Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Sights and Sounds: Nobody's Girl, Kingdom Collapse, Lonely Robot

Here is a roundup of some news that has landed in my inbox over the last few days. I hope all of you are staying well out there! Robert Kinsler


Austin trio Nobody's Girl demonstrates the power of three, bridging the gap between indie folk and pop
Americana/folk-pop supergroup featuring acclaimed singer-songwriters
 BettySoo, Rebecca Loebe, and Grace Pettis to release
 self-titled full-length debut February 5, 2021 on Lucky Hound Music
 
American Songwriter debuted the video for new single “Tiger”: https://tinyurl.com/ycezdybr

Pettis says the band “wrote ‘Tiger’ for those of us trying to keep it together;
keep our emotions and our “crazy” at bay, knowing we’re ‘just one reason away’ from losing that control
There are plenty of songs about getting angry and responding with aggression. And there are plenty of songs about taking it easy
and not letting anything bother you. ‘Tiger’ is not either of them."




AUSTIN, Texas — “We always joke that it started out by accident,” offers singer-songwriter (and former Voice contestant) Rebecca Loebe when asked about the fortuitous aligning of stars that officially brought her and fellow Austin-based troubadours BettySoo and Grace Pettis together as Nobody's Girl. “Well, actually, Grace and I like to joke that we tricked BettySoo into being in a band with us ...” 
 
BettySoo, sitting across the table from her two bandmates at a post-rehearsal Tex-Mex dinner, laughs at this, but Grace is quick to correct the record. “It’s not really a joke, though,” she insists with a mischievous grin. “It’s true!”
 
But why split hairs? Whether it was sparked by happy accident or some manner of sly master plan, the magic of that union was undeniable from the get-go. That three of the loveliest voices in Americana and contemporary folk music could complement each other so beautifully might have been a given, but it was the songs they wrote together — songs unlike any of them had ever or probably would ever write on their own — that really made Nobody’s Girl, well, sing.
 
“In a lot of ways, I think of Nobody’s Girl as a super fun project that lets us blow off steam, because it gives us a whole different channel to tap into," says Rebecca. “But most of all, I’m always really moved by the power of what we're able to access as a trio: just the power of three voices onstage together, carrying the same message.”
 
They’ve carried that message for the better part of two whirlwind years, playing more than a 100 shows together from Texas to Ireland in support of a 2018 EP, Waterline, and a handful of singles released late last year. But that “power of three” they share has never been stronger than it is now, and it’s captured like bottled lightning on the trio's strikingly assertive — and yes, striking fun, too— full-length debut: Nobody's Girl, releasing on digital, CD, and vinyl through Lucky Hound Music on February 5, 2021.
 
Recorded in September of 2019 and January of this year at Lucky Hound’s own state-of-the-art Studios at Fischer campus in the Texas Hill Country, the new album found Nobody’s Girl once again working with Michael Ramos, the Grammy-winning producer who helmed Waterline. The sessions also reunited — and expanded — the veritable dream team of Austin talent that played on the EP. “Michael brought in so many great players for this record, it’s kind of insane,” marvels Rebecca. In addition to Ramos on percussion and keyboards and the formidable rhythm section of bassist Glenn Fukunaga and drummers J.J. Johnson and Conrad ChoucrounNobody’s Girl features arguably the deepest roster of Texas guitar heroes this side of a classic Joe Ely or Arc Angels record: Charlie Sexton, David Grissom, and David Pulkingham.
 
Of course, as road-seasoned (and in the case of BettySoo and Rebecca, classically trained and Berklee educated, respectively) musicians themselves, BettySoo, Rebecca, and Grace can certainly hold their own with the best of the best; they’re a lean-and-mean touring trio with, as solo artists, more than 15 albums among them. But it’s the gorgeous sound of their voices, be they harmonizing as one or trading leads with the graceful, elegant precision of aerial silk dancers, that's clearly the main event. Well, that and the revelatory nature of the songs themselves. Lyrically, their co-writes can be as heavy and introspective as anything eachof these three Kerrville “New Folk” winners have ever shared with a listening room or festival audience of serious Americana/folk fans. But the energy throughout the album leans decidedly more rock, with buoyant melodies and catchy choruses that often as not move the needle clear into the straight-up pop zone. It’s a disarmingly delightful turn that BettySoo playfully calls “bubblicious.”
 
“By that, I don’t mean that it’s flaky or light,” she explains, “because I think our songwriting instincts are all honed from the folk world. But I do think that the textures we tap into when we write together for Nobody's Girl are definitely more pop.”
 
“And, I don’t think there’s anything bad about that!” adds Grace. “I think for some people, ‘pop’ is almost like a dirty word — especially in a town like Austin that’s all about ‘serious’music with integrity. But sometimes something fun is good in its own right. The kind of songs I want to write are the ones that have something to say, but that also make your foot tap and that you want to play really loud in your car and sing along to. And in a lot of ways, those songs are a lot harder to write, at least for me. But as a band, I think we are able to really do that sometimes. I don’t know what it is about the combination of our different backgrounds that brings that out, though, and it actually really surprised us when we started recording that EP two years ago. We were all going, like, ‘Oh, wow — these are pop songs!’”
 
The record features a cover of Carole King’s ‘So Far Away,” from 1971’s immortal Tapestry. Let’s just say the piano made them do it. As in the very same piano that King herself played on the original recording of “So Far Away” — and the whole rest of Tapestry, too. It was the same piano that was also used on Joni Mitchell’s Blue— and that now just happens to be proudly owned and homed by Studios at Fischer. And although it was actually Ramos, the producer, who played the piano on the album, just knowing that the instrument so prominently featured on two of the most iconic singer-songwriter records of all time can now be heard on theirrecord, too, is a thrill in itself for all three women in Nobody’s Girl.
 
