About normanweatheredmusic

I listen to music.

Three for the Weekend

Posted on August 15, 2021 by normanweatheredmusic

The weekend is here, and so are some new sounds to check out.

LISA GERRARD & JULES MAXWELL of DEAD CAN DANCE are back for a new audio-visual trip with ‘Keson (Until My Strength Returns).’ Gerrard explains, “Keson implores us to live in our dreams and befriend our soul.” Produced by James Chapman (MAPS), the entire ‘Burn’ LP is euphoric and compelling, more inventive than what they had worked on separately in the past. Each track builds and intensifies, creating a hypnotic experience to listen to from start to finish.

‘Keson (Until My Strength Returns’ https://youtu.be/HiKT2sbjBq0

‘Orion (The Weary Huntsman)’ https://youtu.be/tNBRC2bXcBo

‘Heleali (The Sea Will Rise)’ https://youtu.be/HHAUc9D9-Jk

‘Aldavyeem (A Time To Dance)’ https://youtu.be/fTID-V4dY-o

‘Deshta (Forever)’ https://youtu.be/ho6bnBWW5pk

‘Noyalain (Burn)’ https://youtu.be/13HWFBUOIWU

Lisa Gerrard and Jules Maxwell in Conversation https://youtu.be/hmc5L1dUKIc

‘Burn’ LP order https://orcd.co/lisajulesburn

Apple Music https://music.apple.com/ca/album/burn/1549003458

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/3JMskHl0z6g1QUKsDTPQvy

‘Oh, Ballerina’ by TRAITRS, one of the dark music scene’s fastest rising indie artists, previews their ‘Horses In The Abattoir’ LP. Also, enjoy their art-house thriller-inspired video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59Sw-xW2YJ4

Produced with JOSH KORODY (F*cked Up, Japandroids)and mastered by PETE MAHER (U2, Nick Cave, Depeche Mode, NIN, Prince), The Spill Magazine call this “an impeccable mélange of alternative dark pop and catchy goth-laced retro-futuristic soundscapes.”

As of August 13, ‘Oh, Ballerina’ will be available digitally everywhere, including Spotify and Apple Music. On November 19, the full-length ‘Horses In The Abattoir’ LP will be released on vinyl, CD and digitally. The LP can be ordered at https://orcd.co/horsesintheabattoir. 

Keep up with TRAITRS

Keep up with Freakwave Records

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Contact

Keep up with Shameless Promotion PR

Dublin indie music icons DAVID LONG (INTO PARADISE) AND SHANE O’NEILL (BLUE IN HEAVEN) release the 3-track EP ‘Dreams Come’.Recommended for fans of early New Order, Echo and The Bunnymen, the Go-Betweens, The Sound Beck and Tom Petty. The Irish Times calls this “as even-handed a collaboration as they come… creative synergy that time hasn’t had the nerve to erase”

Irish music icons David Long and Shane O’Neill present their ‘Dreams Come’ EP. This 3-track offering arrives hot on the trail of their ‘Far From Home’ EP and video for the title track, which has garnered the duo excellent reviews and radio play in dozens of countries.

The title track features a sweet, uplifting melody intertwined with bittersweet lyrics – a seeming nod to a love that could be fraying at the edges. From the beautiful opening chords right through to the end, it will make you feel like you want more of whatever it is. Love, loss, hope, all of it, whatever it is.

‘Dreams Come’ https://youtu.be/FQBxiZj8Ti4

Bandcamp https://davidlong4.bandcamp.com/album/dreams-come-3-track-single

‘Far From Home’ https://youtu.be/nGfnDNGS3dE

Bandcamp https://davidlong4.bandcamp.com/album/far-from-home-3-track-single

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/0jMTOqvfqigYXYlH5OpssZ

Soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/shack9/sets/far-from-home-david-long-shane

Happy listening everyone and play safe.

The Mystery Plan. Again.

