SINGLES BAR

A round-up of recent EPs and singles

Grateful‘Grateful’ is the first single from the album …And Lo! The Bird Is On The Wing from Scottish singer-songwriter BLUE ROSE CODE also known as Ross Wilson. The lead track is a languid jazz-inflected piece and that’s followed by the more up-tempo ‘Midnight’s Mass In Suffolk’s Breast’, a song which immediately puts one in mind of a kinder relative of ‘Fairytale Of New York’. The James Yuill remix of ‘My Heart, The Sun’ is the set’s production number and finally we have ‘In The Morning Parts 1, 2 & 3’ live for BBC Radio Scotland. Ross has been around a while and it’s a great shame that he hasn’t come to our attention before now.
http://bluerosecode.com/

VIP ExtrasFollowing on from his critically-acclaimed album VIP, FINDLAY NAPIER brings us Very Interesting Extras, five new songs three of which are written or co-written by producer Boo Hewerdine. Gustaf Ljunggren adds a huge variety of sounds to the guitars, harmonium and ukulele played by Napier and Hewerdine. Findlay has a similar deadpan delivery to the late Michael Marra, but without the latter’s penchant for delivering comedy in the same vein. Top tracks are ‘After The Last Bell Rings’ and ‘Princess Rosanna Drowned In The Clyde’, a delightfully odd song. Who was Princess Rosanna? Did she even really exist?
http://www.findlaynapier.com/

Near The Sea‘Near The Sea’ coupled with ‘Alright Again’ is the second single to be taken from Secret Garden, the second album from AMY GODDARD which is due for release in April. It is a beautiful song about finding safety and contentment in a familiar, comforting environment and this theme is echoed in ‘Alright Again’. The two songs are very different in style – the first is full of sweeping strings whilst the second is backed by jangling guitar and hand percussion. On this evidence the album is keenly anticipated.
http://www.amygoddardmusic.co.uk

Desert SongsDesert Songs is a five track EP from songwriters DAWN LANDES AND PIERS FACCINI. The Anglo-American duo first worked together in 2013 but this is their first release as a duo. This is very much a meeting of equals: both have solo careers and the songs are joint efforts both in writing and performance. Piers brought a number of exotic acoustic instruments to the sessions and later Dawn took the tapes home to New York to add the drum parts. All the tracks boast tight harmonies and the lead song, ‘Heaven’s Gate’, is very catchy as is ‘Book Of Dreams’. Their strong melodies are what really sell the record.