“I mean, we’re all fans of both of Tapestry and Blue, so for as long as we’ve known that that piano was there, we dreamed about recording a song from one of those albums,” says BettySoo. “We daydreamed about just letting that piano sing through one of those songs again — and about having an album that would be a vehicle for that to happen.”
 
Nobody's Girl, the album, is a testament to the power of three strong independent songwriters with three strong voices coming together as one, carrying their message along the beauty way with a "bubblicious" roar like nobody else.  



Texas Rockers Kingdom Collapse reveal video for latest single, “Uprise”

Watch “Uprise” Now via Revolver

Texas hard rock quartet KINGDOM COLLAPSE has released a new track, “Uprise,” a song that perfectly captures the group’s ability to blend catchy radio hooks with their high-energy delivery. 


“We're excited to release the new single at this time with everything going on in the world,” says vocalist Jonathan Norris. “With what we’ve all endured globally with the recent pandemic, this is an anthem assuring the fact that we will not only recover but we will rise even stronger.”

Norris wrote “Uprise” with acclaimed songwriter Ted Bruner, who has penned such radio rock hits as “Porn Star Dancing” (My Darkest Days), “Fallen Angel” (Three Days Grace) and others. Not only was he involved in writing the song, but Norris produced the song all on his own. It’s not every day you have a front man who writes AND produces the songs from start to finish,” notes manager Aaron Smith. “That’s a big part of the magic that gives KINGDOM COLLAPSE their identity.”

KINGDOM COLLAPSE‘s sound - melodic, heavy riff-based rock – has garnered millions of streams of band’s music catalog across multiple music platforms. The band ended 2019 with their infectious single “Payback,” which got spins on Sirius/XM’s Octane and landed national press coverage.

2020 continues to be a huge year for KINGDOM COLLAPSE. With Jonathan Norris on vocals, Robert Flores on guitar, Blake Suarez on bass, and David Sanchez on drums, KINGDOM COLLAPSE plans to bring the “Uprise” to the masses this summer. 

For more of a taste of KINGDOM COLLAPSE, check out these additional videos:


KINGDOM COLLAPSE online:



Lonely Robot – announce new album ‘Feelings Are Good’





Lonely Robot, the project masterminded by producer, guitarist and singer/songwriter John Mitchell (Kino, Frost*, Arena, It Bites), is set to release its fourth album ‘Feelings Are Good’ on July 17th, 2020, a fresh start following the conclusion of the ‘The Astronaut Trilogy’.

John comments: “‘Feelings Are Good’ is a bit of a departure from the first three Lonely Robot albums or ‘The Astronaut Trilogy’ as it has now lovingly become known.  On ‘Feelings Are Good’, I wanted to explore more personal themes and the songs are very much about individual experiences and narratives that I believe had been the cornerstones, good and bad, to my life. The long tall and short of it is that we’re back on planet Earth, and I have a personal lyrical axe to grind!”

‘Feelings Are Good’ will be available as a Limited Edition CD Digipak, Gatefold 2LP+CD and as Digital Album in both 16 & 24 bit versions (all including 2 bonus tracks). The artwork is once again by Paul Tippett / Vitamin P (Black Star Riders, Frost*), and John says of the cover: "The artwork is meant to be a little disturbing. The closed eyes and taped over mouth are supposed to represent how people are very guarded with their emotions and what better way of emoting them than through the windows to the soul and the smile?"

The full track-listing is as follows:
1.Feelings Are Good
2.Into The Lo-Fi
3.Spiders
4.Crystalline
5.Life Is A Sine Wave
6.Armour For My Heart
7.Suburbia
8.The Silent Life
9.Keeping People As Pets
10.Army Of One
11.Grief Is The Price Of Love
12.The Silent Life (Orchestral Version)
13.Crystalline (Orchestral Version)

Lonely Robot will hit the road in December 2020 for some select headline dates, and you can find a list of those below:
Dec 13th  Islington Assembly Hall, London, UK
Dec 16th  Riff, Bochum, GER
Dec 17th  Das Rind, Rüsselsheim, GER
Dec 18th  Muziekgieterij, Maastricht, NL
Dec 20th  De Boerderij, Zoetermeer, NL

During the campaign for their acclaimed previous album ‘Under Stars’, a full animated film was created by Crystal Spotlight and screened at two very special cinema events in the UK. Now the full visual accompaniment is available to stream, and you can watch it now here: https://youtu.be/slyM9ZUzr6U

John comments: “It has always been an ambition of mine to have a full length visual accompaniment alongside an album of music I have written. With Under Stars and the help of Miles at Crystal Spotlight, this dream was finally realised last year. I'm very proud of the results and I'd like to thank Miles for all his hard work and patience in bringing this to fruition. I hope you enjoy it.”

John Mitchell is a man with a rich musical heritage and history - from musician and vocalist, to songwriter and producer. With bands like Arena, Frost*, Kino, It Bites and Lonely Robot, to name but a few, Mitchell has left his mark on the current progressive rock scene and has been involved in dozens of recordings. He is also a respected producer & mixer, running Outhouse Studios in the UK and working with artists as diverse as You Me At Six, Enter Shikari, Alter Bridge, Asia, Don Broco, Funeral For A Friend, McFly & much more.
 

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