Posted on August 14, 2021 by normanweatheredmusic

Back in July, I listened to the album, You Also Have Eyes by The Mystery Plan, but I didn’t feel good about what I reported, so I revisited the album. I listened to it again, several times in fact, and ran the CD through my big speakers in the music room. I came away with a different perspective of what I heard, so I will do a do-over and write up my new experience with the album.

First observation: I listened to the CD that the boys in the band sent me. I like the physical medium. It’s a step back in time to the golden days of the records. I still enjoy listening to records, although all the other mediums, including CDs and streaming, have places, and I frequently visit them. I listened to 429 albums in 2020; 210 of them were vinyl records, 100 CDs, three cassettes and 166 steamed through various sources. So, yeah, I like listening to physical pieces of music, and I had a good experience listening to You Also Have Eyes by The Mystery Plan. Thank you for the CDs, Mystery Plan

From The Mystery Plan‘s Bandcamp page, I learned that you also have eyes is a compilation of songs from their last few albums, plus two new recordings. It was released July 16, 2021, so it is still relatively new.

The opening song, electric love, starts with a short ditty that evolves with an excellent deep bass playing with some gentle synths and a gentle voice floating over it all. At two minutes, give or take a few seconds, the vocal gets a bit stronger and takes a prominent spot with the bass faded down, but it doesn’t go away. Some percussion and synth join it. And then, the vocal gets very sensual. She sounds like she is enjoying whatever she is doing or what someone else is doing with her. The vocal gradually fades to a sound more like a breathing exercise, and the music takes a back seat with gentle synths and then ends.

Track two, the golden moon and the silvery sea, opens with some sweet bass lines, and then the whole band joins in. This song has some serious grooves, toe-tapping and head-bobbing music.

The Mystery Plan is: Amy Herring, Otis Hughes, Patty McLaughlin, Jefferson Chester, Jason Herring

Tracks 3 and 4 have gentle synths leading the way.

Track 5 is a bit faster-paced and revisits the sensual singing.

Track 6 is silver lining and features Big Supreme on some mighty fine vocals. Straight-up hip hop and a stand-out song from where I am listening.

Track 7, wonder why is synth-pop in a good way.

Track 8, those stars, is a favourite of mine. It opens with some sweet bass and introduces a sax that takes us into a jazzed-up song, and I liked the references to looking at the stars. Jazz and celestial objects, you can’t go wrong with that combination, and The Mystery Plan does not falter. This track is a solid 10 out of 10 stars and 7 minutes of glorious music.

There is some excellent production on this recording, such as playing with the spatial shape of the music. Track 9, always, is a perfect example of that, with the sound moving from left to right and then back. Some voices seem to float around the centre of the stage but feel that they are not upfront but a bit further back. Ten takes us a long way to heaven in what I would call pop-rock. It has an almost retro feel, like Strawberry Fields with Vangelis on synths and Jeff Beck on guitar. Weird things that people like me can imagine.

Track 10, wonder why, is remixed by Peter Anderson. More pop music. It is a song that I laid back and let my mind wander while I listened, good stuff.

11 is before you go more of the same synthpop that continues where track 10 left off—excellent percussion, especially at the end.

This most excellent album closes with weird things humans do. Gentle acoustic guitars with samples and synths that slowly build with some up-tempo, and then some discrete percussion and bass slip into the mix, and we close sixty minutes of a delightful album.

It is easy to get lost in this album, and it is a good listen that I recommend, 10 out of 10 stars.

p.s. The Mystery Plan do not like shifting for capital letters, their songs are shown in lower case as they appear in Bandcamp as well as on the CD liner.

Oh, Ballerina/Magdalene

Posted on August 10, 2021 by normanweatheredmusic

Post-punk rising stars TRAITRS have announced they will release their long-player ‘Horses In The Abattoir’ this autumn via Freakwave, a Berlin-based label that is part of the Schubert Music Europe group, distributed by The Orchard. Ahead of that, the duo presents the single ‘Oh, Ballerina’.

