Stay Lonely. Blood Red Shoes

When Laura-Mary Carter released her solo record last year and Steven Ansell was producing more and more bands, I feared I had lost another band that I had come to like a lot. So I was pleasantly surprised when a new Blood Red Shoes single was announced before the summer. When the album was announced I took Stay Together to be the title. It still sounds more appropriate in my frame of mind than Stay Lonely, that it actually is.

All these thoughts aside, Stay Lonely is a fantastic album. My favourite so far is 'In Time To Voices' but the album has a clear contender for that spot. On the past two albums the duo brought in more electronics but the songs were not absolute top and here the mix is there once again but with the songs to match the best that came before.

Stay Lonely is an album that is impossible to put on stage as a duo, so I expect some sidekicks on stage just like when I saw the band some years ago. Besides the trickbox of effects on the guitar of Laura-Mary Carter there's a host of other sounds. Never a dull moment where the sounds are concerned, as usual.

What I really like on Stay Lonely is the slow singing in several of the songs. Without overemphasising, both Carter and Ansell take it slow on the album. That combination of singing and the quality of the melodies create songs that sound like real hits in my universe. It makes Stay Lonely an instant contender for record of the year in my book. It is exactly what I missed on 'Get Tragic' and 'Ghosts On Tape'. The smooth pop element underneath it all was (somewhat) lacking. Both albums are good, but do not have that little extra that Stay Lonely has in abundance.

Promo photo

I'm going to focus on two songs, 'Screams' and 'Two Weeks' to try and explain what I mean. 'Screams' after a few listening sessions makes me feel like I've know it all my life, without having me trying to find the hook in my head what it is that makes it so familiar. The song progresses so smoothly. It makes me want to sing the chorus all day long. 'Two Weeks' starts far more alternatively. Carter's guitar(s) are far more prominent, but again it is Ansell singing lead, this time with a great harmony from Carter behind him. Again the chorus is so smooth, the Moog sound behind it makes the music float as it were. The two are singing perfectly together. Just two examples of far more on offer on Stay Lonely.

Commercially Blood Red Shoes may not become bigger than it is now. With Stay Lonely the duo shows the world that it is far from spent where inspiration is concerned. Stay together would have been a good title indeed and I for one am glad they did just that.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can listen to and order Stay Lonely here:

https://jazzlife.bandcamp.com/album/stay-lonely 

2026, week 38. 10 singles

'Summer's Almost Gone', Jim Morrison sang on The Doors' 'Waiting For The Sun' album (that does not contain the single of that name). I notice it when I go outside. Spiderwebs span the back alley, everything is more humid. Fierce rain alternates with bright light from a lower hanging, thus more blinding, sun. Summer may be on the way out, music is on the way in, as the autumn releases pour in abundantly. Again, here's a wide variety of music. So. enjoy!

Magic 8Ball. Integra Pink

We start this week with Integra Park, a Southern Californian band with a very dreamy rock sound. Singer Leo Mendez has that soft voice that makes you listen to him. Behind him the bass and drums lay down a strict pace, while around him melodic guitar parts are swirling around. A swath of synth sounds come in and out of the song like mist on an early morning. It reminds me of bands like Marjorie Fair, Constant Smiles and Marlin's Dreaming. All bands that lay/laid down a very specific and relaxing atmosphere while hitting the nail on the head in the meantime. Integra Pink is a totally new name to me, so I have nothing to compare Magic 8Ball to as far as this band is concerned. What I'm hearing is certainly to my liking. Knuckles (Right) will be released on 14 November. By that date we'll all know more.

Lungs. Lydia Saint George

Integra Park's single Magic8Ball is dreamy and so is Lydia Saint George's Lungs. Which song came first to me 'Harry's Theme' of 'Orinoco Flow'? It is irrelevant, as Lungs fits into that category. Mystic sounds that I associate with the mist rolling over the Irish landscape. The smell of peat in my nose and the possibility of running into a leprechaun. I do not know whether peat can be smelled in North Carolina where Lydia Saint George now lives, she has caught the Celtic folk atmosphere spot on and gives it a hint of the modern in the right places, as the recording technique allows easily for that. The double tracked vocals add a little extra to the mystique, as it suggest a ghost track running behind the original vocal recording. An intriguing track Lungs is.

Green Light. Part Time Signals

With a third dreamy single, it is already the theme of week 38's singles post. The dreamy part sits mostly in the vocals. The music is of a delicious laziness that suggests a long drawn out Sunday morning somewhere between sleeping and waking. Green Light just sort of rolls over me like a slow wave of lukewarm water. Three songs in today, three first timers on this blog. Part Time Signals is a band from Wales working towards its second album 'Ducks Back, Baby', to be released on 6 November. The four members all have a history in other bands, all names totally unknown to me. Green Light is a soft track, filled with subtle sounds and soft accents. The accents are there though all over the intro and verses and it makes a difference. It prevents you from drifting away. I'm not sure whether a whole album filled with Green Lights would be palatable to me, one Green Light certainly is. For references on this song/music, look at 'Magic 8Ball' above.

