With apologies to the creators of the iconic NOW series of compilations that began in 1983, I felt it was time to do something similar with Mayhem! This includes the first 20 singles we reviewed in 2024 in a delightfully eclectic playlist for your listening pleasure! More than 70 minutes of music, click here and lose yourself in the music!
If you have enjoyed this article, feel free to follow the blog, or follow us on;Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, EMail. Are you interested in writing and reviewing for With Just A Hint Of Mayhem? If so then please get in touch.
Earthquake Lights hail from New York and are based in Brooklyn. The production, harmonies, and orchestration on their new single “Heartbeat” is sublime. They have been referred to as alt-rock, but on this song alone they are just an awesome band. The emotion in this track is palpable and the sadness, sorrow, and ultimately hope is clear in the gorgeous understated vocals and cinematic feel of the tune. At one point the kick-drum and bass poignantly mimic the sound of a heart murmur. The song is inspired by the loss of a vulnerable family member, who it feels was really, really loved. Singer Myles Rodenhouse says of the track “It’s about that moment before the end – when you know it will end but do not know when exactly.” It is a truly beautiful song on par with Elton John’s “Song For Guy”. The song is dedicated to the Mikel sisters. I love it! The band has appeared on these pages once before, back in March 2019 when we reviewed their song “The Eight-One“.
If you have enjoyed this article, feel free to follow the blog, or follow us on;Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, EMail. Are you interested in writing and reviewing for With Just A Hint Of Mayhem? If so then please get in touch.
Almost Halloween 2020, so I thought let’s have a monster singles round up with two in one week! This is our sixteenth singles round up of the year so far. This one features five great tracks, which were all fired kicking and screaming into the world in the past few weeks. These tracks are by acts from London (two of them), New York, Kansas and West Midlands (UK). Only one of these acts have appeared on With Just A Hint Of Mayhem before; Earthquake Lights, and I am extremely confident that all of them will appear again sometime in the future. Get on these songs immediately!
London punks the Barking Poets released the anthemic “When I Am King last month. It is a fiery, full-on punk masterclass. The riffs are monumental and the politicised passionate anger shines through. Hailing from London, Bristol, Dublin and Barcelona Barking Poets are for real and will be around for a very long while. “When I Am King” is one of the best debut singles in years! The line “And now we’re not gonna take any more, Driving your thorn into this lion’s paw” may become my new mantra!
This is kind of jazzy, lo-fi and cinematic all at the same time. The yearning vocals exude soul and pure passion. The playing is sublime and the production is crystal clear. Is this a band at the top of their game? Possibly, but I hope they have the space to reach even further!
This single is a taster from The Casket Lottery’s first album in eight years, which is due out next month. This is a full-on heavy riffing barnstormer of a song. Such a shame we had to wait eight years but the Casket Lottery are back with a multi megaton bang!
Le Junk mess with many genres and this cracking single mixes synth pop, pure pop, orchestral and punk. I was reminded of a strange hybrid of the Stranglers and Depeche Mode at times. The sometimes disturbing video takes its direction from ‘Fight Club’ and manages to enhance “Level 3” to many levels beyond!
Synth-Indie with what feels like real life and very personal lyrics from the New Consistent. Great soft pop hook and lyrics that Mike Skinner would be proud of. I reckon the New Consistent has the potential to be one of 2021’s big breakouts, I certainly hope so. We need more originality and reality like this!
If you have enjoyed this article feel free to follow the blog, or follow us on;
New York based experimental indie outfit, Earthquake Lights met while studying jazz at college. Their sound is a blending of folk and indie with elements of more outré genres (including jazz, obviously) finding their way into the sound. The first single from their forthcoming sophomore album, ‘Distress Signals’, “The Eight-one” begins with some lo-fi reversed string samples and some low-key keyboards before a shuffling, jazz-inspired rhythm section lopes along languidly (think “Knives Out” era Radiohead). Clean tone guitars pleasantly chime in and the vocals have a nice reverby, lo-fi feel to them. When everything is at its loudest together there is a great atmospheric, even anthemic quality to “The Eight-one”. The production is definitely geared towards the rhythm section, the bass and rhythm guitar taking up most of the listeners attention, though the other elements in the mix sound clear and unclouded. The unusual mix of cleanly produced music with lo-fi vocals gives the sound a DIY edge that enhances the songs qualities.
“The Eight-one” is available to stream now from all the usual locations (Spotify, iTunes etc.). The album, ‘Distress Signals’, is released on April 12th 2019.
With Just A Hint Of Mayhem 