Recorded by and produced with Josh Korody (F*cked Up, Japandroids, Dilly Dally, Beliefs, Nailbiter) at Candle Recording Studio, the new output was mastered by Pete Maher (U2, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, Prince, Linkin Park, Katy Perry).

Based in Toronto, TRAITRS was formed in 2015 by Sean-Patrick Nolan and Shawn Tucker. With a cinematic blend of post-punk, goth, alternative and post-rock, their emotive melodies, propulsive rhythms, angular guitars and dark cinematic electronics quickly led to the duo becoming one of the dark music scene’s fastest rising independent artists.

I like what I have heard from the Canuck band TRAITRS. As of August 13, ‘Oh, Ballerina’ will be available digitally everywhere, including Spotify and Apple Music. On November 19, the full-length ‘Horses In The Abattoir’ LP will be released on vinyl, CD and digitally. It can be ordered at https://orcd.co/horsesintheabattoir

I will do a full review when the album drops on November 19, good stuff. I like what I hear.

No Sound Ever Dies

Posted on August 6, 2021 by normanweatheredmusic

I couldn’t resist writing a short post about these two tracks from the band name of the year award winners, Emperor of Ice Cream. The album title of the year also goes to Emperor of Ice Cream for the EP titled Weather Vane. We are on a roll here, so how about just giving them the award for indie band of the year.

High accolades for a band that I had never heard of before today, but all hype aside, I do like this release. This release is a bit out of the ordinary. It is a reissue of an album that the band Emperor of Ice Cream first released almost 30 years after forming. Their debut ‘No Sound Ever Dies’ LP is getting a second pressing on white vinyl, CD, cassette & digital download via Ireland’s FIFA RECORDS 25 years after they had split in the wake of a broken contract with Sony Records. Shipping out on August 27, the day before its first anniversary, this long-player was mastered by TOM VOLPICELLI.

It may have taken longer than initially anticipated for this music to reach us, almost 30 years later, but I think it is a job well done. Based in Cork, Waterford, New York and Amsterdam, respectively, Edward Butt (bass), John ‘Haggis’ Hegarty (vocals), Graham Finn (guitars) and Colum Young (drums) managed to assemble parts from home studios in Cork and Waterford. The final touches, edits, and mixes were completed in NY. “It’s an unusual way of doing things, but with the year that world has experienced collectively, not an uncommon one these days, unfortunately. It’s a strange task, to make music with people you haven’t been in the same room as for over two decades, but the challenge was a welcome one. Overseen by Graham from his New York abode, the drums were beautifully recorded in Amsterdam at IJland Studios by Remko Schouten, who has previously worked with Pavement, Stephen Malkamus & The Jicks and Devendra Bernhardt,” says John Haggis.

The new version of No Sound Ever Dies merges the raw energy from the band that started recording this album 25 years ago and the more mature but still sharp musicians that we hear today. There is a melting together of the old and the new that just plain works.

Emperor of Ice Cream has announced their new ‘Weather Vane’ single, set for release on August 24 via FIFA Records. Mixed and produced by Graham Finn, this single was mastered by Tom Volpicelli (The Who, Iggy Pop, The Alarm, Pat Benatar, The Bloodhound Gang) at The Mastering House in New Jersey.

At the same time, they present an audio-visual taster of the B-side ‘High Rise Low Rise’, a song about growing up amongst friends who the world sees only as misfits, oddballs and freaks. Nevertheless, the ideas and dreams that flow between these strange kids will change them all and the world around them forever. The accompanying video was written and directed by Veronica Terreblanche and reimagined by John Haggis with the director’s permission.

