Eliza Hull – Running Underwater

As a blog writer who listens to literally dozens of tracks every morning occasionally you know you are hearing something significant. ‘Running Underwater’ gets you immediately, it’s hard to define greatness, but this track has ‘it’. Maybe it sounds familiar, maybe it feels epic or classic or even haunting – who knows but I was immediately hooked.

When you understand Eliza Hull’s own back story ‘Running Underwater’ takes on further poignant significance and it reminded me of something…

A few years ago here in the UK the TV broadcaster Channel 4 did something different, rather than just show the Paralympics they rebranded the athletes as superheroes. This subtle yet powerful repositioning was not only insightful – how many of us mere mortals could run, swim, and jump that far with a missing limb? Not many! But it also helped change the narrative away from any sense of disability to conversations about ‘super-human ability’ and strength to overcome adversity.

Now it feels like Eliza Hull is doing the same for musicians everywhere. Running Under Water is the first song Hull has written about being disabled and living with a condition called ‘Charcot Marie Tooth’. The condition, a degenerative nerve disorder, has affected Hull’s walking for a long time; it was a disability that she kept hidden, specifically in the music industry.

In recent years however, Hull has emerged as an accessibility advocate within the industry; her determinism and approach to educating and spurring on change in perspective and structure, when it comes to the way disabled musicians are treated within the industry, has been incredibly influential.

“Forget any sense of disability, Running Underwater soundtracks Eliza Hull’s unique superpower.” RCM

“For a long time, I hid my disability, especially in the music industry. This was due to the under-representation of disabled musicians and I was constantly shown that disability was a deficit or something that should be feared and hidden. It was such a heavy weight holding onto these beliefs, it was exhausting to constantly hide. This song is about pushing up against society’s view of disability, it’s about letting go of the fear and being authentic and true to myself and showing that it’s ok to be different. “ Eliza Hull

‘Running Underwater’ sees Hull work with ARIA Award-winning producer Pip Norman (Baker Boy, Missy Higgins) on production, recording the track at BIGBANG Studio. Mixed by Simon Lam (Woodes, Cub Sport) and mastered by Idania Valencia (Sam Smith), ‘Running Underwater’ – in its final form – lets the dynamism of Hull’s vocals and arrangement take prominence, flourishing with each superb sonic swell.

Running Underwater – The Video

Working with director Keiran Watson-Bounce (And Then Something Changed, Caravan), Hull has also produced a moving music video for ‘Running Underwater’, filmed at The Goods Shed in Castlemaine. Featuring the talents of dancer ‘roya the destroya’, the experience allowed Hull to bring the song to life in a beautifully unique way onscreen. And in doing so, has represented disability onscreen in a way not generally seen.

“The music video features my very good friend ‘roya the destroya’ . She is a brilliant disabled dancer who moves like nobody I know. She actually started busking with an early version of the song and sent me a video of her performing with it. When I watched that video I knew I had to collaborate with her on the official music video.

She has a beautiful ability to inhibit what I am feeling in my music and then express that through movement. In the music video she is like my alter-ego, almost like the spirit part of what I am feeling in the lyrics. Keiran Watson-Bonnice is the director of the music video. We have worked together in the past on the ABC Kids TV show And Then Something Changed, which I produced and wrote the music for. We shot the clip in one day, in mostly one take in the Goods Shed on a freezing winter’s day. “

About Eliza Hull

Loyal readers of Right Chord Music will know we’ve featured Eliza Hull before. We first showcased her talents as an Artist of The Week back in 2013. We followed this up with support for her excellent 2015 album Bones Of Us album, which contains one of our favourite ever blog discoveries in the single ‘Used To (Feat. Texture Like Sun) If you don’t know this track, do yourself a favour and listen immediately!

Having established herself as one of Australia’s most important voices and striking songwriters of recent years, Melbourne-based artist Eliza Hull has proven the longevity of her art, and continued evolution.

Every subsequent release is a joyous addition to what is quietly becoming a significant and quite brilliant back catalogue.

Catch Eliza Hull live

Eliza Hull will be touring the U.K. in May, supporting Ruth Lyon as well as showcasing at The Great Escape in Brighton.

Supporting Ruth Lyon

• Wednesday 17th May National Centre for Early Music York U.K.
• Thursday 18th May Horse & Bamboo Rossendale U.K.
• Friday 19th May Junction 2 Cambridge U.K.
• Thursday 25th May Sage Gateshead Gateshead U.K.
• Friday 26th Macards Theatre Galashiels U.K.
• Saturday 27th May The Met Bury U.K.

