The Grateful Dead - Box Of Rain / Brokedown Palace / Attics Of My Life / Ripple

American Beauty was the result of a prolific period of the songwriting partnership of Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter – one that yielded two studio albums in one year for the Grateful Dead. This was the only time the band would return to the studio so quickly. However, unlike the previous effort, where almost all the songs were written solely by the pair, the album saw more input from the rest of the band. Included are Phil Lesh's "Box of Rain" and Bob Weir's "Sugar Magnolia", both written with Hunter, and "Operator", Ron "Pigpen" McKernan's only singing-songwriting effort on a Grateful Dead studio album.
The album was produced after the discovery that the band's manager, Lenny Hart (father of drummer Mickey Hart), had renewed their contract with Warner Brothers Records without their knowledge, and then skipped town with a sizable chunk of the band's wealth. In between near-constant touring and gigging, recording began only a few months after the release of Workingman's Dead – without their regular sound crew, who were out on the road as part of the Medicine Ball Caravan tour (which the Dead were originally scheduled to join). Instead, studio staff engineer Stephen Barncard replaced Bob Matthews as producer – "a move that irks Matthews to this day" (Matthews had co-produced the band's two previous albums). Barncard also mused "I had heard bad stories about engineers' interactions with the Dead but what I found were a bunch of hardworking guys".
Both Workingman's Dead and American Beauty were innovative at the time for their fusion of bluegrass, rock and roll, folk, and, especially, country music. Lyricist Hunter commented "We went back into American folk tradition but, being experimenters, nothing would do but that we try to reinvent that." Compared to Workingman's Dead, American Beauty had even less lead guitar work from Jerry Garcia, who increasingly filled the void with pedal steel guitar. It was also during the recording of this album that Garcia first collaborated with mandolinist David Grisman, a friend who had recently relocated to California following the dissolution of Earth Opera. "I just bumped into Jerry at a baseball game in Fairfax, and he said, 'Hey, you wanna play on this record we're doing?'" commented Grisman, whose playing is heard on "Friend of the Devil" and especially "Ripple". Howard Wales, another musician from outside of the band, added keyboards to three songs. Drummer Bill Kreutzmann commented, "Wales came to us through Jerry, who played with him in side projects. [He] had done session work with James Brown and the Four Tops before we brought him in for American Beauty." MIT student Ned Lagin, a jazz pianist who had corresponded with the band after attending their 1969 New Year's Eve concert at the Boston Tea Party, also contributed piano to "Candyman". Lagin subsequently sat in with the band on occasion from 1970 to 1975.
Phil Lesh, in his autobiography Searching for the Sound, commented "the magnetism of the scene at Wally Heider's recording studio made it a lot easier for me to deal with [the loss of my father] and my new responsibilities. Some of the best musicians around were hanging there during that period; with Paul Kantner and Grace Slick from Jefferson Airplane, the Dead, Santana, Crosby, Nash, and Neil Young working there, the studio became jammer heaven. Thank the Lord for music; it's a healing force beyond words to describe."
Though both albums focused on Americana songcraft, Workingman's Dead mixed the grittier Bakersfield sound with the band's psychedelic roots, whereas the mostly-acoustic American Beauty focused more on major-key melodies and folk harmonies, evincing the influence of Dylan and studio neighbors/friends Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young. Kreutzmann later explained, "The singers in our band really learned a lot about harmonizing from Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, who had just released their seminal album Déjà Vu. Jerry played pedal steel... on that record. Stephen Stills lived at Mickey's ranch... and David Crosby enjoyed partying as much as we did. So our circles overlapped."
Crosby has demurred on this point: "Sometimes they have given us credit for teaching them how to sing and that's not true. They knew how to sing; they had their own style and they had the most important quality of it down already, which is tale-telling". However, he has also stated "The idea is – when you hang out with other musicians – to sort of cross-pollinate your idea streams, and that naturally happened between us on a level that was very rare. We would listen to what they were doing with time signatures and with breaking the rules, and it appealed to us a lot."  From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Beauty_(album)

 

The Magpie Arc - Wassail

Creation stories are rarely straightforward, and even the apparently simple task of getting a talented bunch of musicians together to record some songs is often fraught with setbacks. In The Magpie Arc’s case, the major problem was unavoidable: the band began its journey just as the Covid pandemic reared its head. This made the timeworn trajectory of recording, releasing and touring obsolete, for a while at least, and might have contributed to the decision to release the first twelve songs as three separate EPs. Everyone had to find new ways of working, even folk-rock supergroups.
And The Magpie Arc have certainly earned the right to call themselves a supergroup (even if, through modesty or a wish not to be associated with the word’s more bombastic connotations, they eschew that particular descriptor). The current line-up consists of award-winning Nancy Kerr (Vocals, fiddle and strings), world-renowned Martin Simpson (Vocals and electric guitars), Findlay Napier (Vocals, electric and acoustic guitars), the former Albion Band member Tom A Wright (Vocals, drums, percussion, keyboards, programming, electric, acoustic and pedal steel guitars), and Alex Hunter (Electric bass guitar) who doubles as the band’s manager.
Glamour In The Grey is their first full-length and the first chance the band has had to function as a band in the more traditional sense. The result is an album that goes beyond the excellence of those first EPs: the edges are sharper, the interplay between musicians is understandably more well-honed, and the whole thing feels more condensed. There is a mixture of material from the band’s three songwriters and a sprinkling of traditional songs, but the overall sound is impressively coherent.  From: https://klofmag.com/2022/11/the-magpie-arc-glamour-in-the-grey/

 

Masheena - Been Waiting

The history of Masheena dates back to the early 2000s, when Luis, Tarjei and Ole agreed to start a Thin Lizzy coverband after more than a few beers one night. That band never materialized, but the guys kept active over the years in other projects like Abbath, Royal Rooster, Lost At Last, Ilti Milta, Meelodi, Odisea, 4Tet and St. Satan.
After reigniting a smoldering fire, mellowed by time and sober expectations after spending half a lifetime in rehearsal rooms, and against better judgment, in 2021 Luis sent a few demos to Tarjei who literally had to dig out his bass from the basement after having sworn to never play in an original band again.
The legend Amagedda, known from Immortal’s debut album, the Abbath-fronted “I” and Demonaz’s solo album joined together with string virtuoso Ole rehearsing the songs in a barn in the outskirts of town transformed into a rehearsal cave.
Rather than re-inventing music itself, the purpose of Masheena is to share the joy and love of hard rock. The intended EP with songs from the demos quickly grew to a full album.
Musically, Masheena are inspired by both the sunny and shady grooves of the 70s, the shameless hedonism of 80s hard rock and heavy metal, as well as the jagged riffs and darker vibes of the 90s alternative rock and metal scenes.  From: https://www.masheena.rocks/bio

