OMALOMA – ‘Bubblegum’

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Beginning with ‘Ha Ha Haf’ in 2016 and ‘Aros O Gwmpas’ and ‘Eniwe’ a year later, Omaloma have carved out special space on the musical landscape with a series of blissful, spacey psych-pop singles.

Omaloma aka Welsh artist George Amor – formerly of now defunct Welsh psyche supremos Sen Segur – has added ‘Bubblegum’ to this burgeoning list of stellar singles.

‘Bubblegum’ is Amor’s first on vinyl, released as a 7″ single and download, it is utterly divine and arguably marks the high point of the project thus far. Sung in English and Welsh, ‘Bubblegum’ is a four minute sojourn to a spellbinding interstellar paradise. It coolly swaggers as it moves on by, leaving us in a dream-like state, with an alluring blend of slinky, synth-pop with psych brush strokes, woozy synth lines and Amor’s soft, soothing bilingual vocals. Instantly lovable, it breezes gracefully by with a seductive soulful underbelly and charm to woo you, so powerful is this that it will have you headed straight for repeated listens.

Tune in to ‘Bubblegum’ below and the 7″ and download can be found here.

Hippies Vs Ghosts – ‘No Left No Right’

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By now, regular patrons of the blog should be well aware of the esteem in which Hippies Vs Ghosts is kept around these parts.

Under the guise of Hippies Vs Ghosts, Owain Ginsberg, has routinely blown us away time after time with his kaleidoscopic, Morricone meets krautrock sound and latest single ‘No Left No Right’ is no different. Lifted from the stunning album of the same name, the new single is exhilarating, irresistible and manic.

It is a kaleidoscopic mix of feverish experimentation that blows everything else out of the water. The pace is unrelenting, frantically clamouring to one frenetic crescendo after another before momentarily offering a brief breathe with the relative calmness through some rolling drums and undulating waltz of western tones before exploding toward a frenzied finish. This is a ferocious three-and-a-half minutes of breakneck beats, scintillating riffs, off-kilter rhythms and forged together and delivered with a burning intensity – in all seriousness there is nothing quite like Hippies Vs Ghosts, and the project shows no signs of slowing under the careful stewardship of Ginsberg. Hippies Vs Ghosts continues to develop, grow and deliver outrageously good tunes.

Check out ‘No Left No Right’ below and make sure to get on the new album, here.

Seazoo – ‘Dig’

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It’s been said many, many times on here but Welsh five-piece Seazoo are an absolute treasure.

As one of the finest purveyors of indie-pop on the planet, they have consistently conjuring up majestic slices of smile inducing indie-pop bursting with exuberance, fizzing with energy.

The North Walian outfit are seeing out 2017 with ‘Dig’, the third single lifted from their forthcoming debut album, confirmed for release on January 26 2018. The new one is another effervescent piece of perfectly primed pop perfection, emblazoned with their signature and unrivalled fizzy, smile inducing and quirky tendencies with driving guitars, splashes of synth and infectious vocals. Quirky, catchy, infectious and undeniably brilliant, in four minutes flat ‘Dig’ displays the many delightful attributes that have marked them out as something so special from day one. Try get through to end of this catchy, upbeat beaut without bopping your head or smiling; impossible.

You can listen to ‘Dig’ below – along with a wee demo of said gem that Seazoo kindly provided for the GruffWuff compilation. 

Omaloma – ‘Aros O Gwmpas’

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‘Aros O Gwmpas’ is the brand new single from Omaloma, the latest musical incarnation from Welsh artist George Amor; formerly of now defunct Welsh psyche supremos Sen Segur.

Following on from shimmering, psychedelic escapism of debut single ‘Ha Ha Haf’ and ‘Eniwe’, with this new one ‘Aros O Gwmpas’, Amor has distilled the very essence of summer. Self-described as ‘Welsh language psychedelic space schmooze’, the song dazzles us with three minutes of shimmering, sun-kissed and gravity defying and dreaminess. A slinky soft-disco groove, spacey-synth and alluring, peaks through the haze to mingle gracefully with floating vocals, delivering the poetic welsh language. This is soft, soothing and effortless psych-pop perfection. Ladies & Gentleman, we are floating in space.

Tune into the sound of summer below. ‘Aros O Gwmpas’ is out now via Recordiau Cae Gwyn.

Introducing: Nia Wyn

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It’s never a bad day when you discover a precocious music talent, especially when it’s going to fill a soulful void in your life.

With that in mind, open yourself to the powerful, raw and soulful sounds of London-based North-Walian artist, Nia Wyn. Wyn has a canny ability for raw and powerful storytelling, set within a kind of unorthodox, rich and engrossing vocal, it immediately marks her out as something rather refreshing. She introduced herself with stunning, folk-tinged blues debut, ‘Help Me’, and actually goes one better with latest single, ‘Do You Love Enough’. The music, as with her voice, channels old blues and soul with a modern twist. These are timeless tales of broken hearts at home and in society, told with her unique and powerful voice. Both singles conjure up a very exciting, defiant charisma that’s simultaneously streetwise, witty, hard and warm. A unique and captivating talent, and one to keep your eye on this year, and beyond, for sure.

