New Music: Ft. Tamera, Frost, Will Varley and Skies
New tracks from the most musically productive county in the country right now, writes Rob Hakimian
We have added all tracks to the ‘cene #KeepitKent Spotify Playlist HERE
Tamera - Strong For Me
Instagram: @tamera
Tamera got the fire started at the dawn of summer with her fiery and flirtatious Wickedest, and now she’s bringing it to a gradual close with the sultry new slow burner Strong For Me. Aside from the arc of summer, Strong For Me was also inspired by the trajectory of an intimate relationship: “This song came at the end of a long road of transformation,” she says. “It was inspired by all the grit we have to go through to get from hard times back to the good ones and how closed off it can make us towards those who are closest to us.”
While she remains cool in the verses, resting against the languishing guitars, that frustration and “grit” comes out in moments where she feels like she’s the only one showing enough emotion and dedication: “I’m so tired of being the only one to fight.” Ultimately, she decides “I’m comfortably in love with me,” and whoever this song is about must be left feeling like an idiot.
FROST - 0oo00o0o - Clavè C
Instagram: @dalefrostmusic
Last month, we introduced you to Tonbridge drummer and producer FROST, who is embarking on an ambitious project called Perm Octo Clave Induction Set, a set of 10 experimental tracks to be released in pairs. Today, he shares the second pair, Clavè C and Clavè D, and strikes a new level of accessibility for this odd project.
On Clavè C, his use of whimsical synths is inviting, reminiscent of the kind of evocative background music used on a fantastical animation. As the light but rigorous drumming clicks in, this image starts to shift, and it feels like setting off through an enchanted forest, spirits whooping out amidst the distant trees. With the addition of more bell-like tones and spattering drums, it feels like emerging into a bright, sun-drenched clearing.
Clavè D again uses synths and drums, but in a plinking, grooving way that transports you somewhere more tropical. That FROST can create such evocative soundscapes with minimal instrumentation is testament to the precision of his work and artistry.
If you’re still on the fence, just take a look at the beautifully hand-lathed 5” records he’s crafted for each individual track, and see if you can deny that you want to listen to whatever it has inside.
Will Varley - Live Again
Instagram: @willvarleymusic
By now a fixture in the Kent folk scene, Will Varley is building towards the release of his new album The Hole Around My Head this October. His first in three years, Varley self-produced the album in his makeshift studio on the coast, and will release through Yellow Cake, a new record label established by producer Cameron McVey (Massive Attack, Portishead, Sugababes), who has deemed the songwriter “the Springsteen of his generation.”
Echoes of the Boss can certainly be heard in latest single Live Again, a stripped-back acoustic number that finds Varley observing “the rhythms our lives take on, the ebb and flow of anxiety and relief.” There’s a quiet desperation to the song, a gutsiness that comes through in Varley’s voice and lyrics, emphasised by the lo-fi quality of the recording. Despite its modest sound, there’s a grit and palpable heart to Live Again, especially as he describes the kinds of characters we all recognise, and comes to the resounding hook where he simply repeats the titular phrase like someone desperate to remind themselves of the main reason to keep pushing through the dour times.
SKIES - Heroine
Instagram: @skiesbanduk
Sometimes the biggest feelings need the fewest words. That’s something that Folkestone duo SKIES have tapped into on their latest, Heroine, a song about the pain of watching people pass on, and the desire to have the power to stop it. “I’d save everyone if I could” is the mantra that vocalist Alie Albury returns to throughout the song, becoming more determined each time.
Heroine begins as a spectral acoustic-and-voice track, but to mirror the growing desire and belief in her voice, SKIES gradually build the song into a gliding, arms-open indie anthem with crashing cymbals, powerful harmonies and delicate synths. By the end, the repeated refrain has become so powerful, that, for a minute, you believe that SKIES actually do have the power to save everyone.
