Stream: Paris - Fickle Friends

Another great track from Brighton group Fickle Friends... Paris is the second track to be taken from debut EP Velvet, out today. This is a slightly more laid back track than those we have heard from the band previously - still starry eyed but with the edge taken off. In singer Natassja Shiner's words:

“Paris is our quiet storm." explains singer Natassja Shiner, continuing "It captures the subtleties we love in Bombay Bicycle Club's instrumental layers but with our own Janet Jackson-esque spin. It's the song you hear at 3AM when things are getting hazy.

Get Velvet from iTunes or Amazon now [affiliate link].

Album Review: So Many Colours - José Padilla

I'm never quite over Balearic. No matter what happens there is always part of me digging around wondering where the next Balearic experience can come from. A poolside in a hotel, a private lawn drenched in dew and sunshine but free of connotation, the excitement of an evening in the company of people that know you for what you can be and not what you are in the drudgery of 9-5.

Once you have felt it, chances are you remember that sense of Baleria, like the one that got away. José Padilla has long experimented with this space.  Overseeing a number of Café Del Mar's compilation albums and their sunset sets in the flesh. Here on So Many Colours he expands the borders to create something a little more cinematic. 

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So Many Colours - José Padilla

So Many Colours is a druggy, slow to move and sun-caked hot-mess of a record. Padilla alternates between looting the past and frankly drowning himself inside it.

Opener Day One is a timeless shuffle, shoes squeaking on floorboards as voices shout over the hustle in order the get a drink. It's effortlessly then, now and forever... Timeless in the way it captures sun and excitement. But in comparison On The Road feels separated from the present and close to irrelevant. 

Moments like Solito are so thickly baked in the heady muddy sun that it is hard to resist getting stuck in there with them. Mojame kicks in like a crisp glass of wine, urgently suggesting we kick it back a notch, cool yet expertly insistent just as much as  track Lollipop is stark and laid back.

Album closer Remember Me is like Jean Michel Jarre after a week-long documentary concerned with mankind's brilliance: dramatic, organic, dynamic. Like much of So Many Colours it is at turns essential and frivolous. It is hard not to dream of heady days spent in Spanish sunshine when confronted with this album, yet it also over-stays its welcome... The ideas often not quite deserving all the space given over to them.

So Many Colours is out on 1 June through International Feel. Available for pre-order from iTunes and Amazon [affiliate links]. Check out a preview of album opener Day One below:

release date: 23rd of March TRACKLIST 1. Jose Padilla - Day One 2. Jose Padilla - Day One (Telephones Club Dub) http://www.juno.co.uk/products/jose-padilla-day-one/565409-01/ http://www.phonicarecords.com/product/jose-padilla-day-one-telephones-remix-pre-international-feel/128458 Legendary is a much overused word in this day and age, but legend is a word that can easily be applied to DJ and producer Jose Padilla. Alongside DJ Alfredo of Amnesia, Jose Padilla gave birth to the other side of the Balearic coin - the mellow sunset side - and in turn influenced millions of people around the globe from Madonna to DJ Harvey, whether they saw him soundtrack the sunset or just bought one of his seminal Cafe Del Mar Compilations. Padilla likes to move forwards and in the International Feel label he has found the perfect partner. After signing to the label in the winter of 2014, Padilla worked with label head and producer of note Mark Barrott, to create the slow balearic techno sounds of first single “Solito”, which, complete with remixes from Wolf Müller, re-imagined his vision for new and old listeners alike. From this new beginning, the idea to work on his first album in 15 years was born, but the label wanted to do things differently. They took four of the finest producers of the moment - Wolf Müller from Germany, Mark Barrott from Ibiza, Telephones from Norway and Tornado Wallace from Australia - and flew them out to work with Padilla in Ibiza on the project. A global line up for a global sound. The first fruits of these collaborations is the new single “Day One”. Produced by Henning Telephones (Resident Advisor chose his recent Running Back release as one of their best of 2014), it mixes a classic balearic sound with the ‘proper’ deep house of Ron Trent and Chez Damier. Layers and washes of melodies running over deep beats….something that fits the sound of “now” perfectly. If you ask Telephones why he wanted to work with Padilla he’ll tell you, “As an eclectic and open-minded DJ myself, getting the opportunity to work with one of the pioneers of the Balearic sound and his approach to music didn't take much considering. Even with 30 years between us, we kinda come from the same place in a spiritual-musical sense. Plus getting the chance to put my pale Scandinavian feet on Ibiza-sand was a nice bonus. It was like being able to check out a place you remember, but only through second-hand memories. The scheduled time for the project would also fittingly conclude my perhaps most fantastic month ever, playing both Panorama Bar and Robert Johnson. So then going more or less straight to Ibiza for this project seemed like a perfect round-off to what had been a long and amazing summer for me. I also like and have a lot of respect for the uncompromising and decent way Mark runs International Feel. Him having Wolf Müller and Tornado Wallace also on-board, didn't exactly hurt either.” So this very much is “Day One”. A new place for Jose Padilla working with the best of the new generation of producers and a new rebirth of the original Balearic sound - aware of its roots but pushing forwards. “Day One” indeed. http://www.internationalfeel.com http://www.facebook.com/internationalfeelrecordings

