Music & Vocals by Yify Zhang
Produced by Julian Pollack
Chinese Lyrics by Jason Sheng http://www.yifyzhang.com/
Photo by: Cory Antiel Productions
Yify (ee-fee) is an artist of cinematic alternative music. Her sound is a combination of classical composition roots and a songwriting style that cuts away at personal, often difficult, life experiences. Her music is lush, heartfelt, and sits somewhere between pop sensation SIA, to singer songwriter Sara Bareilles, to instrumental composer Max Richter.
Born in the metropolis of Beijing, Yify began her musical journey on the violin at the age of five and pursued a violin performance degree from UNC. A spinal injury in the neck however, prevented a profession in classical violin. It was around this time that she dove into composition and wrote over 500 short piano pieces in 3 years. Despite still completing a degree in violin performance, she found herself in a lucrative business career shortly after graduation; however, after a few years of soul searching, she came to realize the only calling for her is music.
Yify began to song-write and navigate the music industry since 2015. Inspired by a range of artists from songwriters such as Sara Bareilles, Sia, and Bon Iver to instrumental composers Max Richter, Nils Frahm, and Olafur Arnalds, Yify considers herself a songwriter first and composer second. In 2017, she had her first professional recognition when her debut single, "Morning Sun", was selected as a semi-finalist in the International Songwriting Competition.
Yify makes music to heal herself, and along the way she hopes others as well. She is inspired by art that cuts to the core of matters of life in a deeply personal way and aspires to make music as such.
Hello, Wendy! - "Revolution"
words: Yumiko Ohno, Mariko Shimbori /
music: Yumiko Ohno from the album - "No.9"
0530 cd & digital release (japan)
0530 digital release (worldwide)
Charlotte Morris - To New York, with love EP · 2018
Charlotte is a New York-based actor|composer and a recent graduate of Northwestern University.
While at school, she received a B.S. Theatre, a Minor in Business, and Certificates in Marketing and Musical Theatre. When not performing in shows, Charlotte sang with her a cappella group, the X-Factors, and co-chaired The Waa-Mu Show.
Aside from performing, Charlotte enjoys eating, playing with puppies and watching superhero TV shows. She is a vegetarian, which basically means she just eats carbs. Her favorite kind of cheese is goat. One time, Charlotte was attacked by a monkey. It was one of the greatest moments of her life.
Available on iTunes:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/to-new-york-with-love-ep/1387156784
THE WAiiT is a Taiwan neo psychedelic rock band founded by Fred (Zhong Fo Xian) and Lili (Zeng Xain Li) in 2016. The group began as a home recording project. Fred writes, records, produces the music. Lili provides insight and inspiration, artwork and makes music videos. As a touring act, the project consists of Fred (guitar, vocals), Lili (bass, vocals), Sherry (drums).
THE WAiiT - Shadow, Lyrics
Stand on the barren mountain
Imagine blooming flowers
Even if the sun is shining snow is still float down
Wind pats me on the shoulder
I feel like a stranger
Even if we forget how to smile there’s a pretence
No one can hear you screaming
Be a mummer acting
Look for shadows who knows I tell a lie
Out of control if you close your eyes
This place’s overcrowded
waves travel to the ocean
Some ride other to be strong for living
You told me don’t believe my friend
I couldn’t feel that meaning
Until Distorted voice round every corner
Prefacing her initiation into both local and international music scenes, Singaporean indie-electronic artist Linying released her first single, Sticky Leaves, landing on Spotify's viral charts: globally, in the US and the UK, before receiving her worldwide premiere on Billboard – a curious step out of the tiny island-state, though arguably not her first.
Before this, Linying's beginnings in music were enabled by the modern-day offerings of long-distance collaboration, and she soon began working with some of European house music's newest, biggest names. Over 20 million hits, a feature at Coachella and a #1 later, she began priming her own songs for viewing. Now, the Spotify Spotlight on 2016 Featured Artist and latest Universal Music Singapore signing is breaking into the indie-alternative consciousness on her own, showcasing a brand of moving lyricism and vivid music production in songs that reveal a stark emotional perspective through elements of electronica, baroque pop, folk, and alt-rock. With an overseas live debut at Tokyo's prestigious Summer Sonic Festival and a string of tour and festival dates across Europe, Asia, and Australia this year, Linying is fast establishing herself as one of the most promising and exciting acts coming out of Asia.
