Super City

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Over the last decade, Super City has steadily discovered its metier in sticky pop hooks, mercurial arrangements, gleaming production, and live shows that are equal parts calculated performance art and ecstatic dance party.  

Dan Ryan and Greg Wellman found each other in high school and started collaborating on off-kilter and open-hearted pop songs. After establishing themselves in 2014 with a self-titled EP and full-length Again Weekend a year later, Super City broke through with 2018’s acclaimed Sanctuary, a nimble distillation of their diverse pop/rock influences: the guitars are big, the synths are shiny, and the melodies are both.

Heartened by Sanctuary’s reception, Super City have recently completed In the Midnight Room, a stellar collection of songs that fuse at least six decades of pop into a thrilling album.

While every Super City song contains multitudes, the pop instincts that they’ve honed over the last decade are front and center on several tracks. “Getouttahere” kicks the album off with swaggering fuzz guitars that wrangle glam and new wave influences into a giddy rush, capped off with a classic stuttering vocal hook. “Hang Up” cleans up nicely with rubbery Nile Rogers guitar riffs and sleek falsetto before the song absolutely derails itself with a stomping road block of a chorus that empties out into Jon Birkholz’s bed of gorgeous synth sparkles. “Out of Touch” and “Know It All,” also featuring elastic funk with unexpected genre-defining left turns, boast the kind of virtuosic and playful guitar solos that have been incognito since the 80s. There are bright wisps of Stevie Wonder, Talking Heads, Prince, the 1975, and St. Vincent in their best pop songs, but Super City so completely chops and screws its influences that In the Midnight Room always feels crisp and forward-thinking.

And even though Super City’s pure popcraft can’t resist sneaky detours, In the Midnight Room also features more challenging fare that eschews any easy labels. Slotted perfectly at track 3, “Departed”’s adventurous melody somehow splits the difference between McCartney sweetness and Yorke queasiness over Brian Brunsman’s ominous bass synth and Ian Viera’s icy beats. The epic winds its way through a chorus featuring some truly disorienting modulations before uncoiling into a staggering, operatic climax. “Fear with Passion” sabotages the album’s dance party with evocative soundscapes, eerie detuned piano figures, swelling strings, and sophisticated major/minor harmonic shifts. In the album’s final stretch, “Stitch on Your Side” builds a compelling foundation of sleigh bells, filtered guitar, and sophisticated contrary motion progression before surrendering to the unabashed catharsis of “Hey Jude”-style nah nahs - all in less than four minutes. In the Midnight Room’s final word, though, goes to “Light of the Moon,” a sparse, beautiful composition that recalls nothing less than Brian Wilson’s more fragile moments.

Knowing that the wide range of these new favorites will be elevated yet further by the band’s remarkable live shows is exciting. With In the Midnight Room, Super City have certainly propelled themselves closer to perfecting their own genre of infectious future-art-pop.

The Loyal Seas

Credit: Ann Sullivan-Cross

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For the last decade, trailblazing alternative rock figurehead Tanya Donelly —  co-founder of Belly, Throwing Muses and The Breeders — has pursued meaningful collaborations with favorite artists and friends. The resulting work is by turns poignant, delightful and entirely surprising, melding folk, rock, pop and orchestral sounds. Her latest, The Loyal Seas, pairs Donelly with New England cult-favorite Brian Sullivan, who’s worked under the moniker Dylan in the Movies since the mid ’00s. A skilled singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Sullivan’s debut, Feel the Pull (2005), and follow-up full-length, Sweet Rebel Thee (2014), are each teeming with a lush, discrete form of alt-pop, Sullivan’s private mind garden translated as cinematic vignettes.  

Donelly and Sullivan first met in the mid ’90s at Fort Apache Studios, the famed New England recording studio that has produced legions of beloved albums. They were friends almost instantly and have collaborated over years, appearing on two of American Laundromat’s most popular tribute compilations. The pair contributed a sparkling cover of “The Lovecats” for Just Like Heaven: A Tribute to The Cure (2009), where Donelly’s honeyed rasp is brightened by the contrast of Sullivan’s lower-register growls. Their take on “Shoplifters of the World Unite,” from Please, Please, Please: A Tribute to the Smiths (2011), glimmers with melancholic wonder, Donelly’s silken lead vocals textured by an orchestral scythe and Sullivan’s backing anchor.  

