Skippa J’s Reggae Show
Isabel released ‘Slow Heat’ on 27th April.
Exciting new artist Isabel, originally from Brighton, releases her new single ‘Slow Heat’. It is from her upcoming EP, which is a collaboration with producer Russ Chimes.
The EP is a collection of tracks that began as remote vocal recordings shared during lock-down 2021 and recorded in a Peckham studio in 2022.
Isabel is on YouTube, Insta and Spotify.
On 28th April, Brenn! shared his new single, ‘4runner’.
Rising singer/songwriter Brenn! released his cathartic new single, ‘4runner’, after a string of viral TikTok teasers. With his vivid song writing, the 18-year-old (born Brennan Keller) has quickly built up a large following on-line. He is already racking up over 26 million views using the song on TikTok (from his page alone) and 60K pre-saves from fans around the world. The song’s release came alongside an accompanying lyric video.
The power of Brenn!’s storytelling comes straight from the heart. ‘4runner’ is about grappling with a friend who has moved away while feeling stuck in a small south-eastern town. He explains, “As personal as this story is to me, it seems to connect with many people. I want to give people the closure they are looking for—or have already found—with this song.”
Brenn! is on Insta, Soundcloud and, unsurprisingly, TikTok
Hook released ‘Autumn Eyes’ on 28th April.
This is the third single from Hook’s album, ‘Breakout’ and we’ve heard the previous two singles – ‘Whispers’ (Week 86, February 2023) and the title track, ‘Breakout’ (Week 77, December 2022)
With that title track getting heavily played on stations around the world, Hook’s new album, ‘Breakout’ is available to digitally stream, download and buy as a physical copy and is doing very, very well!
Originally formed in 2006 Hook consists of John Hook (keyboards), Rob Hook (vocals) and Marc Hook (guitars) who, together, write and record original songs. After getting lots of USA airplay back in 2009, John says “We decided to look at performing our songs live around our local area, Norwich, just to see what kind of response we got. Our first gig was in 2019 and then COVID came and, like many other bands out there, our musical future and our live gigging was held up.
Not letting that stop us though we got busy during lock-down and started writing for our first studio album, ‘Sanantorium’ which was produced & engineered by Roaul Crane at Blaze studios in Caister Norfolk in between lock-downs & now we have returned there for our brand new album ‘Breakout. Finally able to get back into the studio proper, and once again at Blaze Studios, this new album has a very different sound and feel to it and we can’t wait to share the music with everyone.”
The Hook trio are joined by Mick Grant, on bass, and Damion Dogget, on Drums, for the recording of ‘Breakout’.
Hook are on Facebook YouTube and Bandcamp or can be contacted through their record label, Bad Monkey Records.
‘Sanity Button’ is the second track from Andy Griffin’s album ‘Unsocial Media’.
Andy is a singer/songwriter based in Thaxted, Essex, creating contemporary indie rock/pop songs. Commenting on the world around us, his latest album, ‘Unsocial Media’ focuses on the dark side of social media and in particular, its effect on our teenagers and young adults. This track, ‘Sanity Button’, is a song about following your dreams and not succumbing to societal pressures.
Andy has a web site, at andygriffinmusic.com. You can follow him on YouTube, Facebook and Insta. ‘Unsocial Media’ is available on Spotify.
When not creating music Andy can be found photographing portraits, events and weddings or filming videos for other bands and corporate clients. For more information check andygriffin.co.uk or andygriffinphotography.com.
Also on the 28th April, Luna J released ‘Best Thing’.
Luna J is a 21-year-old, Scottish, pop, hip hop, artist with a slight punk twist. Her relatable lyrics and catchy hooks pull you in with a feeling of familiarity. These are songs that get in your head and don’t come out. Luna J takes influences from a wide range of artists and makes her lyrics upbeat whilst still displaying emotion.
After the success of her last single, ‘Addiction’, released in March and still getting radio plays throughout the UK, Europe and the United States as well as amassing over 10k streams in under 48 hours after its release Luna J is hoping for even more success with ‘Best Thing’. It is a little different to what fans have become used to hearing also.
Luna J is on Soundcloud, Facebook, Insta, Twitter, TickTok and YouTube.
Thomas Cole has recently released ‘Up In Smoke’.
We previously heard ‘Cringe’ from this New York based singer/songwriter – way back in September 2021 (Week 11)!
Thomas Baird Cole, Jr. is an American actor, model, and recording artist. Originally from Richmond, Virginia, Thomas graduated and moved to the Big Apple in 2013 to pursue a career in the fashion, TV, and film industries. In 2019, his musical journey began when he met New York producer, Electropoint. Currently, they are set to release an untitled collaboration album, which is expected to drop later this year. ‘Up In Smoke’ is out now, and is available on-line.
Thomas has a website at iamthomascole.com and is on Insta and Facebook
The Ormidales have released ‘I Think We Oughta’.