‘You Still Mean Too Much To Me,’

Posted on August 5, 2021 by normanweatheredmusic

Good day, all. I hope all is well in your world—just a short bump today for a new music video. The iconic post-punk band Pink Turns Blue has unveiled the video for ‘You Still Mean Too Much To Me,’ a beautiful film to their new single. Portraying figures who are utterly alone, reflective, and seeking an elusive connection, this video echoes themes of isolation felt during the process or working through grief over the loss of a loved one.

This past week, the band announced that their new album ‘Tainted’ will be released in autumn on limited edition vinyl, CD and digitally via Orden Records.

They also recently shared two enticing singles – ‘There Must Be So Much More’ and ‘So Why Not Save The World’.

‘You Still Mean Too Much To Me’ is now everywhere, including Apple Music and Spotify. Orden Records will release the ‘Tainted’ LP on September 24. It will be available digitally and in two physical formats – a CD with a 16-page booklet and black vinyl, strictly limited to 500 copies, with an 8-page booklet. Both can be pre-ordered exclusively via the band’s website.

Escalator

Posted on August 5, 2021 by normanweatheredmusic

The album art on the front sleeve of the new album by FLDPLN shows a young person on an escalator, presumably going down based upon the direction this young person is facing. The direction this album should be going in the charts is up. If you like some chill electro-pop, then this is the album for you.

FLDPLN (“field-plan”) is the solo project of Andrew Saks, the former frontman of Southern California shoegaze band Sway. This album was written, produced, recorded and mixed by Andrew Saks at his home studio in Phoenix, Arizona. FLDPLN is truly a one-man-band.

“Escalator is really the result of my years of dabbling in electronic music production combined with my desire to reconnect with my roots, having been a saxophone player for most of my life,” Andrew tells us.

“For this album, I wanted to write songs that are true to the way I hear things in my head, dreamy, blurry, beautiful without compromise and incorporate the horn as a textural instrument as well as another melodic voice.”

I am on board with Andrew Saks; I like what I hear in my head when I listen to Escalator. It takes me away to a nice place where I can float along blissfully chilled out. Tasteful digital music samples are combined with layers of saxophone and synthesizers to paint a pleasant audio picture.

I have enjoyed putting this album on play and going about some of my regular everyday tasks. Escalator makes a great platform to build my day on. I can hear what Andrew Saks has to offer while taking care of some of the mundane activities of my life.

Escalator is available for your listening pleasure via the Sillas Famosas label through online music stores.

Keep up with FLDPLN

http://www.fldpln.com

https://fldpln.bandcamp.com

http://www.instagram.com/fldpln

http://twitter.com/fldpln https://open.spotify.com/artist/363PaWGixHMsJ3coR4r7yK

https://music.apple.com/us/artist/fldpln/1358521213

FOR SHARING

Bandcamp https://fldpln.bandcamp.com/album/escalator

Order https://fldpln.bandcamp.com

YouTube https://youtu.be/Ze3yBEo47kM

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/3V7pKnC07ZqpGJQsyThsUu

Soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/fldpln/escalator/s-2d12zarJxU8

If you have any questions, contact Shauna from Shameless Promotion PR at contact@shamelesspromotionpr.com

Sons of Southern Ulster

Posted on August 4, 2021 by normanweatheredmusic

The music created by the Sons of Southern Ulster goes down like a fine whiskey, aged to perfection with all the right ingredients. Turf Accountant Schemes, the new EP from the Sons has all the right ingredients. I have never been to Bailieborough, County Cavan, Ireland, but I have been flat out drunk on my back staring at Polaris and wishing I were at home. Good music soars in strange and beautiful ways to connect with the listeners on some visceral level that can not be explained, so much as felt. Having said that, I will now try to explain it.

Sons of Southern Ulster are a couple of musicians from Ireland. Collectively they are, Justin Kelly pummelling us with searing and soaring vocals, David Meagher tastefully adding the guitar palette, Noel Larkin beating the notes into submission on drums and Paddy Glackin holding it all together on a thumping kick-ass bass guitar. Together they explore themes of regret and disappointment, interspersed with moments of light and insight in the EP Turf Accountant Schemes.

