I’ve done so many of these now that I’ve pretty much run out of material to write about in these introduction paragraphs. I spent today on zoom with family, listening to a new release from Dutch producer Murakumo and right now, I’m enjoying a delicious reduced price prawn salad from the petrol station up the road. That will suffice for today’s intro I think – short, sweet and nonsensical.
JAFFNA / Headlights
Starting off tonight’s mixtape in high octane fashion, we have a ridiculously grumpy electronic tune from French duo JAFFNA. This is the kind of intense tune you’d listen to during a purge (you know, THAT film where people go absolutely nuts on a set day each year). There’s a certain amount of raw anger attached to the sound of this one – the disorienting vocals, the brooding bassline and heavy dub notes all combine to create an edgy atmosphere. This sound is reminiscent of fellow French dubstep producer Son of Kick, it’s as powerful as his stuff for sure. The whole thing just works and could even be compared to Jamie XX‘s famed Gosh single!
My only complaint is those pesky kids (in the video) on their bicycle’s, arsing around the city doing wheelies! A couple of them type of fellas passed by me in London a few months ago and got bashed by a car – an idiotic new age fascination or maybe I’m just getting old eh?
Ferdishenko / Bury It
I never rip my writing from artist bios on this site but these guys have a brilliant story, it’d be a shame not to share a bit about their origins. Ferdishenko is comprised of a Yorkshireman (Harry Wright) and a Kiwi (Oliver Crawford) who met in London one night whilst enjoying a few casual beers and a chat. Their friendship was established and common ground was found (an obsession with music). A couple of years later, Harry decides to up and leave the UK in search of a new challenge. He settles on a new life down in New Zealand. There, he is reunited with his London drinking pal again, Ferdishenko is born. That’s pretty much what the bio says, it’s a lovely story – an intercontinental friendship that’s turned into a wonderful music venture against geographical odds.
Their music is a catchy blend of Indie Electronic with some heavier synth tones growling away in the background. Highly impressed with Bury It – a fine fusion between Indie and Electronic, can’t go wrong with that blend.
Mullally / Lonely Too Long
Back to more mainstream stuff here with the contemporary sound of former Atlantic Records signee Mullally. Having left the record label after three years with them, he is going solo and having a crack at doing it all independently. A voice like a mash-up between Sam Smith and Matt Corby – this fella clearly has talent to burn. He certainly isn’t burning his talent by releasing his new single Lonely Too Long, it’s a bloody gem. I’d be the first person to switch off conventionally commercial music on the radio, but this one has that rare universal star quality. Anyone who fails to acknowledge this guy’s potential is smoking some strong chemicals. Lonely Too Long is a fine ol’ thing – switch it on.
Emma McGrath / Getaway Train
Following that lovely tune from Mullally we have music from another talented British vocalist, Emma McGrath. She’s a nineteen year old songstress from North London with a supremely enchanting vocal range. Getaway Train is a softly spoken piano ballad with plenty of pent-up emotion seeping through in the lyrics. With all the subtle charm of the early work of Sia and the husky tone of SOAK, McGrath is undoubtedly one of the capital’s rising stars. This is basically nailed on to accompany a pensive scene near an episode finale of Grey’s Anatomy or something – it’s got that Hollywood sorrow vibe (it’s a compliment).
Be Kind / We Lose
One more UK born vocalist, why not? Here we have the catchy pop chimes of Melbourne-based, Londoner, Ollie Bates. Going under the moniker of Be Kind, he has just released a vibrant, uplifting single called We Lose. There’s nothing mad complicated about this one – it consists of simple melodies, a couple of spoken word verses and a catchy chorus. We Lose is non-intrusive as he keeps the whole thing nice and compact. Lots of artists ruin themselves by making their beats needlessly intricate and irritating. This one is just smooth & easy with really relatable, topical lyrics too! Nice work Ollie.
That wraps up tonight’s edition of the Lockdown Mixtape, see you all next time (tomorrow).
About ‘The Sound Sniffer’
The Sound Sniffer is a one-man music blog which is still only a baby – Founded and run by Kevin Coakley in early 2019. He is a music writer and ghostwriter. ‘The Sound Sniffer’ also runs gigs and showcases in London since Oct 2019. The showcases are picked from artists found in the blog’s submission inbox.
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