The Loyal Seas’ dynamic debut single, “Strange Mornings in the Garden” b/w “Last of the Great Machines,” released in December 2020, was a label exclusive that sold-out instantly. Each side was an individualistic statement showcasing a particular side of the pair’s personality, one a luxuriant, sweeping ballad, and the other tightly-knit, kinetic alt-pop. The group’s full-length debut “Strange Mornings In the Garden” will be released on May 20, 2022. 

JAMIE MCDELL

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When she was just age 7, McDell’s father left a high paying job at an elite Auckland law firm to shift her mother, younger sister and Jamie onto the high seas and began living aboard a yacht in the Mediterranean. It’s here Jamie wrote her first song, a sea shanty to the dolphins. Also on that yacht lived a small collection of her parents’ favourite cassette tapes, which luckily included albums by Jimmy Buffett, John Denver and James Taylor. The young artist quickly formed a particularly strong bond with these records and she fondly remembers watching her parents perform Buffett duets - and occasionally chiming in, learning how to harmonise with her mother. An eager learner, Jamie then picked up the guitar after studying her fathers’ John Denver chord book collection and has never looked back. Now at age 28, New Zealand singer/songwriter Jamie McDell has achieved a prolific amount in her formative years. Being signed to EMI at age 16 sparked the beginning of a successful musical journey, making her a household name across the nation. With the release of her debut album ‘Six Strings and a Sailboat’, she went on to achieve Gold album sales, receive three NZ Music Award nominations, winning Best Pop Album of 2013. Then her sophomore record ‘Ask Me Anything’ gained global attention, seeing album track ‘Moon Shines Red’ featured on American TV series Pretty Little Liars. In March 2017 Jamie made trip to Nashville, looking for a change of scenery and to connect with the environment that birthed much of the music throughout her youth. It’s here she wrote the songs that would make up the fabric for her third record “Extraordinary Girl”. She met with expat Australian producer Nash Chambers for coffee one day and decided they shared the same musical values. Not long after that meeting McDell arranged to fund her first independent record “Extraordinary Girl”, which was recorded over the space of two days later in 2017 at House of Blues studio in Nashville. She then returned home for the albums’ release, promotion and supporting tours throughout New Zealand and Australia. 2 Then in early 2019 Jamie relocated to Toronto, Ontario for a new chapter and to be closer to Nashville. It’s here she found herself sitting on the floor of her tiny apartment, feeling overwhelmed and frustrated with a friend in a troubled relationship, and out came the powerful song, Botox. “It’s a story depicting the dangers of silencing our instincts and compromising our values, just because a significant other has you convinced that you need fixing” Jamie says. This track would then fuel a new era of unapologetic honesty in McDell’s songwriting, and the release of The Botox EP. After opening a US tour for Robert Ellis (Texas Piano Man) in early 2020, she would then visit Nashville once again, team with Nash in his eastside studio and gathered the amazing musical talents of Dan Dugmore, Jedd Hughes, Dennis Crouch, Shawn Fichter, Jerry Roe, Jimmy Wallace, Tony Lucido and Ross Holmes, along with guests such as the McCrary Sisters, Robert Ellis, Erin Rae and Tom Busby (Busby Marou). This new album (yet to be released) contains Jamie’s most brutally honest moments, in both writing and performance, while the musicians and production take you on modern journey through 70s folk and country, blended with a healthy dose of roots and rock.