Are You… After Elmer 

Beware, before listening (and not just because the dreamy part of this post is over). Before I was able to type anything the song was already over. 34 seconds! It must the shortest song reviewed here. The good news first. Rotterdam punk band After Elmer released a new song, with more to come in the fall. The bad news is that this will be the last we hear from After Elmer, as the band is calling it quits, like so many other contemporary bands do. You wouldn't think so from just listening to Are You... After Elmer puts the pedal to the metal from the very start. Little melodies come from the lead guitar, there's a beautiful harmony in what could have been a chorus in a one minute 8 seconds long song. Alas, it ends with a nice discord chord at the end, with a deep metal guitar sound. Yes, a band can impress in just 34 seconds.

Swarm. Tramhaus

'Plovdiv' was the first single released from the upcoming album 'Blister' (9 October). With Swarm Tramhaus has caught a trendy word for its new single. A swarm of drones, a swarm of AI agents, all coming with a negative connotation. Not Swarm. Tramhaus shows more or less a new side to itself. Gone is the postpunk, enter alternative rock and a very extreme light and shade plays out in the music. Swarm is a song I instantly like. The two guitars play an interesting game together. Lucas Jansen and Nadya van Osnabrugge alternate the lead vocals. Jansen is his self, but the angelicly sung question "can you believe it?" with music and intensity out of the studio, makes the song very interesting to listen to. Julia Vroegh's bass gets the outro. Deep and slowed down. Swarm is a great new single for Tramhaus. Only three weeks left to go for 'Blister'.

Quiz On The Radio. Plastic Family

More music from The Netherlands, though Rotterdam 2, Amsterdam 1. Plastic Family returns to this blog with a great pop single that brings together pop from the 60s with indie vigour. 'Love & Heartbreak In High School' was the debut single and reading my review it fits nicely with Quiz On The Radio. If anything it brings to mind Gruppo Sportivo from the 'Ten Mistakes' album. An upbeat sound around a sad/teenage drama themed lyric. The only thing missing is the organ. Plastic Family is able to present an upbeat mood leading to the quiz show on the radio. The Beatles are referenced in a small sequence, 'On My Radio' is quoted for a few seconds. Of course, the quiz goes wrong, again, and the girl friend decides she has to go. Tragedy all over, except in the music. In November the single is released on 7". For now it is available digitally.

Compulsion. Black Doldrums

Black Doldrums' previous single was called 'Repetition'. The word comes by regularly on its new single Compulsion, but then doesn't compulsion lead to repetition of something. The goth side of the London based band comes forward in the strongest of ways. All is black, like in the heyday of darkness in the early 1980s. Joy Division and follow up New Order to name two bands. The darkest The Cure of 'Faith' and 'Pornography' another. Black Doldroms obviously is a fan. Singer Kevin Gibbard shows the darkest side of his voice and the music matches perfectly. Compulsion has the drive to underscore the title. The beat goes on and on. The lead guitar melodies bring the faintest of lights. In the intro a synth sound flies around like bats in utter darkness. They do not touch you but you can feel the flutter of their wings on your cheeks. The mood of Compulsion is superb. The album 'Repulsion Compulsion' will be released on 13 November.

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah. U2

Through the years covers by U2 made it to b-sides of cd singles and to the 'Rattle And Hum' album, the surprise album from 1988 and one of my first cds. And that for a band that in an early review as I recall said that they were bad at playing covers, so decided early on to write their own material. Come 2026 and U2 is part of a project honouring Shane McGowan and thus The Pogues. The album '20th Century Paddy - The Songs of Shane MacGowan' is set for release on 13 November. U2's contribution is not spectacular, but it is nice to hear how the band turns the song into a pop song and not a U2 song. It is the lightest kind of song I ever heard the band play. And that is something to hear. The lead instrument is a marimba? I'm just guessing here. Besides a guitar solo of course. With two EPs and this song the U2 fan is serviced quite well in 2026, yeah! (Just as long as you don't let yourself be fooled by the title of this single. This song has nothing of the yeah, yeah, etc,, at the end of 'Vertigo'. My favourite U2 single ever.)

Ancient Steel. Skyjoggers

It's almost one and a half year go Skyjoggers made their debut on this blog with single 'Tessæil'. Today the band from Tampere in Finland returns with another relentless single. Can it be louder? I do not think it makes any sense to do so. There are some tempo changes and quieter parts. For the most part it's distorted guitars and a drummer who must be the grandson of The Muppets' Animal. Ancient Steel is an instrumental track divided into "akts", where the musical theme or the tempo changes. The heart of the song is strong riffing of guitar and bass over a loud background. If you are into spacerock metal, Skyjoggers is the band to check out.

