Tag: alt

WATCH: Aisha Badru, “The Way Back Home”

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Artist: Aisha Badru
Hometown: Orlando, Florida
Song: “The Way Back Home”
Album: The Way Back Home EP
Release Date: December 3, 2021
Label: Nettwerk Records

In Their Words: “During my early 20s, I left home, pursed my wildest dreams, traveled the world, and made decisions with my heart that allowed me to experience the fullness of life. This freedom allowed me to become the person I am today. ‘The Way Back Home’ is written from the perspective of someone who understands that in order for one to be whole, they have to go on a self-exploration journey alone. This song explores non-possessiveness in relationships. It embodies a confidence that allows our loved ones to grow without the fear of losing them.” — Aisha Badru

Photo credit: Jeffery Trapani

LISTEN: Ava Earl, “New Light”

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Artist: Ava Earl
Hometown: Girdwood, Alaska
Song: “New Light”
Album: The Roses
Release Date: July 23, 2021

In Their Words: “‘New Light’ was one of the first love songs I wrote. It’s about the early time in a relationship where you keep finding little things that change the way you see a person (hopefully good things)! This song is also a little existential — it deals with the wonder and mystery of the universe as well as that of love. When you meet someone that you feel so deeply connected to, it feels like there must be a reason you were brought together, and yet rationally, I don’t believe that there is. I’m not sure I’ll ever know exactly if there’s a greater meaning to life, but for me this song is about being okay with that, and always finding a new way to look at beautiful things.” — Ava Earl

Photo credit: Shannon Earl

WATCH: Malena Cadiz, “Motel Evangeline”

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Artist: Malena Cadiz
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Song: “Motel Evangeline”
Album: Chasing Smoke
Release Date: July 16, 2021

In Their Words: “‘Motel Evangeline’ was inspired by a motel on the coast of Quebec, all about loss and memory, about returning alone to a place that was once meaningful to a relationship. The verses touch on that beautiful, arrogant feeling of youth, that maybe these moments can last forever. ‘Wandering stars in the parking lot / All you lose is all you got / Oh we got lots of time.’ The chorus reminisces about swimming way out past the breakers, wishing the other person was still there. For the video the director Audrey McGee and I were inspired by plant masks and the work of Phyllis Galembo. We used dried flowers to create the ‘creature’ and the tulle as an ephemeral character, like memory difficult to grasp and always transforming.” — Malena Cadiz

Photo credit: Audrey McGee

WATCH: Erik Stucky, “Heaven Only Knows”

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Artist: Erik Stucky
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Heaven Only Knows”
Album: Good Vibrations
Release Date: August 6, 2021
Label: Binasaur Records

In Their Words: “This song is one of my favorites on the album. It brings a bit of depth and intensity to the concept of Good Vibrations. Specifically, there are things we can do with our time to improve this situation: ‘Heaven only knows what is possible, if we love ourselves like we are capable.’ This has a bit of a double meaning in that love for others is only possible to the extent that we love our individual selves. We are all one, and when we further love our individual self we simultaneously extend that love for the greater whole… humanity, the world, the universe, the never-ending consciousness. Amen.” — Erik Stucky

Photo credit: Chad Krash

LISTEN: Naomi Westwater, “Americana”

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Artist: Naomi Westwater
Hometown: Brockton, Massachusetts
Song: “Americana”
Album: Feelings
Release Date: September 3, 2021

In Their Words: “‘Americana’ is a song about race and pain. It’s a song about being in the in-between. This is a song for multiracial Americans — for every person who’s been asked, ‘What are you?’ This is for the people who are white, and Black, and brown all at once, and at the same time never white, or Black, or brown enough. This is my love letter to America, I think we need to break up? This song is me asking, post-racial America? For who?” — Naomi Westwater

Photo credit: blahnik x westwater

WATCH: Andrea von Kampen, “Water Flowing Downward”

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Artist: Andrea von Kampen
Hometown: Lincoln, Nebraska
Song: “Water Flowing Downward”
Album: That Spell
Release Date: August 6, 2021
Label: Fantasy Records