Australian Tour Dates

• Saturday 26th August Melbourne Recital Centre Melbourne Tickets
• Sunday 10th September Riverside Theatre Sydney
• Friday 22nd September Undercover Festival Brisbane

Discover more from Eliza Hull

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• Blackchords Make Their Feelings Known With No Place No Be

Words Mark Knight

The post Eliza Hull Showcases Her Super Power On ‘Running Underwater’ appeared first on Right Chord Music Blog.

First Signs of Love – Katie Gregson-MacLeod ‘Complex’

Our First Signs of Love feature is about the moment you find a new artist to love, and you simply can’t get enough. Discover more from our archive.

There is something quite punk about this first breakthrough moment from Katie Gregson-MacLeod and a reminder that ever so often social media does surface something more meaningful than a cat video.

Just like the Sex Pistols inspired anyone with or without talent to pick up a guitar, the greatest legacy of Katie Gregson-MacLeod’s moment in the sun could be that other talented singer-songwriters step forward to the mic, turn their phone to face them and hit record. After 10 years of writing this blog, we know better than most that there are plenty of equally talented artists who are just waiting to be discovered.

This is not a story about polished music, there is no elaborate video editing techniques or staging, it’s simply a girl with a voice telling a compelling story on the piano. Music should always move us, and when it truly does it takes your breath away.

“A beautiful reminder of the power of music to truly move us”

This is not unique neither does it need to be. Hearing Complex for the first time, immediately transported me back to the first moment we heard Alice Boman’s equally evocative demo ‘Waiting’ or even Rhonda Merrick’s ‘Nothing But Love‘ demo performed at our very own Takeover Festival.  Demo’s really do offer the most authentic take on a song, and a reminder that production polish isn’t always needed.

However, with those words still ringing in your ears, Complex has been re-recorded and re-released, clearly, her new label is keen to get in on the action. It’s hard to say whether the crisper production really adds anything new or better, we’ll let you decide but there is certainly no harm in having two versions of this song in the world.

Katie Gregson-MacLeod’s ‘Complex’ is a heartbreaking tale of unrequited love, obsession and vulnerability, whether you admit it or not, you can probably relate to the lyrics and the feelings it evokes. Even if the lyrics don’t get you, the increasing intensity and passion that pours from not only her voice but her heart as the song builds is hard to escape. At times her whispy vocals recall Sarah McLachlan’s smash ‘Angel‘.

MacLeod’s lyrics tell of “needing him like water” this vulnerability is counterbalanced with the desire to ‘Be the cool girl’ despite failure seeming inevitable as she admits “I’m wearing his boxers” and he thinks she’s just ‘alright’. Ah, life and young love really is complex.

The response to music like this has always fascinated me. I’ve always believed listeners fall into two camps. The first camp will dismiss this as sad and depressing, while the second will describe it as beautiful. Personally, I’ve always been in the ‘beautiful’ camp, songs like this excite me, for a typical non-emotional male, tracks like this provide a serendipitous route to emotional release, and writing this on Mental Health Awareness Day, that feels like it can only be a positive.

Critics will also point to the weak stereotype of a female pining after a man, I don’t buy that. I don’t care what age or era we live in, there will always be stories of unrequited love and to deny that is absurd. I’d much rather we continue to talk about them than bury them under a lazy hashtag of female empowerment.

While Complex deserves your ears, we also recommend taking the time to check out the previous single ‘Second Single Bed‘ it’s clear there is more to come from Katie Gregson-Macleod.

Discover more from Katie Gregson-McLeod

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Words Mark Knight

The post First Signs of Love No. 220 Katie Gregson-MacLeod Flaws Us With ‘Complex’ appeared first on Right Chord Music Blog.

Curse of Lono People In Cars

Experiencing a year no one could imagine with the deaths of his father, uncle and ex-partner, Curse of Lono’s Felix Bechtolsheimer found comfort in his music.

His sonic shrine titled People In Cars swirls between the tones of The National and The War On Drugs, all while staying true to the musician’s identity within this already acclaimed album.

Throughout the record, the musician explores the themes of grief, loss, uncertainty, and new beginnings. The name of the album was inspired by Mike Mandel’s photo book, which captured people through the windows of cars at a Los Angeles intersection in the 1970s.