Stream: Just Words - The Night VI

Another new track from The Night VI, lifted from their forthcoming EP III, due in September. In demonstration of the talent that exists within the six-piece, Just Words sees the band hand vocal duties over to keyboardist Kristy Marie. She delivers a soulful, quivering performance as she describes the words used to lure you in to a one night stand.

We've heard a lot of great things from The Night VI already but in my view this is their best track yet, and their biggest opportunity to break out into the mainstream. Truly great.

You can order the EP on vinyl here, and ordering unlocks a download of every track released to date (three of the six tracks).

Stream: 4EVER! - LANY

More big infectious pop hooks from LANY, this time on new track 4EVER!. Check it out below and  expect plenty of snap and crackle - the rhythm section pops on this one!

Pre-order the band's new EP I Loved You on iTunes now, due out on 9 June [affiliate link].

Stream: Embrace - Goldroom feat. George Maple

Embrace originally featured on one of Goldroom's earlier EPs, and I've been hooked to it's big warm sunny synths since I first heard it... Here with the addition of George Maple's vocal we get to hear the version Goldroom always had in his head - he and Maple wrote the song together, so it's fitting we now get this new version with her lovely vocals. In the artist's own words:

"George Maple and I actually wrote Embrace together, so having this come full circle, and to have her singing on the song, feels like a dream. The song Embrace is all about re-connection, and so having George back in my studio again, singing the song, felt like it was meant to be."

I first heard the original version of Embrace back when it was a little colder and more wintery here in the northern hemisphere, so it's fitting to have it bubble up again now it is getting warmer... Particularly as it now features the awesome talents of George Maple. Love it.

Embrace is taken from Goldroom's new EP It's Like You Never Went Away, out now on Downtown Records.

I'm very proud to present Embrace (feat George Maple), the first song from my new EP, which comes out today. Getting the chance to release music through Snapchat gave me the perfect opportunity to show everyone the version of Embrace that I've always heard in my head. George Maple and I actually wrote Embrace together, so having this come full circle, and to have her singing on the song, feels like a dream. The song Embrace is all about re-connection, and so having George back in my studio again, singing the song, felt like it was meant to be. I'm so stoked to be able to share this with you guys, and I hope you like it! Each day this week we'll be releasing another song, accompanied by a music video on Snapchat. The most exciting part is that we actually shot all four music videos as a 17 minute short film. We'll be releasing the videos every day this week, so be sure to head to the Snap Channel on Snapchat to catch up and to get lots of behind the scenes extras and interviews! Vocals by George Maple: https://soundcloud.com/george-maple http://goldroom.la Contact Josh: goldroomtunes@gmail.com Management: mgmt@goldroomtunes.com Press (Rebecca Shapiro): rshapiro@shorefire.com Bookings: N/S America: Marlene Tsuchii - MTsuchii@caa.com & Jazz Spinder - Jazz.Spinder@caa.com UK/Europe & Asia: Nick Matthews - Nick@CodaAgency.com Australia & NZ : dayna@selectmusic.com.au