In Their Words: “The way I approached the writing of this song was different than usual. I wrote the lyrics one afternoon to an old hymn tune called ‘Beach Spring.’ I had just watched the film Parasite and was feeling restless to create and get my thoughts out and these tumbled out but I knew the hymn tune never really worked. I filed it all away and four months later my brother David and I thought about co-writing the last song on the record and I remembered these lyrics. I sent them over and by early July we had our song. I love the moodiness of the piano and strings and the sound of a perpetual movement.” — Andrea von Kampen

Photo credit: Mark Cluney

WATCH: Nathaniel Rateliff Adds a String Quartet to “And It’s Still Alright”

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Nathaniel Rateliff’s And It’s Still Alright album is the product of a tumultuous time in the writer’s life, but such are the circumstances that yield the most compelling songs, records, and artistic expressions. In this NPR Tiny Desk (Home) Concert filmed at the Mercury Café in Denver, Rateliff performs several songs from the 2020 record, including the title track and “All or Nothing,” a more wistful selection. Since the Tiny Desk shows have reformatted to accommodate for safety, the features have frequently been scaled-back performances, often filmed in the homes of the artists, but in this case, Rateliff adds his band and a string quartet to the studio-like space. The surroundings may not be as iconic as the actual Tiny Desk, but we’re thankful that artists are going above and beyond to give us outstanding mini concerts. This Tiny Desk set is no different, and like the album, it crescendos gradually from an atmospheric, ponderous beginning to a triumphant, boisterous finale with the songs “Redemption” and “Mavis.”

Photo credit: Rett Rogers

WATCH: Jeremy Squires, “Fade”

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Artist: Jeremy Squires
Hometown: New Bern, North Carolina
Song: “Fade”
Album: UNRAVEL
Release Date: July 30, 2021
Label: Blackbird Record Label

In Their Words: “‘Fade’ is about facing yourself and revisiting memories and/or demons and coming to terms with them. There were so many things going through my head when I wrote this song. My grandmother had passed and my life was changing and the people around me were changing and spiraling. I was faced with difficult life choices I had to make and this song was an outlet.

“The video for ‘Fade’ was filmed at various locations in my hometown and in a small neighboring town. I filmed multiple scenes in my granny’s old home that she left to me. I feel the lyrics reflect the imagery in the video. I filmed a specific scene as I burned a life’s worth of papers and collected memories outside in her yard one night with an old crutch and it was cathartic. ‘Fade’ is one of my favorite videos and I feel that it is one of the best songs on the album. It is definitely one that I am connected to.” — Jeremy Squires

Photo credit: Shelley Ann Squires

LISTEN: Beta Radio, “I Need My Prayers”

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Artist: Beta Radio
Hometown: Wilmington, North Carolina
Song: “I Need My Prayers”
Album: Year of Love
Release Date: June 11, 2021
Label: Nettwerk Music Group

In Their Words: “It usually takes us long stretches of time to write songs, we normally feel great if we can write and record a whole record in a year, so ‘I Need My Prayers’ was a real surprise when it came about. When writing, Brent and I will usually share audio files back and forth, so he sent me a lyric-less guitar demo… I listened to it once, and then played it again while recording on my phone, and then the song lyrics just came out. I think it was all done within 15 minutes maybe. I was in a mental and spiritual place of needing something to hold onto, I felt like I had lost all my footing in the world and didn’t know where to turn. And a lot of personal things felt like they were falling apart. So… I guess I just needed my prayers.” — Benjamin Mabry, Beta Radio

Photo credit: Amanda Holloman

WATCH: Lea Thomas, “Hummingbird”

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Artist: Lea Thomas
Hometown: Born in Hawaii, based in Brooklyn
Song: “Hummingbird”
Release Date: May 26, 2021
Label: Spirit House Records

In Their Words: “‘Hummingbird’ was inspired by a dream I had in which I shape-shifted into a white wolf and ran like the wind across a mountainside, overwhelmed with the beauty and the interconnectedness of all life. I knew from the start that I wanted the song and the video to feel similarly ecstatic, like a celebration of life and a reminder of how psychedelic and magical everyday life can be. I’m especially in love with the way the horn and slide guitar duets turned out for that reason. This is the first record I’ve arranged for horns and that instrumental section still gets me so excited every time I hear it!” — Lea Thomas

Photo credit: Hannah Rosa Lewis Lopes