A debut EP is in the pipeline for a June release, so keep an eye out for that in the coming weeks. In the meantime, make sure and check out ‘Do You Love Enough’ & ‘Help Me’ below.

Zefur Wolves – ‘Stars of Omaha’ (A Tribute to John Trudell)

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Revolving around the twin talents of Cian Ciaran from Super Fury Animals and Estelle from Baby Queens, Zefur Wolves have returned following a two year absence.

The Welsh outfit’s return is marked by new single ‘Stars of Omaha’; their first new music since their wonderful self-titled debut in 2015. The single is a tribute to Native American author, poet, actor, musician, and political activist, John Trudell, with all proceeds going to The Standing Rock Foundation.

‘Stars of Omaha’ continues in a similar vein to that of their debut LP, with a clear preference for creating powerful, emotive and politically tinged shoegazey-grunge. Imbued with a sense of awe and mysticism, a swirl of mellow, atmospheric sound surrounds Estelle’s impassioned vocal, which in turn is greeted by stripped-back bass and guitar, that gradually evolve heavier and louder. The chunky guitar chords are tempered by languid drumbeat as feint layers of vocal sustain a sense of otherworldly atmosphere and spirit. A wonderful political themed, shoegaze and psychedelic waltz.

You can check out ‘Stars of Omaha’ below or purchase from here; with all proceeds from the song will go to The Standing Rock Foundation. Buy it here.

Introducing: Three Thieves

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Three Thieves is the moniker of Cardiff based producer, Tom Clugston and his approach is fearless and superlative.

Three Thieves serves a spellbinding synthesis of sound embracing all things hip hop, electronica, drum & bass and a wealth of other electronic beat driven genres. In short, Clugston digs beats, and my, can he deliver them with pin-point accuracy; something acutely evident on his sublime and most recent EP, Zero Hour. Three Thieves is in his element with the melodic, fluid and perky drum & bass indebted ‘Blue Green’ and ‘Luminar’, in particular. Combining flourishes of synths, light skittering beats and dazzling keys, providing a really uplifting positive vibe and warm, inviting sounds. These are but two stellar moments from what is a sublime EP, and one that has one that has been on constant rotation in recent weeks.

Check out ‘Blue Green’ and ‘Luminar’ below and you can stream the entire Zero Hour EP here. Without a shadow of a doubt, you will be better for letting it, and Three Thieves into your life.

IRMA VEP – ‘A Woman’s Work Is Never Done’

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Manchester via North Wales musician IRMA VEP – aka Edwin Stevens – released a his new album, No Handshake Blues last week.

Accompanying album number four under the IRMA VEP moniker, is the LP’s lead single, and album opener, ‘A Woman’s Work Is Never Done’. It is a world-weary and shadowy 11-minutes plus of epic, sprawling distortion, feedback and psychedelic drone. The vocals are almost entirely swathed in distortion and reverb rendering the lyrics indecipherable, amid the already swirling fuzz and feedback. A thrilling and epic introduction to Irma Vep’s new and experimental sound, and album too.

You can listen to the epic ‘A Woman’s Work Is Never Done’ below. If that is to your liking, you can hear the new album, No Handshake Blues, over here.

Gulp Share New Single ‘Search For Your Love’

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The Cardiff-based spacey psych-poppers, Gulp – revolving around Lindsey Leven & Guto Pryce of Super Furry Animals fame – have shared their new single ‘Search For Your Love’.

Recorded in the summer of 2016 on a farm in mid Wales, ‘Search For Your Love’ follows on from Gulp’s bewitching 2014 debut album Season Sun and it is a wonderfully natural successor. ‘Search For Your Love’ further refines the pair’s warm, fuzzy, lush psych-pop by combining spacey sounds and textures with a luscious melody proggy-guitars and synths. In doing so they create something hypnotic and unique, and topped off by Leven’s sultry vocals, this is the very essence of dreams. What a magnificent return. Now is the time to sit back and let ‘Search For Your Love’ flow over you and seep into your senses, and leave you better for it.

‘Search For Your Love’ is available now via via Tim Burgess’ independent label O Genesis and Gulp are currently working with Luke Abbott on their second album, which is set to be released in 2017.

We Are Animal Return With New Single ‘Capoeira’

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It’s been a quite a while since we’ve heard anything from We Are Animal – which is a shame by any calculation.

The North Wales band released their splendid debut album in 2010, followed by a number of singles and last we heard from them as a collective unit was a tour with The Joy Formidable in 2013. More recently the various members of the We Are Animal family have been concerning themselves with various side-projects Hippies Vs Ghosts, Fauna Twin & CaStLeS – until now – We Are Animal have released a brand new single, ‘Capoeira’. Gritty, dark and edgy, ‘Capoeira’ is engulfed in layers if fuzz and eerie and menacing tones. Cutting through this shadowy blanket of murky fuzz is the muscular, shredding guitars and buzzing riffs, upping the intensity and ferocity, while propelled along an irresistible rhythmic groove. Fierce, hypnotic and spooky, ‘Capoeira’ might just be We Are Animal’s finest and most complete work to date. And my, that is saying something.

Regards a new album, the band have established a ‘Pledge Music’ campaign to help fund the next record – all the details on that, are here. For now, get in on ‘Capoeira’ below. It does not disappoint.