“...but the true stunner is McDell’s unforced voice” Rolling Stone

“The New Zealander enchants with airy vocals and confessional lyrics” Bllboard

“McDell’s voice carries such weight with you feeling every poignant word...honestly, she’s a modern day Stevie Nicks” New Music Collection

Oshima Brothers

credit: Jamie Oshima

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 Maine-based indie duo, Oshima Brothers’ have been creating music together since childhood. The brothers blend songs from the heart with blood harmonies to produce a "roots-based pop sound that is infectious." (NPR) On stage, Sean and Jamie offer lush vocals, live looping, foot percussion, electric and acoustic guitars, vintage keyboard and bass - often all at once. They want every show to feel like a deep breath, a dance party and a sonic embrace. When not recording or touring they find time to film and produce their own music videos, tie their own shoes and cook elaborate feasts. Maine Public Radio’s Sara Willis describes their songs as “beautiful, those brother harmonies can’t be beat. They are uplifting and, let’s face it, we need uplifting these days.”

Ashley Myles

credit: Shervin Lainez

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On her debut EP Tides, Ashley Myles sings about tides, fires, and storms—all phenomena that could describe her voice. Her powerhouse vocals are tsunamis and fireworks and hurricanes, but they’re also wading pools and sparks and squalls. Within her power, she channels the obstacles that made her that way.

Tides, out on March 25, showcases four tracks that dive deep into the understanding that there are situations we can’t change. The soul-infused pop songs carry their own, but it’s Myles’ voice that really lifts them up.

“Growing up in Long Island, I always felt the pull of New York City,” says Ashley. It was in the city where she came of age with Broadway, soaking in the energy of the performances. And it was in Madison Square Garden where she performed her first professional role at age 11—a Munchkin in the Wizard of Oz. 

Musical theater shaped much of Myles’ vocal and performance development. As a child, she learned the bel canto method of singing.  She studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the Berklee School of Music for acting and performance lessons, respectively.  She attended the Jazz Music Program at The New School for college. “I definitely learned stage presence from my theatre days, as well as storytelling through music,” Myles says.  

With Tides, she brings those skills to four original songs. In them, she delivers clear-eyed reflections on relationships and overcoming adversity. Working with co-writer and producer Rob Kleiner (Kylie Minogue, Cee Lo Green) in his Los Angeles studio, Myles transformed her songs into forces of nature. 

“’Tides’ is about the cyclical nature of relationships. They ebb and flow, but ultimately we revisit similar themes in the various relationships we may have, whether that be with family, friends, or romantic partners,” says the singer-songwriter. 

The anthemic R&B track pulses with Myles’ sultry soul vibes. “You play the part / I patch the holes,” Myles sings, acknowledging the unsteady nature of a relationship. “Gonna name this storm after you / ‘cause there’s a before and after you,” she later sings. There’s so much wisdom in those lines, unfurling like a rainstorm that washes you clean. 

“Tides” gives way to “Fire”—elementally opposed, but here both songs are about refusing to settle for less. “Fire” is built upon a big, bluesy stomp that bolsters Myles’s voice without overpowering it. In the vein of Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep,” the structure and instrumentation form the perfect cheering squad for Myles’ demanding attention from a lover. 

“It’s about longing for something more in a relationship.  It’s when you want more from the person, more passion, but you don’t want to scare them off,” she says.  “Fire, not to burn you down / not to run you out of town / I just need a little heat to make me feel complete / when you're not around,” she confesses in the lyrics, the whole song shot through with sexual tension.

“Bricks” is a striking piano ballad, the repeated arpeggios standing in for the ruins of a relationships. 

“So, what did I expect? / I’ve never been an architect,” Myles opens, and we brace ourselves to hear about a collapse. But, more painfully, the song is delivered from the brink of one. “Bricks can build us up / bricks can weigh us down,­­” she sings in the chorus. 

The song is an honest, relatable conversation one might have in the tough moments of a relationship. For every woman who’s ever asserted herself in a relationship even though her hands were shaking, this is a must-listen. 

Closing track “The Storm” is an inspirational song with an electrifying chorus. The verses slow-burn with references to futility and frustration. The production perfectly sets up the transition to the chorus’ explosion, which reminds us that with crisis comes new opportunities. 