Mitsoura - Kelushka

The magical voice of a singer who will conclude the tenth year's festival resonated from several Slovenian stages in 1994 as part of the then nomad, excuse me, travelling ethno-festival Okarina, including the rain-washed Ljubljana castle. Mónika Juhász Miczura - to friends and fans simply Mitsou - was back then the singer of surely the most precious of Hungarian Roma bands Ando Drom. Mitsou learned traditional songs from her mother. She says her mother was about to embark on a wonderful career following numerous awards, if only she had been prepared to move to a bigger city. But she was too poor, she couldn't even afford to buy shoes, and was ashamed to leave her home village on the Romanian border and leave for Budapest barefoot. If we have been deprived of 'Mitsou Senior's' singing, we can rejoice even more at the chance to delight in the evocative and magical singing of her daughter, whose talent was discovered by Jenö Zsigó, the leader of Ando Drom band, at a children's workshop.
Although she is no longer a member of that group, Mitsou continues to carry out its mission in a unique fashion, in her new band Mitsoura. Ando Drom translates as 'On the Road' and the owner of such a penetrating, sonorous voice went on a risky adventure in search of variation and innovation which could surpass traditional Roma music. Risky, because many have been burnt before her as they combined traditional and electronic music. Nevertheless, our heroine came out battle-hardened and fresh, with a clear vision of what she wants (and what she wants to achieve from it) from the currently trendy blending of the traditional and the super-modern.
The fusion of her stunning voice with electronic music is never a one-way street, it never has one meaning only; her voice is not merely compulsory decor for the stoned ambience atmosphere. On the contrary, the prevailing feeling is of Mitsou electrifying Roma music, of her showing how much electricity there was in it from the very start. She has surrounded it with ambiental, atmospheric sounds to bring one's attention the spacious, extensive quality of this essentially nomadic people's music. There is, of course, the presence of trance, since she reminds us of the experience of trance itself - translocation, travelling - which is so effortlessly achieved by Roma musicians. The songs on her alluring debut album (Mitsoura, 2003) are - Roma and Indian as well - almost all traditional, as are most of the instruments playing with electronic instrumentation: the cimbal (mostly played by master Kálmán Balogh), kaval, zurna, viola, tabla etc. Old and new, yet never in conflict or confrontation, but in true harmony and co-existence. The trance will be even deeper in concert thanks to the accompanying visual animations inspired by Indian motifs and Roma art work.  From: https://mestozensk.org/en/artist-collaborator/mitsoura

 

BoDeans - Closer To Free / Save A Little / Texas Ride Song / Idaho

The BoDeans were formed in 1984 in Waukesha, Wisconsin, by high school friends Kurt Neumann and Sam Llanas, both serving as guitarists and vocalists. Initially, the duo performed under the pseudonyms Beau BoDean for Neumann and Sammy BoDean for Llanas, drawing from a playful nod to the character Jethro Bodine from The Beverly Hillbillies. They began playing local gigs around Milwaukee's East Side music scene, honing a raw roots rock style influenced by Midwestern heartland sounds. In 1984, the band expanded its lineup with the addition of bassist Bob Griffin and drummer Guy Hoffman, completing the core quartet that would define their early identity. Seeking broader opportunities, the group relocated to Minneapolis in 1985 to perform more frequently in the vibrant regional club circuit, including notable shows at venues like First Avenue. Their persistence paid off when demo tapes recorded during this period caught the attention of record executives, leading to a signing with Slash Records, a subsidiary of Warner Bros., later that year. The band's debut album, Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams, was released in October 1986 and produced by T Bone Burnett, whose minimalist approach captured their energetic, unpolished roots rock essence through live-in-the-studio sessions. The record featured the single "Good Things," a driving track that highlighted the duo's harmonious vocals and guitar interplay, establishing them as an authentic voice of Midwestern rock. Critics praised the album's raw conviction and fresh take on American rock themes, positioning the BoDeans as a promising act emerging from the heartland. To promote the album, the BoDeans embarked on extensive initial tours, including opening slots for major acts like U2 during the early legs of The Joshua Tree Tour in late 1987, which helped build their live reputation and fanbase across North America.
The BoDeans achieved a more polished sound on their 1991 album Black and White, produced by David Kahne and featuring contributions from session musicians including drummer Kenny Aronoff, which explored themes of everyday Midwestern struggles and relationships through roots rock arrangements. Released on Slash Records, the album marked a step toward broader commercial appeal with tracks like "Black, White and Blood Red" and "True Devotion" highlighting the band's evolving blend of folk-inflected pop and heartfelt lyricism. Despite critical mixed reception for its slicker production compared to their rawer early work, it solidified their reputation as heartland rock practitioners. The band's breakthrough came with the 1993 release of Go Slow Down, produced by T-Bone Burnett, which returned to a stripped-down, organic sound emphasizing acoustic guitars and narrative songs about personal freedom and resilience, drawing from their Midwestern roots. The album's lead single, "Closer to Free," initially modest upon release, gained massive exposure in 1994 as the theme song for the Fox television series Party of Five.  From: https://grokipedia.com/page/BoDeans 

 