TALL ORDER Lyrics
back then it was a riot, lighting mercy in your soul
a courtesy while tired of yourself and who you know
but now that i'm just as bad i'm telling two times as many lies
a salve made of my saving i now can't look in the eye
but they keep coming, and i'm half a year away; sometimes it's something
make me covered in colour so i can start looking the same
give me taller of an order so i can feel giving again
take me farther and farther and find me something to say
come awake in england, i'm not your friend
i'm not a miracle and i'm not the end
now with your candid disposition, you'll get you off the hook
while anything in a pitiful position and i don't know where to look
so now i'm running, and i give it different names; most times it's nothing
make me covered in colour so i can start looking the same
give me taller of an order so i can feel giving again
take me farther and farther and find me something to say
cause everybody knows now, what a spoiled slate
what a sweet thinker that you're devastating
who can't stop complaining, who won't give a goddamn gift until she's given something so sickened that it can tell her how to live
make me covered in colour so i can start looking the same
give me taller of an order so i can feel giving again
take me farther and farther and find me something to say
The Aftergreens - A little sad... but kinda rad? - Album · 2018
Hailing from Minneapolis, Minnesota, this three piece has plenty of experience when it comes to playing music. Heavily influenced by pop punk giants Blink-182, guitarist Adam Baumann and bassist Eric Wigham formed their very first punk band, “No Pun Intended” in 2009. After several line up changes, the band dismantled and Eric formed a new band, “Take the Hint”, from the remains. Upon losing the drummer of TTH, Eric recruited drummer Jordan Narloch. Again, after years of playing together, the band dismantled. Both of the bands had specialized in cover songs, but towards the end of TTH’s career, they had began writing songs as well.
Jordan and Adam had been scheming for some time to form a band together over their mutual love of Death Cab for Cutie amongst other bands. Now that the opportunity had presented itself, the two decided it was finally time to pursue the project. They realized pretty quickly that a two piece was a difficult arrangement, so after some thought, they recruited mutual friend Eric to join the band. Then known as “No Action”, The Aftergreens officially formed in 2014.
The following years presented many challenges, each member graduated high school, Jordan went off to college and Eric moved to Minneapolis. Although the busy schedules, the members still managed to find time to hang out and scheme about music. They established a style that is best described as indie/emo surf rock, influenced by bands such as The Vaccines, Modern Baseball, and Death Cab for Cutie. The band strives to write engaging, thought provoking lyrics hidden behind a wall of catchy instrumentation so that the music can be enjoyed at face value, but can also be analyzed on a deeper level.
Fast forward to 2017, the pressure was on to perform and get the name out there. Up until this time, the band mainly focused on writing and finishing songs that Adam had written in his free time. The catalogue was very large, and the band needed to record and distribute the music. Finally in October 2017, the band self-released their debut EP, A Portion of an Empty Promise EP, consisting of 7 acoustic tracks. Shortly after in November, they, again, self-released their single, “I can hear my light.”, featuring 3 songs, totaling 7 minutes, and included a full band line up this time.
Since the release of their two EPs, the band has been busy booking house shows and local bars and venues to expand their fan base. They are also working on a full length album featuring many non-recorded songs that are favorites live, and a collection of new songs as well.
From Denver to NC, Atlanta to Portland, Meekha is a beautiful blend of heritage, personality and talent. Her father is from Nepal, her mother from St. Louis, and she is the only girl amongst three brothers. She will gladly sing for you on cue, but that wasn’t always the case.
“I have been singing for as long as I can remember, though I was shy to tell anyone until I finally asked to start vocal lessons in high school,” she tells.
She is currently preparing to release her debut EP, which was written with producers Matthew Heath and Gray Griggs The sound? Well, let’s just describe it as Stevie Nicks-ish emotive with a Tove-Lo groove. To anyone who knows her, this is no surprise—she is equal parts pop and classic rock fanatical, with favorite artists including Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Bob Marley, Fleetwood Mac, Jon Bellion, Ariana Grande, and Sia.
