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Talkhouse

<div>Fran, the songwriting project of Maria Jacobson, is sexy rock u can cry to. Since releasing their debut EP, More Enough, on Chicago’s Lake Paradise Records in December 2017, they have embedded themselves into the Chicago music scene and opened up for notable acts such as Jen Cloher, LVL UP, and Karl Blau. Fran’s songs have been described as “catchy and complex, a little strange, bringing to mind the side of the fork in the road of ’90s alt rock that didn’t lead to Creed” and “introspective anthems made for rainy days” and are prescribed to those who suffer from ‘time’ as a medical condition.</div>
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<div>The trick is to make a confession entertaining. A Private Picture, the debut album by Chicago’s Fran, delivers a collection of extremely personal experiences that have been distilled and abstracted to the point that you can see yourself in their imagery, find analogs to your own emotional history in their scenarios — when you hear them, it’s a conversation. It’s therapy, if therapy was allowed to turn you on and make you shake what you got. At its core, Fran’s music is about sharing a truth — telling it, confessing it, yelling it — in the service of human connection. Or, as Jacobson puts it, “I feel that I am a songwriter for the same reason I wanted to be an actor. I want to tell the truth. I want to challenge myself to get closer and closer to the core of an experience, an emotion- I want to say it, sing it, in a way that says exactly what it is. I cry when I write songs because I am constantly making discoveries, about myself, about the world, about the best way to convey and connect and get closer.”</div>
(Photo Credit: Reilly Drew)

Fran

Music

Introducing: Fran’s “In My Own Time”

Wished Bone, the folk project of Ashley Rhodus, began with borrowed instruments and broken tape machines in an Athens, Ohio basement called The Pseudio. Rhodus, plant biologist turned bartender, finds peace in viewing human behavior and emotion as organic and normal parts of nature. A flower opens up because it is meant to. Often accompanied by instrumentalist Wandering Lake, stripped down melodies float like a cloud atop Kupillas’ subtle drones, simple guitar licks and clean drums.
(Photo Credit: Jason Wyman)

Wished Bone

Introducing: Wished Bone’s “Pink Room”

One of Los Angeles’ best-kept musical secrets, indie folk songwriter Jamie Drake is emerging on the national scene with her stunning debut album, Everything’s Fine.
Within the last few years, Jamie Drake has collaborated with the likes of Jim James (My Morning Jacket), Mikael Jorgensen (Wilco), and Moby. She’s also toured with accomplished performers such as Sara &amp; Sean Watkins of Nickel Creek, J.S. Ondara, Shawn Colvin and The Lone Bellow.
From her nomadic childhood with gypsy parents where she was constantly the new kid in town, to overcoming heartbreak and divorce and being the ultimate late bloomer, Everything’s Fine gives Jamie permission to take the spotlight at age 39 and be her weird and wild-eyed self on center stage.
Her first two singles released from the album, “Everything’s Fine” and “Wonder,” have received a combined five millions streams on Spotify. Everything’s Fine will be released on September 20, 2019 via AntiFragile Music on vinyl and all digital platforms.

Jamie Drake

Introducing: Jamie Drake’s “Redwood Tree”

Sui Zhen is an experimental pop and performance artist. Her new album Losing, Linda is out September 27 via Cascine.

Sui Zhen

Introducing: Sui Zhen’s “Another Life”

Onstage, bassist Jon Samuels is the only Friendship member who stands up. He is usually swaying back and forth as the songs bear down, pulling together and apart. Friendship’s new record, Dreamin’ (out Nov 8 on Orindal Records) is an exorable wave of motion, endlessly rocking between intimacy and loneliness.
The contemplative alt-country songs on Dreamin’ were recorded to tape in July last year with the help of The Low Anthem’s Jeff Prystowsky. The band moved away from the inclusion of digitally programmed drums and Rhodes piano for Dreamin’, opting instead for a warmer, more organic aesthetic and a starker performance. Most of the songs on Dreamin’ took shape while Dan Wriggins (vocals and guitar) and Mike Cormier (drums) worked and lived as groundskeepers at a private estate in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, frequently driving into Philadelphia for shows and friends. The record is set both in the country and the city — community, peacefulness, and isolation can all be heard and felt throughout the superb new record.
Friendship have retained a loyal cult following since their first offering in 2015, You’re Going to Have to Trust Me, which was released on Burst and Bloom Records that year. The F/V Hope EP on Sleeper Records and another record on their current label Orindal Records followed in 2017 — the acclaimed Shock Out of Season.
(Photo Credit: Jeff Berkowitz)

Friendship

Introducing: Friendship’s “You Might Already Know”

