Our weekly fix of the best new music as Julia Mason (aka The Decibel Decoder) brings us her reviews of new music with singles from Monobloc Where Is My Garden and DARA DUBH with Haquin void
Artist: Monobloc
Track: Where Is My Garden
New York City's Monobloc share their debut single Where Is My Garden, accompanied by a monochrome video self-directed by the band. Monobloc have been borne out of the city's underground booming DIY scene. The band are led by friends vocalist Timothy Waldron and Michael Silverglade on bass, alongside Zack Pockrose on drums, and guitarists Ben Scofield and Nina Lüders.
With Where Is My Garden there is a hint of a swagger and confidence of a band who appear to know themselves well. The vocal is expressive and impassioned, layering on top with the instrumentation all shimmering guitar riffs as well as a number of undefinable sounds which add to the intrigue around this track. There is a midsection devoted to those guitars and the accompanying drumbeat, but it's the vocals that take the lead.
Michael had the following to say about the single: "I wrote the guitar riff years ago, long before Monobloc was even a thing. We’ve never had more iterations of a single song idea, it just never came together. Yet I persevered, and after we wrote the first couple of Monobloc tracks, we dug up the old demo."
And Tim on its themes: "Attached to the main riff of the song was this chorus I really wanted to use but could never find a place where it made sense. “Where is my garden, where are my friends? Will it always feel like the end?” It was a great wide theme - a bit Springsteen and better yet, the closest I could legally get to saying “Where are your friends tonight.”
With an ever-growing live reputation across the US, Monobloc make their UK festival debut this August at London's All Points East in support of LCD Soundsystem, with a warm-up show planned a couple of days before at the capital's Sebright Arms. They'll also make a first trip to the EU to perform at Rock En Seine and Kalorama Festival later that month, and later in the year, they fly to Reykjavik for Iceland Airwaves and then onto Mexico for Corona Capital.
Monobloc Live Dates
AUGUST
2 NEW YORK Pete's Candy Store (debut NYC headliner)
21 LONDON Sebright Arms (debut UK performance)
23 LONDON All Points East (w/ LCD Soundsystem)
25 PARIS Rock En Seine (debut EU performance)
29 LISBON Kalorama Festival
31 MADRID Kalorama Festival
NOVEMBER
8 REYKJAVIK Iceland Airwaves
15 MEXICO CITY Corona Capital
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Artist: DARA DUBH with Haquin
Track: void
Northern Irish harpist DARA DUBH (pronounced “doo”) is now firmly embedded in Scotland's music scene, challenging the idea of an instrument often associated with traditional music.
Her new single void began as a simple riff and chords. Approaching producer and multi-instrumentalist Haquin with the idea of creating a drum and bass inspired track, together they explored how to blend Celtic harp with electronic music to craft something a little different. The result is the instrumental void, a whirling soundscape which seamlessly ebbs and flows between the gentile harp and the bounce of drum and bass with its electronic beats. It's a credit to the artistry of these individuals that the two worlds blend beautifully here, creating a soundscape to lose oneself in, and to play over and over.
DARA expands on the influence of the harp: “The harp is at the forefront of all the music I create. It was important for me to release an instrumental track, of a different genre and feel, to show people the versatility of an instrument that I am so passionate about.”
She has released two tracks since October, and has been selected as JBL & Martin Garrix Music Academy’s top 10 artists in the UK, played live on BBC Radio Scotland and selected for Scotland’s Off the Record showcase. It will be fascinating to see what DARA DUBH does next.
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