Mamalarky - Broken Bones

What can you expect from an album called Hex Key? A bunch of songs about assembling flat-pack furniture and adjusting bike handlebars? Nothing Mamalarky do is predictable, so you can’t rule that out. The U.S. indie psych-rock four-piece – Livvy Bennett (vocals, guitar), Noor Khan (bass), Dylan Hill (drums), Michael Hunter (keyboard) – has a knack for leaving you puzzled. Their 2018 debut EP which they recorded as a trio – Khan joined later that year – is called Fundamental Thrive Hive. They played their first show as a quartet in a wristwatch factory. There is an instrumental on their debut album, with the title “Singalong”. Quirky?
Possibly, but the band never veers into gratuitous quirkiness. After all, they are consummate professionals who have played and/or toured with the likes of Cherry Glazerr, White Denim, and Faye Webster. It’s just that, like these artists, they resist being pigeonholed and relish flouting convention. Nothing is off limits as they relentlessly pursue the goal of creating songs that are so many perfect little worlds, each one with its own distinctive character. They take sounds, moods, and lyrics that, at first glance, do not seem compatible, then make that pastiche work.
Their own lyrics seldom provide an apt summary of an artist’s music, but Mamalarky are an exception. On “Dance Together”, a track on the band’s second LP, 2022’s Pocket Fantasy, Bennett sings “It’s so appealing / Glittering fractals moving across the roof / I belong in a state of constant motion.” Like fractals, Mamalarky’s songs are complex and reveal infinitely detailed patterns when you zoom in. And they’re never static – they swirl, cascade, ripple, and grow.
Given their approach to songwriting – or rather, songcrafting – the group do not strive for sonic consistency on their albums. On the contrary, they want the maximum amount of diversity. “The worst thing you can say about a Mamalarky song is ‘This sounds like another song of yours’”, Khan once said. Accordingly, the variety Hex Key offers throughout its 13 songs is bewildering.  From: https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/albums/mamalarky-hex-key-reach-peak-torque

The Byrds - I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better / The Bells of Rhymney / He Was A Friend of Mine / The World Turns All Around Her

"The Bells of Rhymney" is a song by the folk singer Pete Seeger, which consists of Seeger's own music accompanying words written by the Welsh poet Idris Davies. Seeger first released a recording of the song on a live album in 1958, but it is the American folk rock band the Byrds' 1965 recording that is the best known version of the song.
The lyrics to the song were drawn from part of Davies' poetic work Gwalia Deserta, which was first published in 1938. The work was inspired by a local coal mining disaster and by the failure of the 1926 General Strike, with the "Bells of Rhymney" stanzas following the pattern of the nursery rhyme "Oranges and Lemons". In addition to Rhymney, the poem also refers to the bells of a number of other places in South Wales, including Merthyr, Rhondda, Blaina, Caerphilly, Neath, Swansea, Newport, Cardiff, and the Wye Valley.
Two decades after Gwalia Deserta was published, Seeger used one part of the work as lyrics for his song after discovering them in a book by Dylan Thomas. The song was first released as part of a suite of songs, including "Sinking of the Reuben James" and "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly", on Seeger and Sonny Terry's 1958 live album, Pete Seeger and Sonny Terry. Another live version of the song was included on Seeger's 1967 compilation album, Pete Seeger's Greatest Hits.
Arguably the most famous rendition of the song is the version recorded by the American folk rock band the Byrds. The Byrds' recording of "The Bells of Rhymney" was committed to tape on April 14, 1965, and released as part of the band's debut album, Mr. Tambourine Man.
At the time of recording, the song was a relative newcomer to the Byrds' repertoire, having first been performed during the band's March 1965, pre-fame residency at Ciro's nightclub on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. Lead guitarist Roger McGuinn (at that time known as Jim McGuinn) had brought the song to the band after becoming familiar with it as an arranger on Judy Collins' third album, Judy Collins 3, which itself included a cover version of "The Bells of Rhymney". Although the Byrds were anxious to correctly pronounce the Welsh place-names in the song's lyrics on their recording, they, like Seeger, actually mispronounced the name Rhymney as "Rimney" (it should be pronounced as "Rumney").  From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bells_of_Rhymney

 

 

The Story - Missing Person Afternoon / The Angel In The House / Mermaid / The Barefoot Ballroom

Jonatha Brooke’s background in English literature informs many of the songs on Angel in the House; the album takes its title from a poem by Victorian poet Coventry Patmore. In the poem, Patmore extols the “virtues” of womanhood: to stay at home by the hearth, take care of the husband and children, and always have a cheerful countenance.
Brooke found inspiration in English writer Virginia Woolf’s response to the poem: “Woolf got a hold of the poem and used it as a metaphor for that particular phantom that tells us, as women, not to offend, not to do our work, but to flatter and coo. The song comes down to the struggle we still have with that notion of womanhood,” Brooke explained in the Elektra release. In the Billboard interview, she added: “I think that I and my generation are still messing with this stupid angel that says, ‘Why don’t you take care of your house before you write a song!’”
Set up as a series of drawing room ballads, the first song on the album, “Mermaid,” addresses the image of women portrayed in the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale “The Little Mermaid.” Referring to the difference between Andersen’s version and the commercially popular, sugary-sweet, Walt Disney film version of the tale, Brooke wrote in the album’s liner notes: “In the original story, she doesn’t get the guy, she doesn’t live happily ever after, she loses her voice, her tail, her family and turns into sea foam.”
Cramton described “Mermaid” in the Metro Times as representative of the “multilayered meanings” present in many of the Story’s songs. “They voice the frustrations of many women who want bustling lives but fear public reprisals for ‘neglecting their feminine duties.’” People magazine called Angel in the House “the year’s most radiant folk record,” while White, writing in Billboard, suggested that “fans of the fragile gleam of Grace in Gravity will find Angel in the House a darker prism.”
The title track of Angel in the House was also inspired by a literary work—this time, a short story by Grace Paley about a middle-aged woman who is forced to reexamine her life: “My mother moved the furniture / When she no longer moved the man.… / She wanted to be a different person.… / And he walked away.” “My mother is a big part of the song,” Brooke told White in the Billboard interview. “It’s about me and my mother, and … any woman who’s been torn between desires and what they’re supposed to do as a female in this world.”
Kimball added her own feelings about the song, which conjured up memories of her parents’ divorce: “That was an awful time; they were very friendly, almost too friendly, and I wanted them to be more angry with each other and more separated.”  From: https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/story

 

