Juliet, Naked is a 2018 film adapted from a Nick Hornby novel that tells the tale of a transatlantic romance between forgotten cult-songwriter Tucker Crowe (Ethan Hawke) and obsessed fan Annie (Rose Byrne); who falls for him because of her unhappiness with her boyfriend, Duncan (Chris O’Dowd). You’re forgiven for not being compelled by the plot synopsis but what is really interesting about the film is that a handful of songs were written by real-life, well-loved songwriters to flesh out the discography of Hawke’s fictional character. The soundtrack features songs written by Conor Oberst, Ryan Adams (oof), Nathan Larson and Robyn Hitchcock but all sung by Hawke. The release also features stripped down demo versions from the original songwriters.

Tiny Ghost Records, the indie imprint from everyone’s favorite UK-to-Nashville import Robyn Hitchcock, recently announced a brand new 7″ for the full studio version of Hitchcock’s contribution to said soundtrack, “Sunday Never Comes.” Where the demo is, understandably, a sparse coupling of acoustic guitar and Hitchcock’s croonings, the studio version features a wonderfully textured, layered, sound courtesy of Hitchcock’s backing band The Nashville Fabs. For the record, that’s guitarist Buddy Hughen, bassist Pat Sansone and drummer Ryan Brewer.

To celebrate the announcement, Hitchcock teamed with director Jeremy Dylan to produce an official video for the piece. It’s a perfect companion with its contemplative shots, warm tones and melancholy feelings. Depicting thoughtfulness and wistfulness is not easy to accomplish without coming across as corny to some degree but the video feels legitimately reflective.

The 7″ is on sale now and comes coupled with some additional b-sides as digital downloads. You can catch Hitchcock Dec 6th, 2019 at the Mercy Lounge.

The team at To-Go Records announced that they’ll be releasing the self-titled EP from newcomer Slush at the end of the month. The first track from that offering, “My Woman Kinda,” is now streaming on Bandcamp.

The immediately grabbing preview track gives an excellent representation of the Slush sound; a psychedelic fusion of languid vocals, upbeat drums and shimmering guitars. If you hear a mild Tame Impala influence, you’d be correct. Slush tells us that he “learned drums from listening to Kevin (Parker) in all his projects” and that certainly shines through.

“My Woman Kinda” also does a great job of traversing multiple genres. There’s certainly a shoegaze influence here but there’s strong vibes of pop, acid rock and a touch of ambient at work as well. It’s only one track but more than enough to be excited for the full release later in the month.

Tummyache is a pseudonym for Soren Bryce. While it’s not unusual for an individual to take on a band name, Bryce is using the new name to explore a whole new set of sounds from her prior output. A quick bit of Googling and you’ll find multiple albums from Bryce across a six year history, much of it electronic, beat based and oscillating between heartfelt sparseness and delightfully dance-y.

From the onset, Humpday, the debut EP as Tummyache, is certainly a divergence from that. Fuzzed out guitars, pounding drums and squelching walls of sound are commonplace throughout the release. “Median” is the most immediately explosive of the five but every track eventually makes it way to a swell of something unhinged. Fortunately, a new set of instrumentation doesn’t reset all previous lessons learned. There are flourishes of keyboards and quiet moments throughout that are certainly drawn from Bryce’s earlier writings. This is new and different but it’s clearly all stemming from the same brain.

While the change in musicality is fascinating in itself, listeners should take care to actually listen to the lyrics. They may not be as crisp and upfront as her solo work but they seem to carry the weight of this new direction. Ruminations on body vs mind, childhood vs adulthood and abusive relationships are front and center. The lyrics are powerful, often quite heavy and well worth paying attention to.

The name “Tummyache” may sound cute on the surface but it was chosen as a nod to the intense side effect of severe physical anxiety and the songs certainly reflect that turmoil. Bryce’s solo work and this EP are just two sides of the same coin serving as explorations of the human experience from different viewpoints.