The Mirror. Burntmill Ghosts

To think we started out so dreamy this week. Boy, did that change. Therefore we end with a punkband from New Jersey. Do not expect smooth punkrock on The Mirror. Burntmill Ghosts pulls several tricks into this song, that make it a far less straightforward song. The trio doesn't just play with a little light and shade. No, it plays with the format of the song by changing the tempo, several times. The pace of the song is altered by playing differently. Fluent chord changes are altered with stop start moments and fast played chords interchanged with long held chords. Just a few examples of what happens throughout. It all ends with a totally different form of song altogether. In other words, an interesting song Burntmill Ghosts' The Mirror is. An album is not due till somewhere next year.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght 

Perfect Place. Lemoncello

Het Ierse duo Lemoncello trok ruim twee jaar geleden flink wat aandacht met een prachtig debuutalbum, maar het is helaas vrij stil gebleven rond de eerder dit jaar verschenen opvolger Perfect Place, die zeker niet minder mooi is.

De Ierse band Lankum gaf de Ierse folk een paar jaar geleden een flinke impuls met albums waarop een bijzondere draai werd gegeven aan traditionele folk. Het leverde albums op met duistere en bezwerende folk die je genadeloos bij de strot greep. Zo meedogenloos was de muziek van Laura Quirke en Claire Kinsella niet, maar ook het debuutalbum van Lemoncello was er een die in de smaak viel bij liefhebbers van de door Lankum en ØXN gemaakte folk met een twist. Het is het afgelopen jaar wat stil in het genre, waardoor het tweede album van Lemoncello minder is opgevallen, maar het is wederom een bijzonder fraai album, met een hoofdrol voor de mooie stemmen van de twee Ierse muzikanten.

Het Ierse platenlabel Claddagh Records bestaat al sinds de jaren 50 en was lange tijd vooral gericht op het uitbrengen van nogal traditionele Ierse folk. In 2023 bracht het label echter het briljante CYRM van ØXN uit en dat vond en vind ik nog steeds een van de allerbeste albums van 2023. Ik besloot om het label vanaf dat moment wat beter in de gaten te houden en dat leverde me in 2024 het bijzonder fraaie Yellow Roses van Niamh Bury op en niet veel later het titelloze debuutalbum van Lemoncello, dat ik misschien nog wel mooier vond. 

Lemoncello is een Iers duo dat bestaat uit Laura Quirke en Claire Kinsella, die allebei beschikken over een hele mooie stem en hun songs verder inkleuren met gitaar en cello. De stemmen van de twee lijken op het debuutalbum van Lemoncello niet alleen gemaakt voor Ierse folk, maar bovendien voor het soort donkere en bezwerende folk waarmee ØXN in 2023 een verpletterende indruk maakte. 

De muziek van Lemoncello was niet zo duister en beklemmend als de muziek van ØXN en een band als Lankum, maar het debuutalbum van het Ierse tweetal was ook niet op zijn plek in het hokje traditionele Ierse folk. Het debuutalbum van Lemoncello bleek ook nog eens een eersteklas groeialbum, waardoor ik het album nu veel hoger aansla dan twee jaar geleden. 

Mijn aandacht voor Claddagh Records verslapte wat toen er lange tijd geen albums verschenen die mij net zo wisten te raken als de albums van ØXN, Niamh Bury en Lemoncello. Dat is jammer, want in mei verscheen het tweede album van Lemoncello. Perfect Place heeft volgens mij wat minder aandacht gekregen dan het debuutalbum van Laura Quirke en Claire Kinsella, want ook muziektijdschriften als Mojo en Uncut wezen me niet of onvoldoende duidelijk op het tweede album van het duo. 

Het heeft echt niets te maken met de kwaliteit van het album, want ik vind Perfect Place nog beter dan het eerste album van Lemoncello. Ik heb weinig informatie over het nieuwe album van het Ierse tweetal, want zelfs op de bandcamp pagina van Lemoncello is niets te vinden. 

Volgens de informatie van Spotify produceerden Laura Quirke en Claire Kinsella samen met Ruth O’Mahony Brady het nieuwe album en tekenen ze ook voor het grootste deel van de muziek op Perfect Place, met hier en daar uiterst subtiele toevoegingen van keyboards, bas en drums. Ook dit keer zijn de bijdragen van de cello sfeerbepalend, maar de meeste indruk maken de stemmen van Laura Quirke en Claire Kinsella, zeker als ze gecombineerd worden. 