“This is the struggle from which you are born,” Myles sings. This lyric is the perfect microcosm for the EP.  Her songs don’t deny that we all face storms. Instead, it celebrates that these moments of upheaval are the times in which one can shine. Just as lightning can form glass, our challenges make us infinitely bolder versions of ourselves.

Heather Bond

Photo Credit: Meg Sagi

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Nashville artist Heather Bond makes radiant, cinematic indie-pop laced with elements of disco and R&B. Her lyrics reflect on everything from love, seduction, and heartbreak to social media, nostalgia, and politics, with an easy, modern intelligence enhanced by crystal-clear vocals and crisp harmonies. Her sound is both elegant and eclectic, evoking the breezy clarity of piano-pop artists like Norah Jones and Regina Spektor mixed with the jazzy, experimental range of Fiona Apple. 

Now poised to release her sophomore solo album, The Mess We Created, Bond presents a diverse and distinctively groovy new collection, written in close collaboration with renowned bassist and producer Viktor Krauss (Lyle Lovett, Bill Frisell, James Taylor, Robert Plant, Alison Krauss). “We didn’t have a plan for our sound; we just wanted to create interesting music,” says Bond. The duo’s first collaborative single “The Mirage” (track 2 on The Mess We Created) became one of the year’s top 100 most played songs on Nashville’s Lightning 100 radio, inspiring Bond and Krauss to continue working together on what would ultimately become the full-length album.

Collaborating expanded Bond’s creative process: An experienced songwriter and pianist, she began writing dynamic melodies to unique bass lines crafted by Krauss, and together the pair took advantage of Krauss’s extensive collection of vintage musical equipment. The resulting sound is enjoyably tricky and difficult to categorize: completely modern while hinting at an earlier musical era. No software synths or reproduced samples were used. “Heather has a classic voice,” says Krauss. “As a producer, I felt it was important to make music that could be appreciated for decades—not just for right now."

Born in Texas and raised in Louisville, KY, Bond spent the summer after college waitressing, saving money, recording demos, and preparing to move to Nashville. “There was never a plan B! A career in music was always my future,” she says. She earned a name for herself performing live, often sold-out shows at local venues, including Nashville’s iconic Bluebird Cafe. Soon after, she signed with Modern Works Music Publishing and Whizbang Music Licensing, which led to a list of international television placements, including Jane the Virgin, Charmed, and Sesame Street, as well as numerous high-profile cuts, including “This Time” featuring Joss Stone. Bond quickly became a sought-after songwriter, cowriting with artists and producers in Nashville, Los Angeles., and New York. She also appeared on television, playing piano on several episodes of ABC’s hit series Nashville. In addition to her solo work, Bond is a singer, songwriter, and keytar player for retro electropop “supergroup” The Daybreaks with whom she continues to release new music.

Bond released her debut solo album So Long in 2015, produced by GRAMMY-nominated artist Matthew Odmark (Jars of Clay), and in 2019 was selected by GRAMMY-winning producer Larry Klein (Joni Mitchell, Herbie Hancock, Shawn Colvin, Madeleine Peyroux, Tracy Chapman) as the only American woman artist included in Beyond Music Volume One: Same Sky. The 13-track, cross-cultural compilation featured artists from all over the world and received critical acclaim, including a nod to Bond in Forbes: “Bond, a composer of heartfelt ballads and singer-songwriter tunes one could easily imagine at home on the radio, really establishes herself as the Sara Bareilles of the group.” 

Bond’s second solo album The Mess We Created is a refreshing, well-crafted, and unique collection featuring first-rate musicians. The songs reveal a maturity gained from years of experience in the music industry. With Krauss as the primarily instrumentalist, along with L.A. drummer Matt Chamberlain (Lorde, Tori Amos) and Jano Rix of The Wood Brothers, the album is vibrant, idiosyncratic, and rooted in rhythm. Each song showcases Bond’s effortlessly agile vocal delivery, shifting from the smooth purity of Sade (in “Resist”) to the cheeky sweetness of Kylie Minogue (in “Ich Weiss Nicht”) to the delicate depth of Parisian singer Keren Ann (in “Fountain of Youth” and “Fate”). The album closes in an energetic punch with the spritely, beat-driven single “Feel It.” Bond is eager to perform these new songs and connect with audiences across the world again soon. The Mess We Created is set for release on February 25, 2022.

