Tabla de contenidos para April - May - June 2017 en Under the Radar

“W e just liked those words, ‘damage’ and ‘joy,’” Jim Reid dryly explains in regards to the name of their new record, before pausing to contemplate them. “I think it does describe something: not the album, but the people who made the album.” The long-awaited Damage and Joy is The Jesus and Mary Chain’s first album since 1998’s Munki . The famously combative siblings, brothers Jim and William Reid, reunited in 2007, periodically touring their classic material—including full-album performances of their seminal 1985 LP, Psychocandy — and have teased fans with talk of a new record since nearly the moment they got back together. It took them almost a decade to finally make it happen. “Our previous record almost broke us as human beings,” admits Reid. “It destroyed the band,…

Martin Courtney chooses his words carefully—or at least his volume. Currently en route to pick up his daughter from daycare, he keeps his voice down so as not to wake his other daughter, a six-month-old who is dozing in the backseat. “Hopefully she doesn’t lose it,” he says softly, as she begins to stir. These have been years of transition for the Real Estate lead singer and songwriter, not just personally but professionally. In addition to becoming a father twice, releasing his first solo album (2015’s Many Moons ), and moving from Brooklyn to upstate New York, Courtney has been busy refining his craft over each of Real Estate’s three increasingly ambitious releases. But as the band seemed poised to move to the next stage of…

Guy Garvey and his Manchester, England band Elbow may have called their joyous new album Little Fictions , but in conversation the singer is instead frank, forthright, and boldly truthful. “You know what man? Sometimes you find more about what you do by talking about it,” Garvey says, before joking that more aloof rockers are “monosyllabic, surly bastards” that “usually have something to hide, ie. they’ve not really thought about what they’re doing.” Garvey’s steadfast honesty extends to Elbow’s new album, despite what its moniker might suggest. He explains that Little Fictions’ title isn’t so much about deceit but rather a confession about being less than truthful, and also overdramatic. “The title track is about the little fictions when you’re arguing with someone, if you’re both…

There is a contradictory yet complementary feeling that comes from being around close siblings: part involuntary outsider, part volunteering to be an insider. Hannah Reid, Dot Major, and Dan Rothman of London Grammar, although not related by blood, have one such sibling connection. With this comes admiration and competition, comfort and arguments, support and annoyance. “Dot and Hannah are so insanely talented,” says Rothman, a shortlist contender for Nick Jonas’ identical twin. “Dot walks into the recording booth, plays, first take, and it’s perfect. I hate him for it. He’s so blasé and so cool, but he’s actually super-nerdy. Hannah just makes me laugh.” “Hannah says the same thing to me that I’m thinking about her at that very moment,” says Major, an unintentional Harry Styles look-alike. “She’s so good…

“H ow about we don’t go to Walmart anymore, even ironically? Let’s just not go to Walmart, period. Let’s not think it’s funny. Let’s get mad instead.” Jonny Pierce means what he says despite his laughter at the “ironic” part. The Drums frontman is rather serious about most things these days, all part of his approach to “intentional living.” Pierce’s thoughtful manner extends far beyond crafting the band’s compelling indie-pop compositions on their new album, Abysmal Thoughts . It extends to every facet of his life. “It’s annoying, I will be the first to admit,” he says. It’s also worth it, as Pierce is concerned that the mainstream’s thoughtless consumer habits have led to so many modern societal ills. “I keep getting riled up by where and how people are…

The Tribeca Film Festival was ready to give Demetri Martin his prize. Unfortunately, he wasn’t there to receive it. The acclaimed comedian had submitted his most recent project, the heartfelt dramedy Dean , which Martin wrote, directed, and even starred in, to the festival, but he never expected to receive any sort of award. Martin was even warned about the potential schedule conflict as he booked a stand-up gig in San Diego, but he shrugged it off. “They said that the awards thing would be on the same day,” says Martin about winning Best Narrative Feature at Tribeca, “but I said, ‘I’m not worried about that.’ So I left. They called me asking if I wanted to shoot a video since I won the prize. I was like, ‘I won…