Bechtolsheimer goes from the opening sombre of ‘Let Your Love Rain Down On Me’ to the string-stroke piano lament of ‘Man Down’. As he forms his own collection of snapshots to create the intimate atmosphere of the album, the artist slowly finds closure and nostalgia in these recent tragic events.

Speaking of the album and signing it off, Bechtolsheimer noted:

“Right now I can do what I fucking like. I got a record that’s my favourite record I’ve ever made by a long way, and it’s the record I needed to make. I lost my dad, my uncle and my ex-partner last year, and my band, but I’ve got this record, and I almost look at it like a bit of a shrine.”

Though offering a dark route of redemption, Curse of Lono organically closes off 2021. 

Discover more from Curse of Lono

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Read and hear more from Curse of Lono on Right Chord Music

Words Daisy Lipsey

The post Curse of Lono releases ‘People In Cars’ and it’s been one hell of a ride appeared first on Right Chord Music Blog.

Cravat Blonder

Since the start of their career in 2018, the Spanish band has been quite active in producing exceptional musical material, which includes an EP and a series of singles. Their live performances are also notable, as they employ projections and varied sonic effects to enhance the attendant’s experience. Set to release a record in the upcoming months, the band has just presented a lighthearted, addicting new single: Blonder.

The track, driven forward by a hypnosis-inducing beat, relies on an infectious melodic hook to create an ambience of joy and cheerful sereness. Although certainly drawing influences from 90’s alternative music, the indie-influenced pop-rock track is very contemporary and conveys a modern, keen mood.

“Cravat’s Blonder is an electronica-flavoured, indie-rock number. A  fantastic choice of soundtrack for hot summer nights.”  

In the past, Cravat explored everything from mainstream pop to experimental, avant-garde electronica, so the band’s exact next steps are unknown. Whichever it is, though, Blonder indicates that it will be most likely a high-quality musical endeavour. In this regard, their upcoming album definitely merits attention.

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Have you read our latest music marketing thought piece? Musicians…what if Facebook went down and never came back?

Words Fidel Beserra

The post The hypnotic beat of Cravat Blonder. appeared first on Right Chord Music Blog.

Mighloe Desperate Times

The new project arrives accompanied by a beautiful visual for the focus single, ‘Cruel’, seeing Mighloe flex her impressive live vocals for her ever-growing fanbase.

Speaking on the meaning behind ‘Cruel’, Mighloe explains: 

“Cruel is my empowerment. It is a reminder of who I once was; Broken. And of the strength, it took to put me back together. The resilience. I am better now. I am free. I am powerful. Your cruelness will never again take a toll on me.” – Mighloe

Seven tracks long, the EP features the highly popular singles ‘Rainy Days’ and ‘Don’t Call Me’ which saw Mighloe propelled to new heights, gaining the attention of Earmilk, When The Horn Blows, R&B Worldwide, Wordplay Mag, TIDAL +many more. Filling in the gaps are four brand new tracks filled with ethereal string-led melodies, euphoric, synths and dreamy, electronic-fulled production, courtesy of Dean Vision and LateNightDrive who produced the entire project.

Throughout this record, we are gifted with Mighloe’s unique ability to transport us inwards and paint vivid stories using powerful lyrics that double as brush strokes of emotion. Guided by Mighloe’s deep, sultry vocals, the listener is taken on an intimate journey through life’s cycles of turmoil and triumph through the eyes of Mighloe. Honest, emotional and intricate, Desperate Times is a masterful body of work and an enchanting delve into the beauty of human vulnerability.

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If you like Mighloe you might also enjoy Emanuel

Words Daisy Lipsey

The post Mighloe Returns With Unmissable Sophomore EP, Desperate Times appeared first on Right Chord Music Blog.

The Solars. Thanks For The Gifts, (But Those Groves Are Now Myths)

This is a quarantine track through and through. It’s murky and restless and bristling with angst and pent up frustration. Influenced by De Stijl era White Stripes, this feels like the track Jack White let get away. It’s easily one of the best things we’ve heard this year.

This track perfectly sums up the zeitgeist in which it was written. With the world in lock down and the tail end of the Trump presidency descending into chaos and disaster. The Solars appear to be poking fun at the stupidity of the world around them. The listener is left with with the song’s key refrain ringing in their ears…

“How long are you going to keep running head first into that tree.” The Solars Thanks For The Gifts (But Those Groves Are Now Myths)

It’s mocking, confrontational and deliciously direct.   The single is out today and available for purchase via the band’s Bandcamp page.