Ook op Perfect Place maken de twee indruk met ingetogen vocalen die makkelijk onder de huid kruipen. Dat doen ook de songs van Lemoncello, die net als op het debuutalbum flink wat invloeden uit de (Ierse) folk bevatten, maar ook een duidelijk eigen geluid hebben. 

Het is net als op het eerste album een bij vlagen behoorlijk donker geluid, maar nog meer dan op het debutalbum staan Laura Quirke en Claire Kinsella op Perfect Place garant voor fraaie spanningsbogen, die de songs van Lemoncello voorzien van een hele bijzondere sfeer. Er is tot dusver weinig geschreven over Perfect Place van Lemoncello, maar Laura Quirke en Claire Kinsella hebben na hun zo mooie debuutalbum wederom een betoverend mooi folkalbum gemaakt.

Erwin Zijleman

 

Je kunt Perfect Place hier luisteren en bestellen:

https://lemoncello.bandcamp.com/album/perfect-place 

Soft. The Bernadette Maries

Over this year Brussels based The Bernadette Maries featured several times in the singles section of this blog. So, it should not come as a surprise that the band's debut album Soft follows its singles. Although the band tends to rubricate itself in the shoegaze section, I find myself only partly inclined to go along with this description. Find out why below.

The Bernadette Maries are Guy Tournay (vocals, guitar), Daria (vocals, bass), Romain Rouserez (drums/percussion). Also mentioned is David, as collaborator and live member. The band formed in 2024 and in the same year released its first single, 'Dream Place', followed by more singles and an EP, 'LvvV' in 2025. Come 2026 and debut album Soft sees the light of day.

The band mixes shoegaze, with dreamy sequences with a pop undertone. Smashing Pumpkins is a band the members must have heard. 'Happy Song' tells you that with ease. One of the singles, 'ESO' does even more so, but let us return to the opening song and name giver of the album, 'Soft'. Here the two contrasts already come together. The dark guitar sounds of shoegaze are prominent the in intro and move to the (far) background in the opening verse. The other guitars are like those that can be heard on U.S. bands like DIIV and Beach Fossils. Light melodic sequences, somewhat in a Johnny Marr style, and long held darker lead notes. 'Soft' is quite the opening statement from The Bernadette Maries. Here we are it says. A take it or leave it statement is playing straight into my ears. The singing is a far more dreamy. Guy Tournay has a voice without much depth, while Daria sings the background vocals with an angelic voice.

This description more or less sums up the music on Soft. Before you get the wrong impression from this summing up so soon, Soft is a varied and more importantly a good debut album. The Bernadette Maries are not scared of showing who influenced them, but used these influences to create new songs that I will be listening to for a while. Soft is a nice edition to what came before and could be a stepping stone for others in the future. And how about soft? Not exactly.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can listen to and order Soft here:

https://geographie.bandcamp.com/album/soft 

Music For Horses. The Rupert Selection

Less is more is a saying that totally passed the members of The Rupert Selection by. Once the very quiet intro to Music For Horses of 1 minute, 'Hello Horses' is over, the band kicks in and it only seems to go from big to bigger to biggest and at times even beyond that. Hugest is a word that may come close. The Rupert Selection fabricates a wall of sound that becomes impenetrable. It's so huge that my ears pop like when going to a higher altitude.

It is all interspersed with soundscapes and spoken word parts, like Pink Floyd used to lift texts from movies or tv shows, and interludes. Sometimes it goes through the whole of song, this mechanic muttering in the background. 

To think that The Rupert Selection is a trio. There's no way of telling because there is so much happening on Music For Horses. Guitar layers, a huge Hammond organ, horns. The band combines the sound of some of the bigger bands that emerged in 1969 like Blood, Sweat and Tears and Chicago Transit Authority, mix it with garage rock, psychedelic blues  and some symphonic rock from the 70s and later. It all blends into a huge melting pot but really, really reveals itself in 'Devil's Dance', in part a quieter song at that.

The Rupert Selection is Reilly Somach, Peter Crofton, Zak Brown, respectively singer/guitarist, bassist, drummer, but only as their principle instruments. It only starts there for them. They were assisted by producer Steve Lord and a host of other musicians.

In a way I do get the impression that The Rupert Selection wanted to show off everything it is capable of. And at times it does become too much. But never without taste and conviction. When I then read that singer-guitarist Reilly Somach is diagnosed with that awful disease I hear far too many people having this year, it seems that it had to be this way. Everything The Rupert Selection stands for balled into one album. I hope Reilly Somach makes a full recovery, but should this be a goodbye, he could not have wished for a more impressive one. Music For Horses is for horses and all of us. Strength and courage, Reilly!

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can listen to and order Music For Horses here:

https://therupertselection.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-horses