Midlake - Antiphon

Midlake don’t get enough credit for being ahead of their time. Actually, they don’t get any credit, understandable in light of the Denton, Tex., sextet's antiquated imagery and sepia-drunk sound. But the formula that made The Trials of Van Occupanther a sleeper hit in 2006—bearded indie-folk meets California soft-rock meets Fleetwood Mac at their most glassy-eyed—would likely make it a massive success in 2013. It’s certainly in their best interest to revisit that style after the clock-stopping Tull torpor of The Courage of Others, and guitarist Eric Pulido claims their fourth LP Antiphon “is the most honest representation of the band as a whole.” Except he goes on to say, “as opposed to one person’s vision that we were trying to facilitate.” Pulido got an internal promotion to frontman after the departure of singer-songwriter Tim Smith in 2012, and...shots fired?
Antiphon does somehow manage to be a “forget everything you know about Midlake!” album as well as a “return to form,” at least if you remember that Van Occupanther was preceded by the burlier, less precious (title aside) Bamnan and Silvercork in 2004. Pulido’s words foreshadow a more aggressive tack on the part of Midlake and they certainly oblige during the first half of Antiphon. If the title track and “Provider” don’t exactly boogie, they’re at least rollin’ and tumblin’, with the shuffling beats and sticky, distorted guitar leads that invert Midlake’s previous ratio of rock to folk. More notably, the flutes and other non-strung instruments are pushed to the periphery, foregrounding a lightly psychedelic blues that I suppose recalls Fleetwood Mac before their big personnel shakeup. Likewise, Pulido begins the record asking the listener to “start a war,” and goes on to speak of foxholes and space shuttles. There’s even one song called “It’s Going Down”, which doesn’t sound all that more vigorous than what came before it, but hey, make your own Yung Joc "meet me at the farmer's market" jokes.
But throughout, it’s clear that Smith’s departure is an amputation that doesn’t change Midlake’s DNA. They’ve got a couple of opening gigs for Pearl Jam in the near future, so that should give you an idea of whether they’ve retained the earnestness of their previous work. Pulido doesn’t have Smith’s distinct, dulcet tone, though it’s actually to Midlake’s advantage on Antiphon. His vocals are alopecia-stricken, almost fascinating in their lack of texture even when layered in harmony, offering no resistance to the bulkier music backing him. So Antiphon never sounds awkward even when he sings about space travel on “Corruption” (“we went to the moon/ with a tycoon”) in a way that comes off as quaint as the more typically Midlake-y concerns like sorting out “The Old and the Young” and having a good woman waiting at home by the fire.
The bigger shift is in the production, provided by Grammy-nominated Tony Hoffer. His most frequently cited credits are Beck and Air, who both ended up working with Nigel Godrich on their very next albums, so I’ve come to think of his aesthetic as a kind of Radiohead starter kit. Midlake get that kind of sound here—you wouldn’t call it overproduced, but there’s tons of production if you know where to listen for it, as the stereo panning is neatly utilized, the percussion crisp and non-obtrusive, while all of the folk instruments are spit-shined and shellacked. It’s a retro-modernist (or modernist-retro) schematic, aspiring for Laurel Canyon decor while paying West Hollywood rent.  From: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/18696-midlake-antiphon/

Natalie Merchant - Beloved Wife / River / Cowboy Romance

I’ve always found being passionate, open, vulnerable, and transparent to be among the greatest qualities a person can have.  We are so programmed to close off to other people about anything deeper or more personal than work, entertainment, the weather, and current events, that it’s almost shocking when we are allowed into the personal thoughts of an artist.  And when those personal thoughts are arranged in the right way, and the words are chosen carefully enough, we tend to call those things works of art.
After fronting the alt-pop 10,000 Maniacs for the better part of a decade, Natalie Merchant took her talents to the studio for her solo debut Tigerlily.  I love solo debuts because I like to believe the artist has been collecting songs for years without a venue to display them.  They are, in so many cases, loaded with poetic gems that give us a massive picture window into the soul of the writer/performer.  I have no idea if this is true for Merchant and Tigerlily, and I don’t want to look it up because I may be wrong.  My perception of Tigerlily is that it’s Merchant finally breaking free of the restrictions of pop and working as part an ensemble, and finally having the artistic license to say things she’s been holding inside. 
With her pitch-perfect, bright and emotional vocals, the entire album is driven by her voice, her words, and some gorgeously sparse musical arrangements.  It’s a truly poetic album.
“River” is a beautiful tribute to the recently deceased (1993) River Phoenix, a once-in-a-generation acting talent that succumbed to the temptations of Sunset Blvd.  I was a huge River Phoenix fan and his death was truly a tragedy; a talent and a soul so bright snuffed out long before its time.  Merchant not only mourns his death, but chastises the media for essentially dissecting his life and his youthful indiscretions, all while his family, his friends and his fans were still in mourning. 
So many critics at the time of Tigerlily’s release praised the album but also used words about Merchant like “lighten up” or “too intense”.  I even read one that said “get over yourself”.  Why is it that Daniel Day Lewis gets Oscars for his intensity and Bob Dylan gets Pulitzer prizes, while women get told to smile more and stay in their lanes?  From: https://eons.substack.com/p/natalie-merchant-tigerlily 

 

The Zombies - If It Don't Work Out / I Know She Will / Walking in the Sun

Everyone knows that The Zombies had already called it a day before Columbia Records even released Odessey & Oracle; how Al Kooper championed it and cajoled the heads of Columbia to issue it (finally) and how “Time Of The Season” became a massive – but fluke – hit in 1969.  Once this happened, The Zombies were in demand again but Colin Blunstone, Hugh Grundy and (the now sadly deceased) Paul Atkinson were tending to other matters.  Rod Argent and Chris White took the reins and headed into the studio to record a “follow up” single for “Time Of The Season” – Chris White at the producer’s helm; Rod Argent handling keyboards and lead vocals.  Joining them in the studio were Bob Henrit on drums, Jim Rodford on bass and Russ Ballard on guitar – the band now remembered as Argent.  They recorded a single, the gorgeous, heartbreaking and delicate “Imagine The Swan” – and duly released it on CBS in the U.K. and the Date imprint in the U.S.  It didn’t go anywhere, unfortunately, but this group proceeded to record a total of six new songs:  the aforementioned “Imagine The Swan”, its B-side, the soulful instrumental “Conversation Off Floral Street”, the haunting and majestic epic “Girl Help Me”, the sad and wistful “Smokey Day”, the rollicking “She Loves The Way They Love Her” and the laid-back “I Could Spend The Day” – all great songs taken on their own merits.
The idea was to couple them along with some previously unreleased material by the original line-up that had been (criminally) languishing in the Decca Records vaults in the U.K. with some cleaning up and embellishments.  Dusted off were “If It Don’t Work Out”, “I’ll Call You Mine”, “I’ll Keep Trying”, “I Know She Will”, “Walking In The Sun” (which dated back to 1964) and the incredible “Don’t Cry For Me”.  An interesting and highly believable combination of songs – 6 with Argent as lead singer and 6 with Colin Blunstone’s remarkable voice.
One more “taster” single was released by Date in the U.S. and Canada – and disappeared without a trace – “If It Don’t Work Out” coupled with “Don’t Cry For Me”.  Thus, the album, tentative titled R.I.P. was permanently shelved and The Zombies’ name was consigned to memory as shortly thereafter, Argent made their triumphant debut.
Many of these songs have circulated over the years – I first locked into most of them (save for “Smokey Day” and “I’ll Keep Trying”) via a 1988 compilation called Meet The Zombies; many people were first turned on to these “lost” tracks through the (now) seminal 2-LP set on Epic from 1974, Time Of The Zombies and like all great albums that never were, there have been various versions of what this album would have been shaped as, if it had actually been released.
Fast forward to 2014:  the good people at Varese Sarabande (the American label who reissued Odessey & Oracle) released R.I.P. in its intended running order on vinyl for Record Store Day; shortly thereafter, the CD edition appeared.  With detailed and informative liner notes by the always-incredible and brilliant Andrew Sandoval and reissue production by Cary Mansfield and Andrew Sandoval, you have a seamless collection of the 12 songs, sounding better and stronger than ever, plus mono mixes that had previously been unreleased.  From: https://popdose.com/reissue-review-the-zombies-r-i-p/

