Gemma Cockrell and Kiah Tooke
Gemma Cockrell and Kiah Tooke review the latest releases from Midnight Ambulance, nothingnowhere., The Lunar Keys and Odd Morris.
Midnight Ambulance – Rust (Gemma)
Scottish alternative duo Midnight Ambulance have released their third single Rust, following support from BBC 6 Music and BBC Radio Scotland. The new track was premiered on BBC Radio Scotland on 27th September, but it didn’t see an official release on streaming services until 8th October.
Lyrically, the track speaks of the difficulties of feeling trapped in a relationship that you know isn’t working out. It was penned during lockdown, combining the feelings of isolation and claustrophobia that were experienced during that time, and comparing them to destructive and unhealthy relationships.
Described as “dark, powerful and mysterious” by Tom Robinson of BBC Radio 6, this is the perfect summary of Midnight Ambulance’s sound and the moody alternative tones that flow through the track. Rust sees them further explore this sound, utilising the dynamic and contrasting vocals of both Amelia and Fraser. Hopefully we will be seeing a full project from this promising and talented duo soon.
nothing,nowhere. – Pieces of You (Gemma)
nothing,nowhere. is back. The talented emo-rapper/pop-punk singer has released his new track Pieces of You, a quick turnaround from his last album ‘Trauma Factory’ which only came out in February of this year.
he is showing that he is ready to take his music to the next level
The track is a love song (“All the pieces of you fit perfectly / In the hole inside my heart”) continuing in the same lane as some of the more pop-punk-leaning tracks from ‘Trauma Factory’, such as fake friend and pretend, suggesting that this may be the direction in which nothing,nowhere. evolves in on future releases.
The track is accompanied by a music video set at a wedding and fans have also noticed a striking difference between this new video and nothing,nowhere.’s older visuals: he is not wearing a mask. On the contrary, he is baring his entire face for the majority of the runtime. This is uncharacteristic of him, but perhaps suggests that he is more confident in his work than ever. nothing,nowhere. is no longer hiding. Instead, he is showing that he is ready to take his music to the next level.
The Lunar Keys – Stop This (Kiah)
The alternative rock band The Lunar Keys have released new single Stop This, a more upbeat rock song that largely touches upon themes of mental health. Coming from Guildford, the band have been releasing music since 2019 and Stop This is their second single from this year.
The song starts with a more mellow sound and builds up to an anthemic chorus. Honourably, The Lunar Keys have extended their discussion of mental health to donations and have vowed to donate £1 for each of the first 250 airplays or press pieces that the single has. The donations will go to Nordoff Robbins, the UK’s biggest independent music therapy charity.
The repetition of “Stop” throughout the song makes it catchy, but also borders on being a little bit too repetitive. Despite this, the song has an uplifting sound which contrasts the darker themes that the lyrics discuss.
Odd Morris – Silhouette (Kiah)
After being premiered on BBC Radio 6 with Steve Lemacq, Odd Morris have released new single Silhouette. This is coming from their upcoming EP ‘Cityscape the Ballet’ which is due to be released at the end of this month. Based in Dublin, Old Morris discuss the ideas around manliness in Silhouette, something they believed was integral to their central Dublin backgrounds.
Odd Morris have developed their dark melodies and lyrical abilities over the short few years that the band has been releasing music
Frontman Daragh Griffin recounts how the lyrical side of Silhouette was conceived – “I had bottled things up, so I just let my subconscious do the talking. I think lads specifically could benefit from being more open with each other”. Dark and atmospheric, the track only runs a little over two minutes although the brooding sound is memorable enough to stay with you long past that.
With a handful of UK headline and festival shows to play in the upcoming weeks, Odd Morris have developed their dark melodies and lyrical abilities over the short few years that the band has been releasing music – their anticipated debut EP could see them reach even higher heights.
Gemma Cockrell and Kiah Tooke
Featured image courtesy of Nina via Flickr. Image license found here. No changes made to this image.
In-article images courtesy of @midnightambulance and @thelunarkeys via instagram.com. No changes made to these images.
To listen to all of these tracks, check out the New Releases Roundup playlist on Spotify.
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