From The Ormidales new EP ‘Love Had a Chance’ comes the first single release ‘I Think We Oughta’. With whimsical lyrics and colourful sweeping melodies, an epiphany of pop escapism transports the listener to their own happy place wherever that may be discovered.
‘I Think We Oughta’ has an official video on YouTube and you can follow the Ormidales on Facebook and Bandcamp.
On 26th May Afterdrive will release their second single ‘99’.
Formed in early 2022, and from Ipswich, Afterdrive are the relatable and refreshing band that this generation needs. Afterdrive recently burst onto the local, live scene, and their uplifting début ‘Stick Around’ dropped to wide acclaim, Afterdrive are proving themselves a powerful and dynamic act from humble beginnings. Channelling nostalgic indie and anthemic modern rock, Afterdrive are Ben Watts (Vocals), Luke Ellis (Guitar), Ed Ruff (Bass) & Joe Watts (Drums). The bands second single ‘99’ is out 26th May 2023.
‘99’ is one of the first Afterdrive song’s and has quickly became a fan favourite live, making it the natural follow-up to ‘Stick Around’. Recorded back at Magic Garden Studios by Gavin Monaghan and Liam Radburn, ‘99’ sees a more upbeat indie shade of Afterdrive with elements of synth pop, whilst sticking to the bands roots and signature sound, making it instantly recognisable.
In perfect time for summer and as Afterdrive look forward to their biggest gig’s to date, ’99’ will drop on Friday 26th May 2023 on all streaming platforms.
Afterdrive have a website, at afterdriveband.com.
The Milk Man released ‘Little Miss Attention’ on 28th April.
‘Mini Milk’ is the stunning new EP from London-based four-piece rock and blues, band The Milk Men. This super group is made up of the cream of UK blues rock talent. Also it is becoming one of the most popular bands on the UK’s grass roots rock circuit.
The ‘Mini Milk’ EP is a collection of five of the most popular Milk Men songs. Remixed, remastered, radio-edited and now re-released in time for the band’s busy Summer festival season. The first track from the EP released as a single is ‘Little Miss Attention’.
Guitarist Adam says, “We felt that it was time to reintroduce some of our older songs to our newer fans. And with a busy festival season ahead, this was the perfect promo package to put together, and gave us a chance to remix some of our favourite tracks and present them in a really fresh, radio-friendly new light.”
‘Little Miss Attention’ was an obvious choice for the first single says singer Jamie. “As soon as we finished Deliverance in 2020 the country went into lock-down, so we were unable to gig the album and support the songs properly. Although ‘Little Miss Attention’ got lots of support on-line and helped build our fan base on social media, we were frustrated as we felt it deserved to be heard more…this EP gives us the chance to put that right.”
2023 gigs:
24th June – Sedgefield Blues Club
25th June – HRH Leicester, O2 Academy
2nd July – Alfold Blues Festival, Guildford
21st July – 100 Club, London (Supporting the Dirt Road Band)
5th August – Cambridge Rock Festival
2nd September – Barleylands Blues Club, Essex
8th September – Cranfest ’23, Cranbrook, Kent
9th September – Boogaloo Blues Weekend, Bournemouth
29th September – Blues At The Bay, Stockton-on-Tees
30th September – Saltburn Blues Club
6th October – Barnoldswick Music & Arts Centre, Pendle, Lancs
7th October – Carlisle Blues Festival
8th October – The Flying Circus, Newark
10th November – Emsworth Blues Club
11th November – Whitby Blues, Rhythm & Rock Festival
18th November – Diseworth Blues Club, Leicestershire
2nd December – Looe Blues, Rhythm & Rock Festival
16th December – The Musician, Leicester – Supporting Dr. Feelgood)
The Milk Men have a website, at themilkmenmusic.com and are on Facebook and YouTube.
The Flints have released ‘Same Thing Every Day’.
We’ve heard from The Flints before (‘Serengeti’ (Week 64, September 2022), ‘100 Million Lightyears’ (Week 74, November 2022 and ‘Different Drum’ (Week 90, March 2023)). Now they’ve released their latest single, ‘Same Thing Every Day’. This is from their new EP which came out on 28th April.
Dressed in groovy guitar riffs and echoey vocals, ‘Same Thing Every Day’ displays George and Henry Flint’s ability to create tracks that shy away from the norm. The change in tempos create a sense of feeling stretched. They are accompanied by lyrics that delve into the pair’s dissatisfaction with the tedious cycle of life.
The duo explain, “The song explores the monotonous cycle of life which we inevitably all fall into and the urge to break free of it. Musically, we wanted to represent this concept by steering away from a traditional song structure, using tempo-changes to reflect the feeling of being pushed and pulled in different directions. Writing/recording between our childhood home and London felt symbolic of the song for us; this narrative of escaping everything we’ve ever known and jumping into new lives in the city.”
The Flints have a website, at theflintsmusic.com, and are on Facebook, Twitter and Insta.
A recording of the show is available on MixCloud.
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