Whimsical Creature - Begin Again Again

Formed in late 2024, Whimsical Creature are a British progressive rock duo from Reading, consisting of I Am the Manic Whale's Michael Whiteman and Ella Lloyd. The project's impetus can be traced to a late summer camping trip taken by both members' families, where the two agreed to write material more acoustic and stripped-down than Manic Whale. With Whiteman the chief lyricist and composer, Whimsical Creature perform a style of folky, neo-tinged prog-pop which greatly resembles Big Big Train (the pair even played a set at the BBT fan gathering A Mead Hall in Winchester).
After a handful of gigs and singles (one of which a cover of Chris Squire and Alan White's "Run With the Fox"), Whiteman and Lloyd revealed their debut LP Wistful Thinking in 2025. The self-released album is an explicitly acoustic affair, with Whiteman handling guitar, bass and piano, Lloyd juggling flute, autoharp and glockenspiel, and both musicians sharing vocals and percussion. Whiteman's songs speak of human resilience, an appreciation of the natural world, the Cottingley Fairies hoax and scepticism about the rise of AI.  From: https://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=13074 

Irreversible Mechanism - Nocturnal Light

You are a couple weeks away from the release of your second album, Immersion. How does it feel?

Of course we are very excited. We put a hell of a lot of effort into this record: so many thoughts, so many problems to solve, dozens of demos and months till we got how we wanted it to be. It’s part of our life and now we’re waiting for the moment then people all over the world will hear what we made.

Immersion sounds great, I really enjoyed the use of ambient sounds. Do tell us more about the album.

It’s a concept album, so there is the story which walk through each track. Every song has it’s own theme, but still it’s a part of the journey. It’s really difficult describe the general idea within few words. We tried to create the entire world in this record, with it’s own rules, colours and atmosphere.
In general it’s a lot more dynamic, comparing with our previous record, but in the same time it’s more solid, more intimate, more deep and personal, that means the band is progressing, evolving in every single way. And we should say that it’s something we really proud of.

What was the writing and recording process for the album? Did you try anything new this time around?

It differs a lot from previous record. This time we used seven string guitars, six string and fretless bass, a little bit different approach to guitars and bass tones. Other ways to create atmosphere, more ambient sounds as you’ve mentioned before, different drummer, different vocalist. We added clean vocals, so it’s took it’s part in songwriting too.

The album features Dan Presland on drums. How did he become a part of the recording?

We worked with Lyle Cooper on our first album, so it’s not the first time when we used session drummer for the record and the good thing about this, that we can experiment with the sound just by using different people, different personalities.
We knew Dan from his works with Ne Obliviscaris and actually he was the first person we asked. We sent him couple demos and fortunately he liked it. He had his own musical vision to the drum parts and we should say it was perfect for what we’ve been trying to reach. We really happy to work with him, he is truly professional and a very nice and talented guy.

You have released a music video for the track, Abolution. How important do you think music videos are in the age of YouTube?

It’s very important, but we should say it’s not necessary. As the music for us, musicians, it’s a great tool if you used it properly. The great way to introduce the band to the audience, it’s music, it’s mood, it’s colours, it’s energy. To show something what’s hidden in the band’s songs and lyrics to make it easier to understand. And it makes so much easier to the listener to discover new music, new bands. So, it’s not only about band promotion, it’s about heavy music culture in general.

From: https://themetalwanderlust.wordpress.com/2018/09/17/interview-irreversible-mechanism/

 

Fleetwood Mac - Spare Me a Little of Your Love / Believe Me / Why

Publication of the first volume of Mick Fleetwood’s memoir Love That Burns led to a series of articles discussing the book and the pre-1974 versions of Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood’s first volume ends at the end of 1974, as he introduces new band members Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham to the group’s keyboard player, Christine McVie. McVie was a Mac veteran already, having joined unofficially with Kiln House in 1970. McVie had proven to be a strong band member, writing some good songs, becoming the group’s only female vocalist, and adding musically with her keyboard work.
Most articles I’ve seen discuss the Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac in great detail, centering on Green’s outstanding guitar playing as well as his songwriting and singing and his eventual crash and burn. But for me, the period of greatest fascination and least attention is from 1971-1974 when Fleetwood Mac was neither fish nor fowl.
They were no longer a British blues band, but neither were they an arena rock act. They produced great pop material, but with some amazing shading and color that belied the fact that they were still a rock band. Their sound began to skew much more to the American side of the Atlantic, as did their personnel. Most of the records they produced in this time period are flawed but contain a lot of deep musical moments that make it worth sifting through some less than stellar tracks.
During this time period, Christine McVie contributed 15 songs to the Fleetwood Mac catalog. While many have not been part of the group’s set lists for many years, they form a solid body of work that shows she was writing great material long before Buckingham and Nicks joined the band.  From: https://newdirectionsinmusic.substack.com/p/christine-mcvie-fleetwood-mac-songs

Maldito - Live from Deutschlandfunk Kammermusiksaal 2025

 Maldito - Live from Deutschlandfunk Kammermusiksaal 2025 - Part 1

 