When asked what her hopes for her upcoming music are, she replied, “I hope to be able to reach people's souls and make them feel like they can connect with me and that they belong somewhere. I want to help make people feel heard and understood, which is what music has always done for me.”
She paints a portrait of that connection as she tells the story of hearing The Beatles, “Blackbird,” for the first time. She still gets chills recounting it, but will dive into a fit of giggles the next, cutting up with anyone around.
If she’s not in the studio singing, she can likely be found traveling, cooking up a new vegan dish, or pulling out her old jump shot. A little known fact—she used to dream of being in the WNBA but felt she was too short.
Fiffi, Amy Winehouse - Love is a Losing Game | Cover by Fiffi
Fiffi, Ray Charles - Georgia On My Mind | Cover by Fiffi
Fiffi is the solo monikor for singer-songwriter Safir Lackgren, a musician based in Bangkok, Thailand.
Growing up in a musical family in Thailand, Safir's early experiences with music included being a member of her family band Smooth Barrage, who performed around Thailand, in Bangkok and in Sweden.
That ended when Safir settled in Europe to continue her education, putting her musical goals on hold. But now back in Bangkok, Safir is ready to pursue the dream yet again, working towards creating original music and organizing regular performances around town.
London-based trio Value Void are announcing the release of the lovesick mid-tempo gem 'Back in the Day,' in anticipation of their debut LP, expected later in the year on Tough Love. The trio is comprised of Paz Maddio (guitar, vocal), Marta Zabala (drums), and Luke Tristram (bass); three friends with longstanding bar experience and active roles in the London DIY scene, having also played in Los Cripis, Major Malfunction and COP.
Photo by Simon Marsham
‘Back in the Day’ is a look-back to an ambiguous object of fascination. Tense verses, in which the riff itself sounds as though it's itching a memory, give way to an understated yet instantly memorable chorus. As is characteristic of their sound, it’s a marvel of songwriting economy, meshing a clear pop sensibility with a DIY punk tone that brains you with its precision.
The narrator - conjured by Marta’s lyrics and conducted through Paz’s expressive vocal - puzzles then un-puzzles herself, as she turns over an old romantic counterpart in her mind, on the premise that they 'are just this weird game,' and concluding uncertainly that 'without any rules I don't want to play'.
Harnessing an outsized power in the way of the best punk rock three-pieces, Value Void nonetheless do so with a minimum of sonic prosthetics, recording live to tape with Euan Hinshelwood at TVT studios in Blackheath, relying on a stripped-down amplification of their ideas and esoteric technique.
Here's a compilation of my live music showcase snippets taken during my official music concert at South By Southwest Music Festival (#SXSW) in Austin, Texas in March 2018.
Special thanks and lots of love: Thank you Redza and Karen for this full live video and for coming especially Mr Brown (@mrbrown on instagram!), Justin & friends, music partners from TuneCore and all the audiences, Roy from Institute of Arts & Sciences (IAS), Cat from AceChamps, Leonard from Snakeweed Studios, Bas from singaporegigs, Mike Spinks from City65 Music, my NO15E music mentors Randolf and Vanessa aka Vandetta, my beautiful hosts Lanna and Lalo, my sweetest companion and moral crew Sean Joseph Tan, all the SXSW crew and the wonderful artists I've met and you, the amazing folks behind all of these action for donating to my fundraiser and making all these possible!
With over 15 years of music and songwriting experience, Fym Summer has since released 2 EPs entitled Heart (2015) and Luna (2017) as well as 2 singles, Truth (2016) and July (2015). These records have received numerous positive feedback from renowned music critics such as Kevin Matthews, and have been featured on radio stations 938Live and Lush 99.5FM.
In 2015, Fym Summer was featured as one of the singer-songwriters in Noise Singapore by National Arts Council (NAC). During this music mentorship programme, she worked with veteran musical artists such as singer-DJ Vanessa Fernandez (Vandetta), guitarist Randolf Arriola, and Leonard Soosay from Snakeweed Studios.