Pete Briquette is an Irish bassist, record producer, composer and a member of The Boomtown Rats. As an anecdotal rabbit trail, I went to see The Boomtown Rats when they promoted The Fine Art of Surfacing on tour in 1980. We had consumed more than a few bottles of liquid enhancement, and while I was ramped up for the show, my friend did something I have never seen since. He fell asleep in the middle of the show. I think the lads in Sons of Southern Ulster might be able to relate to that. Pete is originally from Ballyjamesduff in County Cavan, and the Sons of Southern Ulster are from the nearby community of Bailieborough.

Justin Kelly, “The first music I ever bought was the ‘Like Clockwork’ single by the Boomtown Rats when I was twelve or thirteen. I was obsessed with The Rats so when Pete Briquette reached out to ask if he could remix a few tracks from our ‘Sinners and Lost Souls‘ album, we were absolutely shocked. Apparently, a mutual friend has passed the album on to him, and he was suitably intrigued. Pete also grew up in Cavan, a lot of the references and the tone.

Lyrically, the songs are very “Cavan” in that they are on the surface often quite harsh but contain a lot of dark humour,”

“I remember when the Boomtown Rats broke through. At that time, it was highly unusual for an Irish band to make it in Britain. But for a Cavan man to be there!!! That was just bizarre. Cavan men were made to be farmers – not No.1 pop stars.”

“In Sons of Southern Ulster, we took a very conscious decision to sing songs about Cavan as it was always a bit underserved, not just in music but in infrastructure and resources. In many ways, the Irish government ignored us and left us to our own devices – for better or worse. I think Pete picked up on that,” says David Meagher.

The government may have ignored Cavan, but I can not ignore Turf Accountant Schemes. It consists of only four tracks of searing music that tell stories that only hearts can bear to hear. Stories of lives well spent juxtaposed against songs of pain and misery. Songs about life would sum that up pretty well. I may not understand all the geography or the customs and habits of Covan, but I know good music when I hear it. This EP sloshes about like the head on a pint of ale on a summer afternoon, and the tales we tell each other ramble on becoming larger upon each telling. I hope that the Sons of Southern Ulster keep this tradition going.

p.s. There is also a darn good video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84RRaIiUE9c

Keep up with Sons of Southern Ulster

http://www.sonsofsouthernulster.com https://sonsofsouthernulster.bandcamp.com http://www.facebook.com/SonsofSouthernUlster http://twitter.com/sonsofsouthern2 https://music.apple.com/us/artist/sons-of-southern-ulster/1058421289 https://open.spotify.com/artist/163H9BzUOjxSpO4ID6l6lM page2image169442640 page2image169442928 page2image169443216 page2image169443504 page2image169443792 page2image169444080

Keep up with Pete Briquette

https://www.facebook.com/pbriquette https://twitter.com/petebriquette?lang=en https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Briquette https://www.discogs.com/artist/337344-Pete-Briquette

Press contact: Shameless Promotion PR at contact@shamelesspromotionpr.com

Tomorrow’s World Video

Posted on August 3, 2021 by normanweatheredmusic

I love the use of vintage sci/fi cover art in this video from The Speed Of Sound. I look forward to the release of the full album on September 17th. Enjoy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lEovb1GxrQ

Bone Architecture

Posted on August 3, 2021 by normanweatheredmusic

Harry Stafford and Marco Butcher have never actually met in the flesh. But they are punk soul brothers from the same muddy musical pond. Connecting with one another during a year of ‘lockdown hell’, their exchange of ideas and talk of musical influences inadvertently led to their collaboration.

As innovative juices began to boil, the frenetic exchange of digital files culminated in ‘Bone Architecture’, a 12-track album that both of them had been itching to make. This superb collection includes reworked older material, brand-new compositions and even a dirty blues version of the Pink Floyd classic ‘Arnold Layne’. Ahead of the album, the duo present lead single ‘There’s Someone Tryin To Get In’ with video created by Stafford.