 Maldito - Live from Deutschlandfunk Kammermusiksaal 2025 - Part 2

 

It's hard to believe, but the Norwegian band Maldito is a hitherto largely undiscovered jewel in the current musical landscape of loud and heavy sounds. Maldito formed in Liverpool in 2015 while the band members studied at the renowned Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. Inspired by rock and prog of the 70s, combined with a touch of 90s pop rock, the band has developed their own unique style of music. The band made their breakthrough in the blues and rock scene in 2019, after the release of their first album and their tours through Norway, Germany, England and the USA.The band's live performance, bursting with power, will be remembered by everyone who has seen it. Their rousing energy, the memorable guitar riffs and their songs inspire both the older and the younger generation. "Four guys who make the place shake, but at the same time are exceptionally tight in their blues-based rock format. With the energy of Jack White (White Stripes) and the drive of the Rival Sons, this is undoubtedly a band to look out for in the future." (Blues News) We experience geniuses who develop from blues to rock to metal – and yet there are still these typical, floating pop melody moments. A mixture that is as exciting as it is intelligent, and this music does not have to shy away from any international and historical comparisons with, for example, Blue Oyster Cult, The Beatles or Yes.  From: https://nica-jazzclub.de/en/events/maldito-335 

 

 

 

The Wailin’ Jennys - One Voice - Live on eTown

Right after a band’s name, how a group comes together and not only grows, but sustains—and in the case of folk trio The Wailin’ Jennys, sustains for nearly 20 years— is the next most notable aspect of a band’s story. Though what might surprise some, is the fact that there was never a grand plan or slowly developed strategy for the Manitoba, Winnipeg trio to become an ongoing endeavor back in 2002. To that end, it feels fitting that the first track on The Wailin’ Jennys debut album 40 Days—a song titled “One Voice,” written by founding “Jennys” member and vocalist Ruth Moody—would also go on to become bigger than the sum of its musical origins. 
A three-part, vocally cumulative, acoustic song that builds on a partially repeated lyrical premise of this is the sound of one voice… voices two… voices three… all of us, the hymn-like piece seems not to leave much mystery within itself. However, its simplicity bears more surprises than its surface character gives away.
“You know, sometimes songwriters describe that experience of almost like, receiving a song. And ‘One Voice’ is maybe as close as I’ve ever come to that experience where it just sort of starts, it just kind of arrives, and you just are lucky enough to be there with a pencil and you write it down,” Moody says. “Conversely, I think the seriousness of the song maybe comes from the fact that it was my way of processing, a very, very serious and emotional moment.”
Indeed, Moody was quite fortunate to have pencil and paper within easy reach, as the fated stage for igniting the idea behind “One Voice” was none other than a room full of emotive musicians, all running on the perpetual energy of an open jam session.
“The music and lyrics came very easily and spontaneously,” she explains. “The Wailin’ Jennys toured folk festivals across the country and we were at this one camping festival. There was one night where all the musicians were gathered backstage, around the kitchen, and the jamming went late.
“People just kept starting songs, everyone would join in,” she continues. “It went from sort of rowdy jams, to really moving, intimate, sharing from individuals. I don’t know that I thought about it consciously in this way but, I think the thought just really hit me: If only the world could be more like this—that just the power of music could bring people together. And so, I was so moved by this at around two in the morning, I went up to my tent with my flashlight and just wrote down the words to the song.”
This duality of internal and external experience isn’t the only interesting set of opposites sewn into the song’s foundation. Given “One Voice” became rather iconic for not just Moody, but The Wailin’ Jennys as a whole, it’s interesting to note how despite being one of the earliest projects the band undertook after coming together, “One Voice’s” solitary compositional approach ended up enduring as the primary songwriting method for the band. 
“The band has sort of talked about maybe sharing some ideas but it’s just worked really well for us to stick to that formula of writing our own songs, and we arrange them together,” Moody explains. “I think, the fact that we’ve been in a band for 19 years now—let’s put it this way: It hasn’t hurt us to to always respect the fact that that we’re all solo artists as well because I think that balance is important.”
Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of “One Voice’s” finished iteration, comes from how others’ feelings of resonance have manifested through so many altered arrangements of countless cover performances. The sheer creativity and degree of deviation from the piece’s original three part, acoustic folk structure that The Wailin’ Jennys ended up embracing, speaks to the song’s fundamental flexibility. “I think by nature “One Voice” is a folk song but I’ve heard some arrangements that definitely sort of went in different directions from the Wailin’ Jennys and they have also been emotionally effective.” says Moody.  From: https://americansongwriter.com/behind-the-song-uniting-behind-the-meaning-of-the-wailin-jennys-one-voice/

 

Timechild - Son And Daughter (Queen cover)

At the end of 2021, the Danish heavy rock band Timechild released their debut album “And Yet It Moves”, and received top reviews and big praise from all over the world. Now the band is back with their new single and video “Son & Daughter”, where they have dug deep into their inspirations of the past and have reinterpreted this underrated and slightly atypical treasure from Queen’s first album from 1973.  It is a song that fits perfectly with Timechild’s sound universe with a powerful and soaring lead vocal and characteristic twin guitars and vocal harmonies.  From: https://mhf-mag.com/timechild-cover-queens-son-and-daughter-in-new-video-and-single/