Newton Faulkner

Photo Credit: Stevie Kyle

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Newton Faulkner introduces his 17 track album "Interference (Of Light)".

Working from his recording studio in East London, Newton ventured into a number of new and unexplored ideas, using them as the building blocks for this album. Twisting these inside out, he pushed himself further and further and further. “I’m not very precious any more,” he remarks. “The music is a bit chunkier, it’s definitely way heavier and much less acoustic than previously. I feel like the stuff I’ve written recently is simpler, but it’s tasteful... it works as songs. I can feel it.”

“I want to boil things down to their strongest form,” Newton says. “It’s about the songs. However good you are at playing, if the voice isn’t up to scratch and the songs aren’t good enough, no one is going to listen to them.”

“It’s grizzly, soulful, and a step further,” he says of his new material. “Vocally, I’ve learned a huge amount over the years. I was a guitarist and a writer who sang. That’s kind of where I came from. And now I feel like my voice has caught up with the stuff I was doing on guitar.”

Set to be released in August and into pre-order at the end of March , the new album ‘Interference (Of Light)’ is Newton Faulkner at his most daring, and also his most familiar. He’s embraced shifts in the way music is forged and released, but only to get closer to the figure fans truly love. “I don’t think things get better or worse. They just change,” he remarks. “I’ve kind of purposefully steered away from any of the cliques that have appeared around me. I’ve just remained this weird, solitary figure. I love it!”

Phillip-Michael Scales

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As a kid, Phillip-Michael Scales didn’t understand what it meant that his aunt’s close friend, the guitar player who called him “Nephew” and he called “Uncle B,” was actually B.B. King. When it did become clear, as Phillip-Michael began playing guitar, he decidedly shied away from soloing and most things blues. Instead, he fell in love with songwriting when an English teacher told him “A great writer can make their reader identify with anyone.” The trouble was he couldn’t find his story in the blues.

With a fierce independent streak and a passion for performing, Scales fronted his own indie bands, wrote and recorded his own music, and worked to make a name for himself on his own terms. All the while, his “Uncle B” just smiled a knowing smile and encouraged him to “stay with it.” As Phillip-Michael began to discover “the blues” in his private and personal life, their relationship grew closer.

It wasn’t until “Uncle B” passed away, that Scales began incorporating more of the blues into his music. “These days I’m finding more of my story in the blues. A lot has led me here between politics, my identity, and the idea of Legacy.” The result is a sound he calls “Dive Bar Soul” which takes a bit of indie rock storytelling and couples it with the passion of the blues.

His single “Find a Way” has begun attracting national radio attention and he released his debut Album Sinner-Songwriter on French Blues Label “Dixie Frog Records” in October of 2021 . His music has taken him all the way to the Middle East, as well as festivals across Europe and North America. He has opened for Fantastic Negrito, The New Respects, Anderson East, Guster, David Cook, Crystal Bowersox, Tyler Hilton, Jon McLaughlin, and Cory Brannan.

Alan Doyle

Photo Credit: Dave Howell

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Alan Doyle, Canadian national treasure and unofficial ambassador of Newfoundland's rich musical traditions, will release a new EP, Back to the Harbour - a collection of songs to celebrate his love of folk music – on May 21. The album was produced by Joel Plaskett at The New Scotland Yard in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Featured alongside Doyle on the album are Kendel Carson and Cory Tetford from his touring band, along with Plaskett himself.

Back to the Harbour features three original songs plus unique spins on three classics: "Back Home on the Island" by one of Newfoundland's most popular musical groups Wonderful Grand Band; "Let It Be Me" popularized by legendary duo The Everly Brothers; and the first single, the shanty "Leave Her Johnny."