The band name chosen by Sydney, Australia trio Middle Kids also describes the upbringing of singer Hannah Joy and multi-instrumentalist Tim Fitz. “Tim and I are both middle kids,” Joy explains. “I think it’s common to find middle kids being a little bit unsure of their place in the family. It’s cool, though, because you get a bit of love from both sides and end up having to fight to find who you are.”  As a band, Middle Kids, who also include drummer Harry Day, have few reasons to be unsure of themselves, already gathering momentum thanks to their anthemic first single “Edge of Town”—a charming, confident track filled with anticipation, due to Joy’s mesmerizing lilt. “‘Edge of Town’ is a story about the experience of trying to get a…

“I feel like I’m inviting people to watch me grow,” says Amelia Murray, confessing to the deliberate transparency that she presents Fazerdaze—her happy/sad bedroom pop project. “I’m still figuring out what I’m doing.” Speaking from a busy Munich cafe, eleven thousand miles from her Auckland, New Zealand, home, Murray explains that Fazerdaze began as a means of documenting her own processes and developments, void of any serious intention of finishing and structuring releases in the conventional way. “I like the idea of it being a constant work in progress,” she explains. “I like being able to try new things and make mistakes.” It’s hard not to feel that much of the project’s magnetism stems from that tentative nature. Much akin to the way that Greta Kline of Frankie Cosmos—with whom…

It’s the morning after Grandaddy’s first official rehearsal for their upcoming tour, and lead vocalist and songwriter Jason Lytle is in an uncharacteristically optimistic mood. Eleven years have passed since the last time the band hit the road with new material, and Lytle has been open about his hesitance to restart the machinery he was once so desperate to escape. But none of that matters, at least for today. With Last Place , an album that fits squarely in the band’s tradition of thematically and sonically adventurous prog-pop, Grandaddy has picked up almost exactly where they left off. “We’re having fun, we’re laughing, and we’re playing shit that isn’t Grandaddy music,” Lytle says. “We’re fucking around in the rehearsal room, and it’s like, ‘Alright, I’m already…

“We never really tried to define a sound; others do that for us. Like pigeons we try to stay free to munch on any crumbs of beauty we find in this strange world.” – Neil Hamilton Wilkinson Fourteen years have passed since the release of British Sea Power’s debut album, The Decline of British Sea Power , and the band remain as resolutely eccentric as ever. They continue to play odd venues, draw inspiration from a ridiculously wide range of influences, and turn to the unexpected during shows. As a live act they have a fearsome reputation. It’s not uncommon to find them wandering around the audience banging drums, or wrestling stuffed animals on stage. Recent years have also seen the now six-piece branch…

Alt-J’s music was hauntingly echoing off Ely Cathedrals’ aged walls, as guitarist/vocalist Joe Newman, drummer Thom Green, and keyboardist Gus Unger-Hamilton stood inside and Jonas Bjerre L played to R , : Silas Bo Madsen Utke the Graae , Johan notes Jorgensen Wohlert to, their new song “Pleader.” The Ely, Cambridgeshire church was the perfect setting for recording that track, which closes their third album, Relaxer (the rest of which was recorded in a conventional studio). “Pleader” has a hymnal cum classical tone different from much of the indie rock band’s prior work, though it was very much in line with the classical music that Unger-Hamilton had been forced to spend hours practicing as a boy. “I was very much the boy that labored over the piano, but I’ve now acquired…

Sondre Lerche’s vulnerability isn’t a device. It’s an uncontrived, essential component of his psyche, one which he wears on his sleeve and permeates his music. The Norwegian singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist’s warm blooded, meticulously crafted pop songs have assumed protean forms through the years. Initially Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach informed jaunty cuts on 2001’s Faces Down and 2004’s Prefab Sprout via Joni Mitchell swaggering pop classic Two Way Monologue . For the latter Lerche seemed to be primed for stardom, with a songwriting genius that belied his young age of 21. Then everything changed as he began to experiment on the likes of 2006’s Duper Sessions , 2007’s Phantom Punch , and 2009’s Heartbeat…