As much as I enjoy having a feeling with my favorite moody sludge, or letting out that single, definitely masculine tear down my cheek with a beautiful progressive concept album, an urge persists for the thrill of the arena-sized riff and rattle of proper heavy metal. You know, the kind of stuff that makes you feel like you’re a pitch down when you’ve only had a pint, or allows you to imagine your engine revving with the force of at least twice its listed cylinder count.1 Timechild knows this feeling, and with their 2021 debut And Yet It Moves, they presented a solid, proto-metal-inspired outing—your Deep Purple, Rainbow, UFO, and related acts—with focused musicianship and a voice that knows how to soar.
Continuing down their chosen path, Timechild takes the feel-good sounds of hard rock past and fuses a modern-looking, 00’s radio melancholy to form their own brooding yet bolstered identity. Cuts from Blossom & Plague don’t feel far away from the T-injected dad jams of a band like Tremonti or the soulful and virtuosic AOR thump of Winery Dogs, but this unheralded Danish act plays without a notion that bands like that even exist. Hungry and targeted, Timechild instead comes off holding homage as a tool in the kit, reminiscent of fellow Scandinavian throwback act Audrey Horne. And similar to that act, one founding member, Martin Haumann, has spent much of his career far outside the trad circuit, helming the kit for the techy, thrashing Mother of All and the folky, atmospheric calls of Afsky and Myrkyr. Unfitting pedigree—and the unlisted talents of his bandmates—aside, Timechild supplies a bluesy swing and rumble (“Call of the Petrichor,” “Buried in Autumn”) that matches a band that sounds as if they’d been playing for far longer than three years.
Lead vocalist Anders Folden Brink immediately glues the experience together with his warm, gritty baritone croon. Truth is, though he’s uncredited in the metal world, Brink spent some years prior to Timechild with SEA, who boasted a less propulsive but equally rock attitude as this entity. No surprise, he shines there too, but Timechild has allowed him to lay pipe across sneaky, cutting riffs in a junkyard metal fashion (“The Dying Tide II,” “Hands of Time”)—feel good tunes held out with calloused hands. With the spectacle and machismo of peak Coverdale-Whitesnake, and backed by the kind of dark vocal layering pioneered by Alice in Chains, album highlights “Call of the Petrichor” and “Only Our Shadows Remain” see Brink both calling wildly for a stadium-sized crowd to holler yet towering above them at his most dramatic moments.  From: https://www.angrymetalguy.com/timechild-blossom-plague-review/  

 

Uxu Kalhus - Extravagante

“Radical folk,” “subversive folk,” or “chameleonic sounds” are expressions that Uxu Kalhus, whose name is a kind of phonetic transcription of Os Chocalhos (The Cowbells), rightly uses to define themselves. And rightly so, because, starting from melodies, forms, and lyrics of the Portuguese dance tradition, such as the malhão, viras, corridinhos, mazurkas, and chotiças, their sound is imbued with the tribal force of Afro-Brazilian rhythms, the urban communication philosophy of hip-hop and raggamuffin', and the sensual cadence of Caribbean music with touches of jazz and ska, in a fascinating musical melting pot that continues to surprise with every shifting moment. Didgeridoo sounds and powerful electric guitar riffs combine with bouzoukis, percussion, flutes... Eclecticism, versatility, passion, energy, and a unique originality. An exhilarating musical offering that they have already taken to countless stages and which is captured in two memorable albums: A revolta dos badalos (The Revolt of the Clappers) and Transumâncias groove, in addition to their live DVD celebrating 10 years of Folk in Portuguese, released at the end of 2010.  Translated from: https://cantarranacorps.blogspot.com/2011/06/uxu-kalhus.html

 

Pateka - Night Stairs

Experimental rock quartet Pateka released their self-titled debut album, Pateka. A nine-track, 34-minute EP that blends jazz, psychedelia, and experimental neo-soul–Pateka's let loose on their first full-length effort with a blend of synthesizers, samples, wonky grooves, and uncontrollable time signatures.
Made up of longtime collaborators—Elihu Knowles on vocals and keys, Dylan Ransley on guitar, Quinn Girard on bass, Ryan Higley on drums, and Hayden Dekker on saxophone, flute, and synths—Pateka is a group of old friends who understand each other’s quirks and eccentricities, coming together to create something both weird and special.
Equal parts Discipline-era King Crimson, sparkling 1980s jazz-fusion, and mid-2000s math rock with a smattering of smooth blue-eyed soul, Pateka is a genuinely lush soundscape, revised over months by the band and stuffed full of snippets of recorded dialogue–most notably, a cry of “I’m not going to space, that shit’s too far!”- warm friendship and musical wit.
According to vocalist Elihu Knowles, one particular track, “Teni,” was inspired by their time working together at a Burmese restaurant. “The song plays with the duality of the fast-paced jazz we’d play in the dining room when it was super busy, juxtaposed with whatever was on the radio in the kitchen. Walking between those two zones on a busy day always feels super disorienting, and we wanted to write something that captured that. Most of the dialogue is real stuff we heard from coworkers and customers.”
“Teni” starts up like a whirlwind, almost sinister with its arrival. It then builds, messy layers of dialogue, the ringing of a bell in the background, slow bass, wailing saxophone, and an almost maddening rhythm that refuses to stay consistent.
This same sense of chaos is also adeptly used on track “Gnome’s Orchard,” which shifts between fuzzed-out, background noise-heavy prog bass fighting for dominance with smeary brass, and the quiet moments interspersed throughout, which creates the sense of going through a door from a noisy outside space into a calm house. It’s jarring, and it’s great. Despite its manically upbeat energy, much of the album is dedicated to the loss of a close friend of the band.
Opener “Cafe Chroma” explores the band members’ personal grief journey and acceptance, and alongside the interludes “Big Red” and aptly-named “Loss,” the emotional insistence of the record is palpable, despite its frenetic energy. “Loss” is a jazz standard in almost every way, but specifically if a jazz standard was being played drunk and was being listened to specifically by someone lying on the floor watching the world spin.
The self-titled track “Pateka” carries a touch of Conor Oberst’s emo sensibilities, the vocals smeared across the song as if reluctant to be there, layered over crashing cymbals, rumbling bass, tweeting synths, and an oddly—but sweetly—melodic guitar. It’s like early Muse put through a fax machine, shredded, then reassembled with strips of an also-shredded Battles. It almost shouldn’t work, but like the rest of the album, the confluence of genres and production choices feels deliberate rather than messy.
Album closer “Rock Night” manages to be almost normal–at least, at first. The track really serves to cap the album off at exactly the right point. The vocals might be half-there, the background bloops might be as present as ever, and the rest of the instrumentation might be doing its best drone, but it feels like the end result of an automated song machine finally turning its cogs in sync with itself – that is, until the tracks starts speeding up, and turns itself into something that wouldn’t be amiss as the score for an extended chase scene.
Overall, Pateka is something wholly special. Handled by lesser musicians, it would be unbearable; it should be messy, and it shouldn’t make sense. But this is almost certainly the gift of a band who have worked together – and have known each other–as long as Pateka have. It’s one of the most inventive, freshest things I’ve heard all year, and I’ll be listening to it on repeat for months to come.  From: https://earmilk.com/album-reviews/pateka-show-up-to-the-party-to-make-it-weird-on-their-self-titled-debut-lp-album-review/

Skating Polly - Hail Mary

Scene Point Blank: What’s one thing you wish everyone knew about Skating Polly?