In 2016, she travelled to London to perform her works at the Royal Academy of Music. That same year, Fym Summer became a part of the UN Women's 16 Days Of Activism campaign, which strove to galvanize action to end violence against women, and delivered riveting performances of her own songs Truth and This Girl. Fym Summer was also a part of the CITY65 Music’s “The Living Room Sessions”, which was featured on The Straits Times and JUICE magazine.
She recorded her sophomore EP Luna in 2017 with a local music producer and continues to perform at various music featured shows and events. She’s also a registered artist of The Composers and Authors Society of Singapore (COMPASS).
Fym Summer is the only Singaporean musical artist invited to perform at the renowned South By Southwest (SXSW) Music Festival in Texas in March this year. She has also been invited to perform at Canada’s Music Week (CMW) in Toronto in May. https://www.fymsummer.com/
Cosmic Wink is out May 11th - nearly seven years to the day after playing her first solo show — another quiet synchronicity. “I don’t feel like I’ve made it,” she says. “I feel like I’ve opened the door and walked through it.” On the other side? Everything the light chooses to illuminate.
Cosmic Wink tracklist:
01 “I See The White”
02 “Awakening, Baby”
03 “White Bird”
04 “Wild Rain”
05 “Thunder Song”
06 “Mama Proud”
07 “Dream State”
08 “Forever”
09 “Love On The Piano”
Jess Williamson - Wild Rain [Official Video]
Jess Williamson - I See The White [Official Video]
In 2016, after living in Austin on and off for a decade, she left her home state of Texas for California. Deeply inspired by the move to Los Angeles and the bliss of new love, she rented a back house from an actor friend who was away on a movie and started writing the songs that eventually became Cosmic Wink. As she wrote, her beloved dog Frankie began going gray with old age.
All three of these seemingly dissimilar streams intersected to give Cosmic Wink a unified sound and feel. The openness of LA — and confronting the downbeat nature of her older songs while performing to hushed European crowds — challenged her supposition that “heartache, depression, and sadness” were “the only way to make interesting music,” as she puts it.
“You’re asking a lot if you expect an audience to be completely silent during your set and listen to every word. I started thinking about performing as something that could be fun, and having a good time playing with a band live, making songs that could be relatable to all kinds of people. I want my mom and her friends to like this album as much as someone with super obscure taste — and I don’t think they’re mutually exclusive.”
Meanwhile, watching Frankie fade into old age gave her a new appreciation of the passage of time — and inspired the album’s opening song, “I See the White.” “I noticed the graying of the fur around her eyes,” Williamson says, “and I realized that she was a physical manifestation of the passing of time, and it was heartbreaking. It’s so easy to act like we have all the time in the world, to feel immortal or invincible.”
It’s that last realization that gives Cosmic Wink its paradoxically joyful center — the sense that time is slipping out of our grasp not only broke her heart, but also gave her a new sense of gratitude for the possibility inherent in the time she was afforded, and an attendant love for life and the people around her.
Throughout the album’s nine songs, Williamson’s love spills from her, readily, in poetic exhalations. “This love predates my name and my face and my age,” she sings in “Awakening, Baby.” “I can feel your heart / Or is it mine / Or is it ours?” She and her partner weave together in a kind of cosmic enmeshment — now they’re one person, now they’re two again — but she always sounds like an individual in possession of herself.
“When I left Austin and went to LA, I started to take my process more seriously,” she says. “I took my art more seriously. I didn’t have a normal job or a lot of friends when I first got to LA, so I just spent all day alone in that house writing. I got really into Carl Jung and working with my dreams. The title of the record is a reference to the Jungian concept of synchronicity and learning to live in a more magical way, looking for signs — which is maybe silly to some people, but it was working for me. And in a way, the record itself became a validation of the risks I was taking.”
Which isn’t to say that it came easy. Frankie died exactly one month before recording was set to begin. Williamson had decamped to Lockhart, TX, to write and rehearse with her band. Unable to work, she pasted a series of portraits on her wall — people she “wanted to think of as guardian angels,” as she puts it. Chan Marshall, Nina Simone, Townes Van Zandt, Patti Smith, and Leonard Cohen all served as icons. So did Frankie. And so did RF Shannon’s Shane Renfro — her bandmate of four years and the partner with whom she’d found herself so intertwined.
