Hannah Cohen - This is Your Life

“This is your life / Don’t let it just happen to you”. That is how Hannah Cohen opens her album Welcome Home, pleading with us, delivering a straightforward lesson. The word “life” sweetly stretched out, allowed to linger in the air.

This album was written during a time of transition, as Cohen was taking the radical decision to leave the bustle of New York City for the rustic environs of Woodstock, NY.  The album – Cohen’s 3^rd – was released in April (I’m a little behind the curve). At the time of release, she described the process of writing the first single and opening track, “This is Your Life”:

“It was the beginning of September and NYC was in the midst of a big heat wave. I was staying with my partner at the time and had locked myself in the bathroom to work on this song. It was very early in the morning, the air conditioner was buzzing away. At the time we were searching for our first apartment together, and had seen about 27 apartments in person. All were gross or out of our price range. It was definitely a catalyst for wanting to move out of the city – and it all came rushing at me. I really needed a change. Locked in a boiling hot bathroom, playing my nylon-string guitar, I realized that this is it… my life is crazy, it’s time to make a big move.”

Out of this revelation came an album that is marked by honesty and almost pastoral clarity. You get the sense that Cohen has arrived at some important lessons and is distilling them here, both for herself and for us. They perhaps sound simple, but as Cohen knows – hell, as we all know - they take a while to grasp and identify with. Through the dreamy pop production, well-executed by her partner Sam Owens, you can still make out the charming tones of the old nylon-stringed guitar she used to compose many of the songs. This is an album that will cause you to feel warm and hopeful, even as it causes you to examine your own path.

Simon Linstead - Cemetery

Simon Linstead is a singer-songwriter based in New York City. Formerly a member San Francisco Americana band Steep Ravine, Linstead has also self-released four solo albums, the most recent being The Fool. 

If you're a fan of folk, it's definitely worth checking out the whole album - and especially this track, with its sweet lyrics, soft self-harmonies, and eminently catchy chorus.

Campfires - I'll Go Home

Campfires is the alias of Portland based Jeff Walls. After a long five years since his last album, he has revealed that a new album, "Fare Trax", is set for release on August 30 via Firetalk. With the single "I'll Go Home", we get our first taste of his new material. Walls explains, "the chords are inspired by one of [his] all time favorite songs, "mindless Child of Motherhood", written by Dave Davies of the Kinks." Personally, it's everything I needed: jangly guitars, unmistakable British Invasion influences, and grainy and washed out vocals that make it sound a little like the singer is tangled in a sleeping bag.

You couldn't hope for a better track to lounge by a campfire (aha), on a summer night, no shoes, no socks, sipping a beer... and contemplating "how modern man is sickeningly disconnected from ancient truths of nature". Sounds swell.

With this endearing track, I am really looking forward to hearing the rest.




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Woods- Cali In A Cup

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My summer break is coming to a close, and there is a good chance that you are in a similar if not the same position. But instead of hanging your head in sorrow, why not remember the good times that you probably had while listening to one of the most summery songs of this summer. Last month, Woods released "Cali in a Cup", the first single off their upcoming LP Bend Beyond, which is out September 18th on Woodsist. Incorporating jangly guitars, hazy dylanesque harmonica interludes, and the smooth falsetto of Jeremy Earl, this is the perfect song to get nostalgic with. The Brooklyn band have crafted a fantastically upbeat, carefree track, while staying true to there lo-fi, folk-rock roots. Hopefully this will tide you over until September. Until then:



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Crying Day Care Choir

This is the sweetest, most wholesome band you will hear for a long time. You need proof? Swedish folk band "Crying Day Choir" were so named because, as band member Jack phrased it:

"we found that the name also can relate to our purpose with the band; our wish and quest for a better world. Because if you have a “Crying Day”, who doesn’t need a “Care Choir” then? It feels applicable to the world’s situation too".

I can't remember what labyrinth of internet searches and links I followed to finally stumble onto this gem, but I'm glad I did, because this band reminded me of a purer, more simple form of music. Simple in this context may sound derogatory, but that is not what I mean. Every once and I while we should appreciate simple songs. Songs that aren't over-produced with expensive electronic equipment. Songs that are recorded on the spot and whose flaws are oddly endearing rather than a reason not to listen to them. From the light acoustic accompaniment, to the airy and delicate vocal harmonies, to the sound that comes out of whatever odd looking midi instrument that guy is playing, this song should put a smile on anyone's face who gives it a chance. And if you buy the EP "Join The Joyful Revolution" here for just a dollar (or more) all profits go to Yoko Ono's Imagine Peace Foundation. How's that for wholesome.


POOL SESSIONS: Crying Day Care Choir from Jonas Börjesson on Vimeo.



POOL SESSIONS: Crying Day Care Choir from Jonas Börjesson on Vimeo.

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There's no leaving now

The name of The Tallest Man on Earth's newest album is also what any true devotee of the tallest man will think after a full listen through it. In many ways the new album of swedish songwriter Kristian Mattson, confidently self-named "The Tallest Man On Earth", follows in the same eccentric and appealing style that he established in his two previous albums, "Shallow Grave" and "The Wild Hunt". In his new album Mattson's guitar lines continue to draw heavily from Blues and Country influences. His voice, unsurprisingly, retains the same dylanesque quality (sorry the comparison is too obvious not too make) and delicate, broken cadences that always made it appealing. Mattson proves himself once again as a paragon of finger picking, creating impossibly intricate and catchy accompaniments. Yet this album does deviate in some ways from his previous albums. The title track, There's No Leaving Now, abandons the guitar entirely, placing an emotionally charged melody against a soft chordal accompaniment. "On Every Page" begins with an interesting Spanish-Styled fingerpicking intro. I have read several reviews along the lines that this album does not do enough to deviate from Mattson's previous albums. I disagree. I believe that as long as Mattson continues to experiment and to incorporate new elements into his work his songs will be interesting whilst retaining the same qualities that fans of Mattson have always admired. And for those who complain that Mattson's lyrics don't make sense, lets be honest, they never have. Perplexing, ambiguous symbolism has always been his style. If you can find a needle in the haystack of metaphors that conveys some meaning for you, then I imagine his lyrics have done just what The Tallest Man intended them to. That passage for me in this album is:

And in that sound of sighing,
That empty how,
And all the ever-loving
Bends in the line of your tracks.
Some ends forgotten and other released
What ever happened to the boys
Now that sailed for the seas
Well you know you're already young
Like the grass withered to become
Again and free.

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