Kelli: I guess just how versatile we can be. I think it's easier for people to think that we're a loud girl band or something. But one thing that I'm really proud of is our band is really versatile -- there’s lots of sides to us. It's funny. I'll have relatives who you know just go, “It’s not my thing” and I’ll go, “It's okay, Grandma. Have you heard this song?” [Laughs.] And then it’s, “Oh, that’s lovely. Why don’t you sing like that more?” [Laughs.]

Scene Point Blank: Broadly speaking your music is considered to be punk, or at least have a deep punk influence and appreciation. Is there ever a fear that you’re trapped in a box now as far as genre goes? Do you feel pressure to sound a certain way to appease fans?

Kelli: Not really. I think part of labelling ourselves Ugly-Pop was like, you know, when you make up your own genre, it can be whatever you say it is. Ugly-Pop is an oxymoron to me; it covers like all sides of the spectrum a little bit. The idea is every harsh song has a little bit of pretty in it and every pretty song has a little bit of weirdness or harshness or darkness in it. I don't feel too trapped in a box. Sometimes when we’re planning a live show, building a setlist, I feel like we have to do a certain number of the faster, louder ones. Those are also just fun to play. But you know, I think it's weird with Skating Polly fans. A lot of the songs that I am most proud of, that's what people end up latching onto the most as well. There's not been a lot of times where I've written a song and then been like, “Oh man, this one really got overlooked.” I mean, there are songs that are less popular than others. The ones that resonate with me the strongest usually strike a chord with other people as well no matter what genre it is.

Scene Point Blank: You kind of have a song for everyone then?

Kelli: Yeah, it feels like that. With this album, I sent it to a lot of my close friends and other musicians and everyone had different favourites and that's really exciting. So, it’s like they're all really good songs and it's more like what your vibe is.

Scene Point Blank: You’ve talked about Ugly-Pop as this idea of heavy melody mixed with imperfections and blemishes. As you refine your sound and continue to gain experience, is it more difficult to tap into the “ugly” part of Ugly-Pop?

Kelli: No, I feel like that's always very accessible to me. [Laughs.] First of all, as we've become better musicians, we’re pushing ourselves. A lot of the time me, Kurtis and Peyton will write parts that we can't quite play yet. So, there's still room there for errors, you're learning these parts that you're trying to play in the studio. When you aren’t editing yourself with robot perfection, there's always these really cool imperfections. There's always these cool moments, if you just, like, look under the rock and see who’s hanging out. I feel like that’s just part of playing music and putting yourself out there: you will just naturally kind of capture these things, these chatty moments. So no, it's not been hard to tap into that. “Ugly” has evolved in what it means to me. Ugly is a guitar flub we decided to keep in the track or sometimes the content of the song is about a really ugly feeling. Sometimes it's getting vulnerable with my voice in a way that's not the most proper singing but is still just a cool, real moment. To me, it's always been about not editing out humanity. That’s how you keep ugly and Ugly-Pop.

Scene Point Blank: It’s been five years since your last album. Does Chaos County Line feel like a chance to reintroduce yourselves? Or does it feel like you never left?

Kelli: I feel like our first tour after the pandemic was like the chance to reintroduce ourselves. It was the longest Kurtis, Peyton and I had been apart. I was living in LA a bit, I was living in Oregon a bit, so we weren't all together. I do really feel like the record, though, is a continuation of what we've always been doing from the start. But it's evolved and I feel like it's our best work yet. Of course I want to reach new fan --- but I think that people who’ve known about us will also like it. I think this will resonate with them. It's not like we were trying to recapture something we did before, but I really do feel like it was the natural progression of where everything started and kind of like everything's been leading up to this. [Laughs.] Which is like, “Where does the next one go?” which I don’t know. [Laughs.] Yeah, I'm really proud of it. I really do hope it reaches new people. That's another thing that actually happened during the pandemic. A lot of young, cool people found our music randomly. Our audiences have been a lot younger and made up of people who like to make their own clothes. It's like a Skating Polly Ugly-Pop fashion show every night. Like, it's really rad.
Photo by Karen Mason Blair

Scene Point Blank: I've been a fan for a while, and I’ve noticed younger people have recently started getting into your music too.

Kelli: Yeah, it hasn't always been like that. There have been some younger fans and I don’t think young people dislike us, but it's just like we weren't capturing the attention of a lot of young people. We were touring with X and these people that I think -- I don't know -- it's just our audience was a lot of older rockers and that was cool ‘cause it was people who really appreciated music and kind of music snobs, you know, who like Skating Polly. Now we’re catching on with younger people. I feel like the cool kids.

Scene Point Blank: A lot of your past merch has been DIY or handmade and Skating Polly generally carries a do-it-yourself ethos. Does it feel like you, as a band, are reviving a more DIY mindset in comparison to other bands today?

Kelli: I've definitely always been very pro DIY. Just this last tour we ran out of printed T-shirts so we went to Walmart, bought some white t-shirts, bought fabric markers, you know, and went for it. We are on a label -- a small label that’s been really great to us -- but it's funny ‘cause there's just still so much that we take care of. There is so much that we're constantly doing ourselves. It's cool because it would be very un-Ugly-Pop if we had that all streamlined and taken care of. It’s the only way to make sure we’re doing things the most Skating Polly way. I hope it inspires people to just do things themselves. It totally is the same mindset as Ugly-Pop, you know: to just go for it, make it, put it out there, it shouldn't be perfect.

Scene Point Blank: You started making music when you were pretty young. As you’ve aged did it ever feel like there was a point when you had to decide to try and take music on as a career and forgo a more traditional job?

Kelli: I've always known that I wanted this to be my thing. I mean, I'm living back with my parents now. There are times when I’m like, “Oh,” ‘cause I want to move back to LA. [Laughs.] There are times when I want to make more money, but I don't really consider something else as another career. It's just, “What else can I squeeze it so that I can make money while doing this?” There's definitely sacrifices I make so that Skating Polly can be my focus -- same for Peyton and Kurtis. Truly I don't see life without it. This is me and if it never gets to the level where I can just live off of my music then I'll just keep doing it at this level forever. I don't think that'll be the case. I think that things will keep growing and it's not something that I’m going to stop. Peyton and Kurtis feel the same way. We all just want to keep going with it forever. The things that it fulfils in our life couldn't be filled by anything else.

From: https://www.scenepointblank.com/features/interviews/skating-polly/