The Solars on the track…

“Thanks For the Gifts… was conceptualized and recorded at home here in Brooklyn over a few autumnal days. Remote vassals Karl Helander (Karlo Rueby, Cousin Moon), Quetzel Herzig, and Andy Cass (Sleeper Cave Records) beamed in contributions from across the theoretically United States. Lo-fi, droll, and righteously pissed. Thanks For the Gifts… marks a new chapter in the evolution of The Solars. It’s an unrepentantly homespun kiss-off of quarantine blues.”

Discover more from The Solars

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If you enjoy The Solars you might also enjoy our Fresh Retro playlist

Words Mark Knight

The post The Solars ‘Thanks For the Gifts’ (But Those Groves Are Now Myths) appeared first on Right Chord Music Blog.

Harry Heart – Kamikaze

Harry’s latest single Kamikaze was mixed by Kennie Takahashi (The Black Keys, U2, Danger Mouse). The track looks at a couple feeling unified but lonely, holding each other up and bringing each other down. Heart explains. “You take the good moments with the bad”.

“2020 wasn’t all doom and gloom for me, I kept busy, but it did test me, and this song feels like a personal triumph over the year we’re all ready to forget”. Harry Heart

Kamikaze fizzes and brims with nervous energy and exhilaration, recalling the jubilant and strident sounds of The Maccabees at their early best.

Kamikaze is out now on Harry Heart’s independent label Kinda Grizzly.

More about Harry Heart

Now based in the cultural hub of Manchester, Heart returned to the UK from Australia to rekindle his ties with the less sun-drenched of his two homelands.

Last summer he took his place on our virtual stage to play alongside Badly Drawn Boy for the inaugural Takeover Festival, sponsored by Bose, in support of Nordoff Robbins. Harry Heart’s music has also featured on BBC Radio 6 and clocked over 700,000 streams across Spotify, Apple Music and SoundCloud.

Harry Heart’s most recent UK headline tour was a total of 20 shows in just two weeks. His Hands in the Hive EP has already featured on Apple Music’s Acoustic Chill, Nightcap and Today’s Acoustic playlists, with regular support from the online station Amazing Radio.

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Words Mark Knight

The post Harry Heart explores the thrills of young love on new single Kamikaze appeared first on Right Chord Music Blog.

Parker Graye ‘Do Over’

When you run a music blog you get up early. One of the biggest tests of any song we receive is the 6am test. Does this song make you want to leap out of bed and share it with the world? Parker Graye ‘Do Over’ passes this test with flying colours.

‘Do Over’ sets off as a soundtrack for wistful, self-reflection but that melancholy is quickly balanced out by a wonderful sense of optimism that floods through your veins as the song builds to a thrilling climax.

This sentiment of starting over is perfectly pitched for 2020, a year that has been dominated by covid19, political uncertainty, racial tension and a slew of natural disasters. Wouldn’t it be great to wind the clock forward to next summer and start over?

‘Do Over’ started out life on one of Parker’s Instagram Stories as a test lyrics, that she had written and posted after a breakdown with a Saskatchewan farm boy. She explains “At the time, I wanted nothing more than to try again with him, a do-over.”

Parker Graye

Originally from Orillia, Ontario and based in Vancouver, BC Parker Graye creates songs full of emotion-evoking youthful summers, young romance and broken hearts. For the past two years, Parker has been working with other songwriters and producers for her own project as well as other artists. She has co-written 20+ songs with songwriters across Canada, and throughout the US including Nashville, Los Angeles and St. Louis from Pop to Country including, Jesse Denaro and Luke Healy (Lakeview), Kyle Rife (Spirit Music Group), Robyn Ottolini, Luca Fogale, Joanna Serenko (The Voice Season 18), Aaron Pollock and Jesse Slack.

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If you like Parker Graye you might also enjoy Maddisun

Words Mark Knight

The post First Signs of Love No 208 Parker Graye – Do Over appeared first on Right Chord Music Blog.

Introducing Porcelain

As the story on their website tells you… Porcelain were created as a counterpoint to society’s obsession with celebrity culture. Faceless mannequins and androgynous dolls symbolise their wish not to be defined by labels.