Her relationship with Renfro prompted a series of questions that she explores throughout Cosmic Wink, even as she marvels at the joy that love has brought her: “How much time do I have with this person? What’s going to happen after we die? Where will we go? Will you be there with me?”
She invited Renfro to collaborate on Cosmic Wink with her, as the producer. “It was the first time I was really willing to take a back seat to that process,” she says. “Shane and I had already been working together for so many years, and I wanted this album to be a marriage of our strengths.” Along with co-producer Dan Duszynski, Renfro slowly peels back Williamson’s songs, getting at their essence with a tender grace.
The music is appealingly swampy, occasionally static in ways that recalls Amen Dunes and the spectral spin of Alice Coltrane, until Williamson’s voice bursts through the circle in an ecstatic push. The songs unfold slowly, but her intimate delivery and the minute explorations of her band draw you into the details. She asks her subject to suspend their fixation on the passage of time in “Forever,” and she’s asking us to do so, too — come and get lost and see what you can see.
Cosmic Wink was recorded in Dripping Springs, TX, at Duszynski’s property, where the band lived, worked, and cooked meals together for a week, with occasional breaks for wildflower gathering and loops through the cedar-spotted woods. Working from an intuitive feeling that it would take her seven years to establish herself musically, Williamson released her first two albums on her own Brutal Honest label, and intended to do the same with Cosmic Wink before signing to Mexican Summer.
Combining production and musicianship to bring a refreshing sound to the electronic music scene, At.Play (Eli Mueller & Ben Litwin) is an exciting new duo based out of Denver, CO. Inspired by Bonobo, Chet Faker, and Anderson .Paak, At.Play seeks to bring grit and soul to their lush, downtempo electronic sound. True music fanatics, the downtempo soul duo are innovators in the scene and are constantly pushing the bounds of live performance.
Their first EP, Introducing, is a window into the sound they are pioneering. Blending soulful vocals, live instrumentation, progressive synth sounds, and creative drum grooves, At.Play’s desire to push electronic music forward is clear. They have a single in the works coming out in the next couple of months they are excited to get to your ears, be on the lookout! @ Taylor Lavelle, soulsinaction.com
Amrita Soon started creating music as a way to drift out from the chaos of life and has since garnered a small following online and also through her live performances. She has performed on local radio and TV stations and raised her own funds to travel to Nashville, where she was a featured performer at various songwriters’ nights and performed alongside the likes of Ella Mae Bowen and Lance Carpenter. Amrita released her first EP ‘Clues’ in December 2014 and her song ‘Goodbye’ has been included in the compilation album ‘Rock for Ronan’ which aimed to raise funds in support of research on childhood cancers.
Random song upload because I haven't been posting much lately (sorry!). I got asked to write a song for a short film recently about a girl being trapped in a room her whole life. She dreams of a day she would be able to get out and see the world. This was my first time writing for someone else to sing, and I really enjoyed the experience. Thanks for watching, and I hope you like it!
Lyrics:
Why oh why can’t I be free Like the birds that fly over me Standing in the darkness The walls are closing in on me Say its just a bad dream Wake me from reality Someday, someday It will all be over I’ll start again Far away The world’s so big I could be anything Maybe I could be a princess Spinning in a sparkly dress You could take my hand And we’d dance ourselves out of this mess I’ll run away On a yellow brick road Oh I’m gonna go Someday
Ruby Jubilee is the self-titled debut collaboration of Tareq Abuissa and S.H2O
Music and Lyrics by Tareq Abuissa
Produced and Mastered by S.H2O
Recorded by Oliver Ignatius at Holy Fang Studios in Brooklyn, NY
Art by Kim Young and Steven Kyle Cook
Tareq Abuissa: vocals, cello, bass guitar, acoustic guitar, piano
Jacob Sunshine: electric guitar
Phil McNeal: drums
Maximillian Zooi: bass clarinet
Diana Flanagan: vocals
S.H2O: synthesizer, keyboards
Corey Dansereau: trumpet
Andy Clausen: trombone