“For me, this record is a blast of energy with a cool raw groove that I have been itching to express for a while and, with Marco Butcher, I found the perfect collaborator to express it. His garage punk soul music, fused with jazz and swing was the tonic I needed after the doldrums of the last year and a half. The songs we put together fell into place like puzzle pieces in a fuzzed up sonic soundscape,” says Harry Stafford.

Best known as founder, guitarist and vocalist of Manchester post-punk gothic rockers Inca Babies, Harry’s two most recent solo albums (‘Guitar Shaped Hammers’ and ‘Gothic Urban Blues’) reflect a cooler, less frenetic vibe, leaning on piano, trumpets and blues guitar. All this made him the perfect collaborator to set words and lyrics to Marco’s sonic backdrop.

Originally from Sao Paulo, Brazil, Marco Butcher now lives in Winston Salem, North Carolina. A prolific recording artist, he has recently released music with his various acts: The Jam Messengers, Chicken Snake, and The Jesus and The Groupies. Centred around the American underground of blues, jazz, rockabilly, and screaming punk blues, he has collaborated with Hugo Race, as well as members of Tex and the Horseheads, Pussy Galore, Gumball, The Gories, Gibson Brothers, Jerry Teel, The Oblivians and The Workdogs.

‘Bone Architecture’ is a collection of songs that is raw and, at times, an unforgiving forage into urban punk blues with fuzzed up jazz and garage trash rock. Here, Harry and Marco’s styles have clashed magnificently into a powerful record that crosses a multitude of genres but with a dirty blues makeover.

“There’s something about collaborating that is pure magic to me, cause you’re not sharing ideas at the same time and you’re in the moment. There’s something about the not knowing what the other will bring . . the surprise factor. The fact that music is very elastic and not always the way ya listen to it in your mind but something else, something cooler, greater,” says Marco Butcher.

“I guess mutual respect has a lot to do it too, sharing the same type of ideas about music and life… For a period of time, Inca Babies ‘This Train’ was my bandstand music when I was crossing a very dark and dangerous lifestyle, when I decided NOT to die. This album was the one I listened to the most.”

Marco’s tracks were recorded at his Boombox Studio in Winston Salem, then shipped by a well-known bulk file sender to Manchester, where Harry laid down vocals, piano and any instrumental tomfoolery he saw fit at Black Lagoon Records. On four occasions, the files also flew to London for supremo trumpet player Kevin Davy to lay some jazz tones into the mix. After the engineering, agonising, production and debates, they were finally mastered by Marco.

As of August 6, ‘There’s Someone Tryin To Get In’ will be available everywhere online, including Spotify and Apple Music. The ‘Bone Architecture’ LP will be released on September 3 via Black Lagoon Records, both digitally and on CD. CDs can be pre-ordered via Bandcamp and the Louder than War shop.

CREDITS
Harry Stafford – vocals, piano, guitar
Marco Butcher – drums, percussion, bass, sax, guitars, vibraphone
Kevin Davy – horns
Written by Harry Stafford and Marco Butcher
Produced and Mastered by Marco Butcher at Boombox Studio
Catalogue no. BLRCD0055

Keep up with Marco Butcher
Bandcamp | Facebook | Twitter | Press contact

Meljoann HR

Posted on July 30, 2021 by normanweatheredmusic

When I opened the P.R. packet for the album HR by the Irish multi-talented artist Meljoann, I hoped for something new and fresh to give my ears a head start heading into the weekend. Today is Friday, album drop day. After a long road trip yesterday and oppressive heat outside today, I was looking forward to listening to Meljoann’s new album in the cool, calm solitude of my basement (*) and finding out who she is and what kind of sound she is making.