You had us at hello.

Porcelain first announced themselves to the world via social media in May with a post that simply read i. This is the beginning. Since then, individually numbered social posts and video teasers produced by stop motion artists have propelled the bands content to over half a million people. All this before a song was released.

With their 5th communication they shared ‘Last Word’ their first full length track, via stop motion video. Writing about Last Word we called it…

“A beautiful and assured debut with sweeping female vocals that flit between defiant strength, fragility and yearning.”

It wasn’t just us that picked up on Last Word, music blogs including Analogue Trash, Last Day Deaf, Listen With Monger and Rats On The Run were also quick to praise.

Matched by music

Porcelain have a desire for different but this isn’t limited to numbered social posts. Riffing on their vision not to be judged by anything other than their music, Porcelain have taken on the absurdity of ‘swipe right’ dating culture, to create their own.  Introducing the Porcelain Matchmaker. This interactive quiz promises to find your musical match based on your personality not your looks. It’s great fun. Your chosen avatar steers you through your chosen route, before rewarding with with a musical gift. We won’t spoil it anymore, go have a play!

Now with their fourteenth post on the 14th day of August, Porcelain share their debut EP with the suitably to the point title ‘Part One’. We understand there are two more parts already planned.

Porcelain Part One

The EP begins with ‘Destruction’ a powerfully introspective tale of self doubt and mental imprisonment. It’s melancholy soul and sweeping strings deliver pain and catharsis in equal measure. When the female vocalists sings “Can you take my sadness away” you find yourself reaching out for the hug.

Similar territory is explored on ‘Demons’ which conveys a sense of futility in our attempts to seek fulfilment, only to be met by the disillusionment of the demons that live within. With male vocals it’s easy to wonder whether Demons and Destruction are indeed connected, maybe two sides of a relationship at breaking point.

This theory is further supported by ‘Last Word’ which wrestles with that moment when you know a relationship needs to end, but the bond between you is still too hard just to break. It hails a salute to ‘everything’ that once was, beauty, pain, creation and destruction fading out to nothing but the last word.

The EP is rounded off by ‘Anon’ which hints at escapism into darkness. It effortlessly floats between industrial and ethereal. This feels like the soundtrack to a travel adventure, blending the broodiness of London with the mystery of a Moroccan souk. In just four tracks Porcelain have taken you on a quite a journey.

Discover more from Porcelain

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Mick Fleetwood has personally chosen Porcelain to support him, for ‘I Just Called’ a new music project sponsored by Bose in support of Nordoff Robbins music therapy. Details to follow.

The post Porcelain – Part One EP appeared first on Right Chord Music Blog.

Project Rebel – How to break an unsigned band

To help launch the content division of WPP owned media agency MEC we created an audacious challenge to find and break an unsigned band in just 10 weeks without using radio or press. This special edition of Lost On Radio tells the story of the project, which ended up on the main stage in Cannes. Spoiler alert, we succeeded and the band are now signed to Universal.

 A New Model For Independent Artists

Using and adapting the fans not fame model we had created for The Daydream Club we set out to reimagine the music marketing model for unsigned bands and independent artists.

We identified six key strategic principles to guide the campaign.

1. Start with existing fans – not radio listeners
2. Start at income Spotify and focus on streams not sales
3. Focus on owned channels (social media) not paid media
4. Promote the band and the catalogue not a single
5. Recognise if it’s new to me, it’s new music

Finding The Band

We trawled our inbox, social media and live venues to find the right band, slowly whittling down our list to one incredible new band ‘Broken Witt Rebels.’

About The Lost On Radio Podcast

The Lost On Radio Podcast is a weekly showcase of incredible new, undiscovered, and under appreciated music from around the world. The show is curated and presented by Mark Knight, the founder of Right Chord Music. Lost On Radio aims to showcase incredible artists that have been overlooked by radio, or pushed to the late night fringes. Since it started, the Podcast has attracted listeners from over 80 different countries.

Listen To Lost On Radio

Ways to listen:  A new episode is posted every Wednesday, right here on Right Chord Music. Alternatively you can find the Podcast on Spotify,  iTunes, aCast, Overcast and all good Podcast players

Thank you to KASHKA for lending her voice to produce the show titles and to Seenit for producing the clips you can hear on the show.

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The post How To Break An Unsigned Band In Only 10 Weeks appeared first on Right Chord Music Blog.