English Teacher: shows in Hamburg and London

photo: Denmarc Creary

Leeds based pop noir quartet English Teacher have not been exactly busy since the release of their Live From BBC Maida Vale Studios in 2024. Their label put out an unremarkable 7" for Record Store Day to gain some traction again. Let's see what they can come up with shows in Hamburg on September 16 as part of the Reeperbahn Festival and a show in London on January 23 at the Troxy, the latter as part of a line-up celebrating the music of David Byrne.

» englishteacherband.com

HCTF review of Live From BBC Maida Vale Studios

Icarus Phoenix: The Oligarchy

Singer-songwriter Drew Danburry seriously regrets that he did not vote, so to make amends he wrote a soft-spoken warning song about not making that same mistake again for his folk rock band Icarus Phoenix: "While everyone was watching a liar get elected I was making love to the person I care for most // And rather than engaging in powerless worry // I wrote the next three words you'll hate. I didn't vote."

As per usual the track is also available as a solo acoustic version, but this time there is an extra treat: an early demo recorded with the full band.

Jeffrey Halford & The Healers: Used Parts

Roots trio Jeffrey Halford & The Healers have been making the rounds on the club circuit for more than 30 years, treating their audience with bluesy swagger and heartfelt Americana. Main man Jeffrey Halford is never afraid to point out his flaws and making fun of them, like the cool uncle who will pick a guitar and tell a story that will make you laugh, cry or think (sometimes within the space of the same song). The new album Used Parts deals with ageing as well as promise to himself to make some changes - well, not giving up being a guitar man and setting stages on fire, because he can't and doesn't want to get away from that.

Matters of the mind and the heart are for scrambling for getting the upper hand, but in turns out that he does not have to commit, as long as he manages tor retain a careful balance. It all comes together in the superb soulful Chasing Forgiveness ("sunrise is no friend of mine, for promises it can't keep, it's way too late for warning signs"). Smart move to include the stand-alone single Mississippi Flyer, a Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings' cover, as well, as it fits the mood of the album perfectly. Jeffrey Halford & The Healers are road rats, who thrive on stage. They won't bring Halford's son and daughter with them, but their parts on the album are proof that they have inherited his genes and are putting them to good use.

Elephant Stone: "Parallel and Contrary Motion" video

Canadian psychedelic raga band Elephant Stone have unveiled a video for Parallel and Contrary Motion, the centrepiece of their ASHA album, a song about the suicide of band leader Rishi Dhir's friend Christian Dorey: "Being torn apart by emotions it downed on him that it was about his friend's decision to take his own life. Horrible as that might be, it made him rethink and respect that choice." The clip was directed by John-Mark Lapham.

Age of Life: Epoch One

German musician Chris Burda, half of post-rock duo Collapse Under The Empire, has shared Epoch One, the first piece of his ambitious cinematic post-rock double album Emergence / Transformation by his Age of Life project, which will be released as two separate albums. Each track will be dedicated to evolutionary era, covering the 500+ million years that life has been roaming the planet.

His knack for writing cinematic, pulsating instrumentals enabled him to come up with a synth-driven piece that evolves slowly, feeling its way and becoming more complex as the track progresses, just like primitive life goes through the stages to the next level.