And her sound is… It isn’t straightforward. I am not getting a stroll through the Irish countryside with Meljoann giving me a guided tour. No, that is not what I hear on H.R. What I hear is the painful laments of a working woman…

When I strolled through her back catalogue, I found that this refrain about a toxic workplace is on the par for Meljoann. Somewhere in her life cycle, she must have had a shitty boss to trigger songs such as I Quit, Overtime, Business Card, O Supervisor, Personal Assistant, Company Retreat, Trophy Wife, and this theme gets its origin back in her debut project, the EP Squick.

Word of the day for the readers of this.

squick

1. Noun. The physical sense of repulsion upon encountering a concept or situation that one finds disgusting.

2. Noun. A condition or concept which engenders this reaction.

3. Verb, transitive. To cause someone to have this reaction.

4. Verb, intransitive. To experience this reaction.

The concept of the “squick” differs from the concept of “disgust” in that “squick” refers purely to the physical sensation of repulsion and does not imply a moral component.

Stating that something is “disgusting” implies a judgement that it is bad or wrong. Saying that something “squicks you” is merely an observation of your reaction to it but does not imply a judgement that such a thing is universally wrong.

So there you go. We are all a little bit smarter than we were at the start of this blog.

In 2014, working under the alias Scout Hardcastle, Meljoann released the BBC Radio 6 Music supported released dance album Masterkinder: Rainbow in my Mind (2014) under the alias Scout Hardcastle.

In 2020 Meljoann received a highly coveted £10k grant from the Arts Council of England to make five videos for her forthcoming album’ HR.’

The first single was Company Retreat, keeping that working woman motif going strong. The follow-up was ‘O Supervisor, and her last single to close out the year 2020 was Trophy Wife.’

Meljoann describes herself this way:

Here’s my little third-person bio:

Meljoann, originally from Ireland, produces experimental electronic pop. In her latest single, ‘Overtime,’ she tells “the grotty tale of a woman who must be overly polite to her predatory boss.” Her sound has been described as “like a long-lost soul-pop album from the mid-1990s as remixed by Aphex Twin” (Eamon de Paor, Metro Herald).

There is a long and storied history of music about how terrible the working world is. From the infamous 9 to 5 of Dolly Parton to the whimsical Heigh-ho by the seven vertically challenged miners working in oppressive conditions for Disney.

Just put work into the search bar on Genius, and you will have more than enough fodder to launch a class-action lawsuit against your nightmare boss. Just make sure you have a good lawyer. They can make or break a court case just by their oratory skills.

Back to the present era, Meljoann earned a couple of asterisks in the single Assf**k the Boss. I smile just saying that (as) terisk, (ass) f**k. A nice pair of asses. Groaning all around, that isn’t even a bad dad joke.

At the end of the day, what do we have going on in this album? HR, which I will assume is Human Resources, has a stream of raw emotions that cry out against the tyranny of the male-dominated workplaces.

Speaking about the new offering, she said,” ‘… is about the emotional labour we do, under gendered systems of control that thrive in the workplace. It tells the story of a woman alienated from her own survival instincts, who is subjugated by a predatory boss.”

We also have an album that speaks to those women and hopefully to the males as well. I can only speak for myself, but as a male who has had both good and bad bosses, I found the lyrical imagery on the album painted a vivid picture of a toxic working world.

A challenging but rewarding listen that needs time to breathe and develop and rewards the listener with a better understanding of the story that Meljoann is telling us after each rotation. Some artists earn one song in my “Songs About Work” mixtape. Meljoanne achieved the remarkable by having the whole album added. Well done.

https://www.facebook.com/meljoann

https://twitter.com/meljoann/

https://soundcloud.com/meljoann

https://boyscoutaudio.bandcamp.com

https://www.youtube.com/user/boyscoutaudio

https://open.spotify.com/album/6gLgLaOkB6LG9XJS1G13Fj

For press enquiries, please contact james@mysticsons.com or megan@mysticsons.com