On “Certainty,” the euphorically yearning opening track of Temples’ sophomore album, Volcano , lead vocalist and guitarist James Bagshaw’s voice reaches heavenly notes. But on the phone his tone is deeper and more direct, even though the sky-high ambitions of he and his Kettering, England bandmates are still more than apparent. “This record is more about looking forward with production,” Bagshaw says of Volcano, and how it is less indebted to Temples’ ’60s psychedelic pop influences than their 2014 debut, Sun Structures . “Of course there’s references to genres over the years, but it is a more forward looking record. At least I hope.” Such efforts are audible on standout tracks like “I Wanna Be Your Mirror,” which features driving percussion and careening guitar riffs that…

With their supernatural aura playing out in everything they do (music, videos, photography), it’s little wonder that Goldfrapp’s Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory describe their creative process as “magical.” When asked if there were any alchemical moments when making their new record, Silver Eye , both immediately reply in unison, “All of it.” “Music is magic,” Goldfrapp states. “It’s a synergy. Things happen that you don’t expect. Photography is magic in that way too. Capturing a moment that can never be repeated and not quite knowing how it happened.” Gregory agrees: “It seems to happen in spite of you, not because of you. I do think it’s magic that something is there that wasn’t there five minutes ago. That’s very exciting. I don’t understand it and…

“I just want this record to keep doing it,” says Carl “AC” Newman of The New Pornographers. The singer/songwriter/guitarist is referring to making solid records that allow him to tour in a manner that sustains himself, his band, and his family, as he discusses the band’s new album, Whiteout Conditions . “You want your career to propel forward so you can still do a record,” Newman says. “Music being free has changed a lot of things in that we’re as popular as we were eight years ago, but there’s less money. There’s a matter of trying to make money, but also making a record where you wanna make a record you’re good at [making]. I don’t know if [ Whiteout Conditions ]…

“I didn’t really know, in a way, what production meant until I started working with Daniel Avery on Drone Logic ,” explains Kelly Lee Owens. The 28-year-old Londoner grew up in North Wales, but traveled about, studying in Manchester and then moving to London to focus on music. She discovered her love for dance music thanks to working in a record store called Pure Groove with Avery, leading to her contributions on the techno producer’s 2013 record Drone Logic . Following their collaboration, Owens dropped two white label 12-inches alongside her Oleic EP. But this year is the first time Owens is releasing a full-length. It’s almost surprising that she’s only now releasing her first LP, but it…

After speaking with Nick Hakim about the background of his debut album, Green Twins , you come away with the impression that he’d just as soon let the music do the talking. Hakim also doesn’t put too much thought into being labeled a neo soul artist, or for that matter, any specific classification of his sound. “I think neo soul is seen as a genre but around the time it was coined—like when Erykah Badu and D’Angelo and Jill Scott or Bilal were coming up—they were just making music, ya know?” he says. “The label is more for the media. The people who really fuck with [my music] know that it’s a lot of different things.” That it is. Through the immersive listen of Green Twins…

On “The Bus Song,” the first single from Everybody Works , the official debut album from Jay Som (aka Melina Duterte), Duterte has a conversation with a friend. Along the bumpy journey, their exchange is bolstered by conviction and compassion: “I can be whoever I want to be,” Duterte softly sings. “Take time to figure it out,” she advises. These are just some of many moments on the new album where the 22-year-old’s confidence shines. As we connect by phone one languid Monday, this poise is also present. Throughout our exchange Duterte is comfortable with herself and feels positive about her future in music. Although Duterte is three years younger than me, I couldn’t help but seek her advice on how I too could feel more…