"This shanty of a ship’s last day is one of the dozen or more songs I don't remember learning," Alan says of "Leave Her Johnny." "I realize this may seem odd to some, as in most parts of the world people have one or two songs they don't remember learning, like Happy Birthday or Silent Night. But in Newfoundland we have so many songs that are just part of our language. I doubt many from around here could tell you when they learned I'se The B'y or Lukey’s Boat. We just know them."

Back to the Harbour follows Rough Side Out, Doyle's chart-topping country album released last February, and Songs from Home, a collection of music from Doyle and an all-star lineup of Newfoundland artists, which was released in November. Doyle – the songwriter, producer, actor and author – is a 12-time JUNO Award nominee for his solo material and work with his iconic band Great Big Sea. In 2018, he was awarded the Order of Canada for his contributions to the musical traditions of Newfoundland and for his commitment to numerous charitable initiatives. His most recent book, All Together Now: A Newfoundlander's Light Tales for Heavy Times, was released in November 2020 and quickly became a national bestseller.

Keeton Coffman

Photo Credit: J. Genevieve

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“There’s always struggle, and there’s always hope.  I feel comfortable with both of those forces in my life at all times,” Keeton Coffman says. “When you remove one of them, it feels weird.” 

Coffman is pacing on his front porch, taking a moment to explain the tension not just that he’s found, but that he needs. “I love these new songs because you can hear the hope in them, but you can feel the weight of the circumstances, too,” he says. “If you just get dark for the sake of dark, you forget you still have a pulse, and hey, your heart is still pumping for a reason.”

The new songs Coffman is referencing make up his latest album, Hard Times, a 10-track feat of triumphant, ragtop-down rock-and-roll. Anchored in Coffman’s natural storytelling and earthy voice, Hard Times is both a reintroduction and a return for an artist who’s pushed through starts and stops, but who’s never been anything but exactly who he is. “I’ve never needed someone’s permission to write,” Coffman says. “I’ve always just thought it’s what I should do.”

Growing up in Bryan-College Station, Texas, Coffman found an old Alvarez guitar in his mother’s closet behind stacks of Motown, 70s songwriters, and Tina Turner records. “My mom showed me three or four chords after I confronted her with the guitar, like, ‘Why has this been hidden in our house?’” Coffman says with a smile. An elite gymnast en route to becoming a national champion, he carried the guitar with him on long bus rides to competitions, and then west to college at the University of Texas at Austin. When an injury finally ended his athletic career at 20, Coffman immersed himself wholly in music.

After graduation, Coffman packed up and moved to Houston, where he first built a following with his band, The 71s. The quartet decided to part ways in 2012, and solo projects including 2016’s Killer Eyes followed, always gaining traction thanks to Coffman’s Springsteen-esque grasp on the beauty only found in grit. Houston Press, Space City Rock, and other outlets noticed. But as projects opened doors, Coffman had to step back, moved by forces out of his control. Diagnosed with Bipolar II and Obsessive-compulsive disorder while still in high school, the diseases reared up and set him down. “You don’t know why Bipolar pops up when out does––it just comes out of nowhere, and boom,” Coffman says. “A few years ago, when things got very difficult, I decided, well, I’m not going to stop writing even though I’m not sure if these songs are any good - my analytical skills aren’t what they should be. When I got back to myself, I had these 10 songs.”

Hard Times comprises those songs––and Coffman’s willingness to trust the process. “When I just let the notes float around as they want to, I am symptom-free in the midst of all that,” he says. “On the hard days, the more music I play, the less my mind hurts.” Tracks including “The Magician” and “Night” tackle deception carried out by different actors to different ends, while songs such as “In the End,” “River Town,” and “Wounded Heart” explore faith, consistency, and love. Vivid details form multi-dimensional character sketches moving through recognizable Texas skylines, and the guitar-wrapped stories and confessions become our own. 

“I hope people find themselves in the characters,” Coffman says. “This is a record I wrote from my experiences, but these aren’t stories about me. I hope these characters share your story, your thoughts, your pain. We can share the same hope––that’s what music does for me.”