Ani Cordero is a Puerto Rican singer/composer and activist living in NYC. She has toured as the drummer for the legendary Os Mutantes, and was a founding member of the celebrated Mexican rock band Pistolera. In the early 2000s, Ani led her own bilingual art rock band, Cordero who released such Feminist anthems such as “Vamos Nenas,” and “Matadora,” on Chicago’s beloved Bloodshot Records and Amy Ray’s (Indigo Girls&gt;) label, Daemon Records.
n 2014, Ani released an album entitled Recordar (Remember), which re-imagined songs by influential Latin American songwriters of the turbulent &#8220;Nueva Cancion&#8221; era, including Victor Jara, Violeta Parra, Chavela Vargas, and Atahualpa Yupanqui. Her critically-acclaimed album received accolades from NPR&#8217;s All Things Considered, Alt-Latino, and Soundcheck, as well as, Billboard, USA Today, PRI The World, Brooklyn Vegan, BUST, Remezcla, and more.
Following the success of Recordar, Ani released an album of her own political protest and love songs called Querido Mundo (Dear World). The album is Ani&#8217;s love letter to a complicated world and addresses several themes including immigration, Black Lives Matter, Feminism, and government corruption. The songs feature heavy percussion, sing-along choruses and strong lyrics that aim to inspire political resistance and support for social justice.
In September 2019, Ani will release her third solo album El Machete inspired in large part by the new reality facing Puerto Rico post-Hurricane Maria.
Ani is also co-founder of Puerto Rico Independent Musicians and Artists <a href="https://www.primafund.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">(PRIMA)</a> which supports the music community in Puerto Rico.
(Photo Credit: Bek Andersen)

Ani Cordero

Introducing: Ani Cordero’s “Yo No Vine a Jugar”

<div class="c-message__content c-message__content--feature_sonic_inputs" data-qa="message_content">The glitchy pop duo HXXS craft experimental tones with deafening synths and aggressive drums that melts the mind and moves the feet. Their politically charged debut album Year Of The Witch (out Oct 18 via Captured Tracks) sounds as turbulent as it’s heavy subject matter. </div>
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HXXS

Introducing: HXXS’s Creepy New Stop-Motion Video For “Last Days of Magic”

Montreal-based singer-songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Geoffroy makes a point, in both life and music, to weave a tale with his words; one that asks audiences to dig deep.
Following his EP Soaked In Gold (2015), Geoffroy released his debut album Coastline in March 2017, earning critical and commercial success while the album landed on the Polaris Music Prize long list and garnered 25 million streams.
In the two years since Coastline, Geoffroy and his band experienced a groundswell of support in Quebec, culminating in a sold-out headlining show at Montreal’s MTelus (FKA Metropolis). They toured 1000-2000 capacity venues in Europe with Fakear and Møme, and also started to write the next album. Audiences in Mexico, the United States, Brazil, and Germany grew organically and showed enthusiasm for the Montrealer’s music. His single &#8220;Sleeping on My Own&#8221; was a big sensation, racking up over eight million streams on Spotify.
(Photo Credit: Alex Dozois)

Geoffroy

Introducing: Geoffroy’s “The Fear of Falling Apart”

Over the last few years, The Schizophonics have built up a formidable reputation around the world as an explosive live act. Tapping into the same unstoppable combination of rock &amp; roll energy and showmanship that fueled The MC5 in the heyday of the Grande Ballroom, their wild live show is heavily influenced by artists like James Brown, Iggy Pop, Jimi Hendrix, Little Richard, and The Sonics. Singer/guitarist Pat Beers and drummer Lety Beers formed the band in San Diego in 2009 and have worked tirelessly since then, playing hundreds of shows around the globe and winning seven (SEVEN!) San Diego music awards.
The band is more than just an outstanding live act, they’re also committed to writing great, memorable songs. After releasing two singles and an EP over the last few years on Munster, Ugly Things, and Pig Baby Records, they put out their first full-length album in July 2017 titled Land Of The Living on the label Sympathy For The Record Industry with famed record man Long Gone John. In January of 2019 they started work on their second LP recruiting Dave Gardner (Hot Snakes, RFTC) mixing engineer Stephen Kaye (JD McPherson, Mike Krol) and Pierre De Reeder (Rilo Kiley) to put their live, raw sound to tape.
The album, titled People in the Sky will be released on October 31st, 2019 on Pig Baby Records.

The Schizophonics

Introducing: The Schizophonics’ “Steely Eyed Lady”

TR/ST is the musical project of Toronto artist Robert Alfons.

TR/ST

Introducing: TR/ST’s “The Stain”

Itasca’s Kayla Cohen wrote the anticipated follow-up to her acclaimed 2016 album Open to Chance in a century-old adobe house in rural New Mexico. Inspired by the landscape and history of the Four Corners region, the sublime Spring — its title summoning both season and scarce local water sources — dowses a devotional path to high desert headwaters. Featuring contributions from Chris Cohen, Cooper Crain (Bitchin’ Bajas), James Elkington, and members of Gun Outfit and Sun Araw, Spring contains Cohen’s most quietly dazzling and self-assured set of songs to date.
<div class="yj6qo ajU">(Photo Credit: Joanne Kim)</div>

Itasca

Introducing: Itasca’s “Lily”

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<div>Stemming from various bands that guitarist/vocalist Steven Instasi and bassist Ben Semeta had been in since their teenage years, Black Beach formed in 2012 in their hometown of Middleboro, MA when the two joined with childhood friend and drummer Ryan Nicholson. Originally starting as a hardcore band, the trio decided to focus on writing a style of music that encompassed all of their interests rather than existing in the confines of any one particular genre. What resulted was a sound that took inspiration from noise rock, post-punk, proto-punk, doom, free jazz, and art rock. Eventually relocating to Boston where the band found kindred spirits in the local music scene, Black Beach found a home in the various basements and music venues in the city and began playing with international touring acts such as Thee Oh Sees, Protomartyr, and Acid King. With two EPS, a split with friends Nice Guys and 2016’s LP Shallow Creatures under their belt, Black Beach continues to evolve their genre bending version of rock music. </div>
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