To conclude, we ask The Antlers’ frontman Peter Silberman some questions about endings and death. The Antlers have released five full-length albums, their most recent being 2014’s Familiars , but this year Silberman released his debut solo album, Impermanence , on ANTI-. The album may only feature six songs, but two (opener “Karuna” and “Gone Beyond”) stretch past the 8-minute mark. The meditative album is the result of an unexpected injury, where Silberman temporarily suffered total hearing loss in one ear. Silberman left his noisy Brooklyn neighborhood for the secluded quiet of upstate New York. As his hearing began to improve and he started reintroducing noise into his life, he began writing Impermanence’s hushed songs, eventually recording the…

We asked Little Dragon vocalist Yukimi Nagano to take a self-portrait. We also asked her to write a list of personal things— interesting facts that fans may perhaps not know about her. The Swedish electro-pop band (Nagano, drummer Erik Bodin, bassist Fredrik Källgren Wallin, and keyboardist Håkan Wirenstrand) formed way back in 1996, when the members were still in high school together, but didn’t release their self-titled debut album until 2007. The band’s new album, Season High , the follow-up to 2014’s Nabuma Rubberband, was co-produced and mixed by Little Dragon and James Ford in the band’s hometown of Gothenburg. It once again finds the band creatively melding a variety of influences—from ’80s pop and R&B to ’90s club music and dream pop—all given a very fresh, sensual, and contemporary sheen,…

Errol Flynn. Clark Gable. Robert Mitchum. Marilyn Monroe. Dorothy Parker. Greta Garbo. Charles Bukowski. F. Scott Fitzgerald. Heath Ledger. Gram Parsons. Jim Morrison. John Lennon. James Dean and Natalie Wood. Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski. All were guests of Chateau Marmont, Hollywood’s most fabled hotel. Opened as an apartment building in 1929 and converted into a hotel in 1931, Columbia Pictures founder Harry Cohn famously told his stars, “If you must get into trouble, do it at the Chateau Marmont.” Regarded as one of the most discreet hideaways in Hollywood, its place in the histories of cinema, literature, and rock and roll have cemented the Chateau’s status as perhaps the most fabled locale in all of American pop culture. The hotel—or, to be specific, one of its suites—is the subject…

For Dustin Payseur, the frontman of Beach Fossils, the making of a record is a singular obsession, akin to the sprawling, punctilious films of Stanley Kubrick, who notoriously labored after the excruciating minutiae of every single take. Payseur is similar in spirit to the legendary director. “I’m selfish when I make a record,” he admits. “I’m doing it for myself. I just want to have something that represents me. I won’t be here forever. I want something that will be living when I’m not in my physical form anymore. That’s my obsession—leaving your mark, leaving yourself behind to other people.” And he leaves a profound mark on the visceral gut-punch of the band’s third album, the maddeningly ambitious Somersaults . Payseur is proud that band members Jack Doyle Smith and…

As a founding member of both Hot Chip and The 2 Bears, Joe Goddard has pitched buoyant electronica that made our hearts roar and our feet rap. On his second solo record, the jubilant Electric Lines , not much has changed—Goddard proves himself yet again a sage of electro-pop. “I really believe in pop music to a certain extent and I really like those kind of big sentiments, and [when you] get people singing these quite simple ideas and messages,” the charismatic and warm Goddard muses amidst wintry storms in London. “You can get really transcendent moments where people are coming together in a good way,” Goddard continues. “I hope there are moments like that in the album.” And pop’s big sentiments are the pillars of…

Nick Allbrook’s large, very round eyes blink questioningly into the screen. He’s looking to connect on FaceTime, but it feels like he’s searching for himself. Tilting his perfectly spherical head one way and then the other, the medium’s delayed transmissions give the somewhat androgynous Allbrook a marionette-like quality. His fluffy bleached hair topped by a cheeky beanie, however, puts him in the rag doll category. Allbrook’s musical background is impressive. As the frontman for Australia’s POND, he’s released seven albums in about seven years alongside the other core members, Jay Watson and Joe Ryan, and more recently Jamie Terry. Allbrook and Watson have also been in the touring band for Tame Impala, while Ryan heads up that group’s visuals department. But for the last three albums, including the latest, The…

