Ali Murray - Wilderness of Life (2022)

GENRE : alternative folk, dream pop, shoegaze, post-punk, Scotland

RECORD LABEL : Dead Forest Records

Ali Murray is a half-Scottish/half-Filipino songwriter/musician hailing from a cold little Scottish island - the Isle of Lewis, to be precise, and this is his first solo album since 2017. I've been highly anticipating this album for what seems like an eternity. Often when I build things up in my head over a long period of time, they inevitably disappoint...but this album was even better than I expected it to be.

This album is a dark lonely introspective journey through ambiguous dreamscapes. Musically, it's an interesting mixture of ethereal alt-folk and melancholy dream-pop, with some elements of shoegaze and gothic post-punk thrown in there for good measure. Lyrically, it tackles profound themes of mortality, love, loss, freedom and the fragility of our existence. 

It is not light shallow music for the masses. Murray constantly manages to tap into something deep, dark and uncomfortable... but somehow turns it all into wonderful dreamy pop music.

The atmospheres and soundscapes within the album are exactly how I imagine the Isle of Lewis to be - cold, barren and beautiful...

I would highly recommend this album. It's one of the best singer-songwriter albums I've heard in years. And while you're at it, you should definitely check out his older albums.

Stream/Download the album here...

https://alimurray.bandcamp.com/album/wilderness-of-life

Armed Love Militia - Raw Lo-Fi EP

 

GENRE : dark folk, gypsy rock, dark cabaret

RECORD LABEL : self-released

Armed Love Militia was a random musical discovery I made while snooping through Bandcamp recently. I was drawn to the title and the visuals of this particular project, so I ended up clicking play and really enjoying the 3 individual songs that are posted on the page. It was only upon paying closer attention to the information written on the Bandcamp page that I realized that Armed Love Militia is the music project of the actress Fairuza Balk!

If you didn't already know, Fairuza Balk is an American actress (and goth-punk cult icon) that has starred in lots of notable movies like American History X,  Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead, The Waterboy & The Island of Dr. Moreau, but I had no idea she was also a talented artist/musician...

The three songs on her Bandcamp page make up Armed Love Militia's debut EP, 'Raw Lo-Fi' . 'Stormwinds' was the first song they ever released. It's a slow brooding atmospheric electronic goth-rock song that has quite an apocalyptic blues vibe to it. 'Dream45' is a dark haunting acoustic murder ballad that Balk recorded on her iPhone, and 'Davie' is a dark cabaret-style rock song delivered with a punk energy and fury that will likely please fans of P.J Harvey. Awesome stuff. I hope she releases more music in the future.

Stream/Download the songs here...

https://armedlovemilitia.bandcamp.com/