined their sound, made it immediately recognisable in all its trademark […]
One of our favourite artists and voices in music today, is Liverpool’s Natalie McCool. The singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has spent the best part of the last decade crafting out her own unique space in the alt-pop landscape, impressing listeners time after time with each new release.
If there’s a band in the British alternative music scene right now that has had an impressive growing curve in the last couple of years, that band has to be Sorry.
Three years after a very tight, very eloquent debut, eclectic Glaswegians Catholic Action are back with a second album that confirms some of the trends from their first outing while attempting in some ways something entirely different. In its eleven tracks, short and sweet for the most part – the longest song, perfectly situated at […]
‘Tunnel Vision‘ is the latest single from Scottish-born, London based-singer songwriter Neev, and marks the beginning of a string of releases for 2020. Having released her debut single, ‘Burning To Dust,’ just last year, this track marks a vast leap in ambition from her humble acoustic beginnings.
The more I listen to ‘Leave’ – the latest offering from Sydney’s dream pop five-piece, Ultracrush – the more I like it.
With its rumbling, vaguely threatening (bordering on passive aggressive) timbre and deadpan delivery, Silverbacks’ latest single ‘Drool‘ is a tense tale of reliance and addiction. Its guitars ring like the tolling of an iron bell. The drums remain as focussed and unchanging as an action hero in a car chase. Discontent is rife, but there’s […]
Lost and overwhelmed. Two words many of us can probably relate to right now. In a world so fast paced with so much freedom – yet somehow still bound to strict conventional societal rules – we find ourselves faced with so much choice that it’s hard to choose – or not much choice at all, […]
A few tracks sound like classics. From the second they start playing, it feels like they could’ve been around for a lifetime. They leak story and feeling. ‘Good Idea’ is one of those tracks. Harmony Byrne releases this sultry track ahead of her Heavy Doors LP. From the first note, I fell in love.
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’ […]