“What? An interview? Who is it? An American?” Hearing that in the background of a scheduled phone interview at roughly 10 p.m. U.K. time normally portends doom for the interviewer, but in this case Rachel Goswell of reunited shoegaze icons Slowdive assuaged my fears quickly. “My son was sick at school and got in at lunchtime, so it’s been a busy week,” she explains politely when we connect 15 minutes later. For anyone who loved Slowdive’s music and saw them both back in the ’90s and again on their 2014 reunion tour, realizing during the latter that they were better than ever, anything less than a great new album would’ve been a disappointment. The major impetus, according to Goswell (vocals, guitar) was the reaction of the audience. “First there was…

Laucan (pronounced Lor-can) is the given name to Laurence Galpin’s soundscaping, sewn with the helping hand of Andrew Phillips, one half of the organic post-rock duo Grasscut. Galpin brought his acoustic arrangements to fruition in collaboration with Phillips, and Laucan’s first EP, Up Tomorrow , as well as the forthcoming debut album, were formed. An openness to find concert with others is reflected in the obscurity of his name. “I wanted to have something abstract which could acquire meaning as the project progressed,” Galpin explains. “I also wanted to avoid using my own name to enable me to change the band dynamic and collaborate with other musicians. Generally, I wanted to avoid the potential stigma attached to a singer/songwriter type setup.” Up Tomorrow does not lend…

While Little Cub’s moniker might seem like an odd fit for a project focused on dancefloor-ready club singles, there’s a bit of an intention behind it. “When we started the project, we were talking about what kind of statement we wanted to make and we realized how asinine and meaningless a band name is—I noticed how many band names are an adjective and a noun,” explains the band’s Duncan Tootill. “Band names have nothing to do with the music [bands] make. The name channels a sweet folk band, but the music we make is dance music.” Little Cub is definitely no “sweet folk” band. Hailing from South London, they know how to do dark synth pop right. The band—comprised of Tootill (synths/keyboards), Dominic Gore (lead vocals), and Adrian Acolatse (synths/keyboards)—began…

“The industry likes to have their female artists as safe characters. They’re not out to challenge, they just want us to write pretty songs. It’s quite narrow.” Marika Hackman’s sophomore album, I’m Not Your Man , is mainly about relationships with women. (The romantic kind—although she does credit her mom and female friends for helping her navigate life.) But the British singer/songwriter does have a guy to thank for her taste in rock—her brother, who beat her into the world by two years. “If you’ve got an older sibling, everything they’re into and play, you have to listen to because they put it on and you don’t get a say,” she laughs from her home in North East London. “Or you want to like because you…

With No Shape , Mike Hadreas, aka Perfume Genius, has created one of the more brilliant albums released thus far in 2017, and certainly the best since he began releasing records in 2010 with his debut LP Learning . And on his fourth album, easily his most ambitious and meticulous to date, Hadreas turned to ecstatic events and wanted to write about feeling comfortable in his own skin. “I didn’t want to be jaded, which is way cooler, but I wanted to be joyous here. I also wanted all these ‘dudes’ to say ‘this is my phat amazing album,’” laughs Hadreas. He’s only half-kidding, as he did actively pursue a “bigger” sound on No Shape . Thematically, Hadreas…

On a level with The Hollywood Sign and Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, the storied Chateau Marmont is a landmark forever entwined in the history of Hollywood filmmaking (and thus American popular culture at large.) One particular suite of the distinguished hotel became the subject of Room 29 , a concept album by British songwriter—and Pulp frontman—Jarvis Cocker and Canadian composer Chilly Gonzales. The record explores the tales of just a few of the Chateau’s many famous (and infamous) guests. In this extended Q&A, Jarvis Cocker talks in greater detail about his personal history with the hotel, the connection he established with television at an early age, and the research which went into writing the record. [Note: These are extra portions of our interview with Jarvis Cocker, quotes…