Lucky Number Music

Samantha Urbani has been teasing us with sporadic drops of tantalising pop gems – from the urban strut of “U Know I Know”, to the sparkling, irresistible rush of “1 2 3 4” and, most recently, the RnB infused “Go Deeper”. Now, Urbani is about to unleash the full scale of her brilliantly skewed pop vision with her debut solo EP, Policies of Power.

“Hints and Implications” is the bold opener, a future anthem with a soaring chorus that is set to turn heads at sixty paces. Drawing on influences as varied as New Order and Nu Metal, the song itself, though insanely infectious, is a simmering tangle of barely contained frustration. Urbani explains:  “at its core its about the ontology of truth – whether interpersonal communication/“honesty” is even possible, considering the subjectivity of our individual reality-perception. but surface level its really about that breaking point where you stop trying with someone when you can’t even get a motherfuckin text back.”

Writing, recording and producing the EP with a number of key collaborators, including co-producer Sam Mehran, in several different bedrooms and basements in LA and NYC, “Policies of Power” is both a remarkably assured and sleek statement of intent for Urbani, as well as a sly clarion call for listeners to dissemble and question the dynamics of power and communication. With this EP Urbani has well and truly declared herself a force of nature on the pop landscape.

Hints and Implications is digitally available now. “Policies of Power” EP is to be released on Friday 18th August 2017 but is available to pre-order now, on a limited edition transparent coloured vinyl run of just 300 copies.

We are thrilled to introduce the debut release from Suzi Wu, aka 19-year-old Londoner Suzie McDermott. A cocktail of Ian Dury, Happy Mondays and Patti Smith, Suzi has clearly been hugely influenced by the visceral connection between pop, performance, personal empowerment and self-education.

Premiered last night by Beats 1 as their World Record, Suzi today now shares ‘Teenage Witch’, of which she says “Teenage Witch was inspired by the art works of comic book artist Simon Hanslemann. I was getting up at 10pm at night, I’d quit sixth form, my life was nocturnal and bizarre. A drive thru life, there is a poetry in that I think.”

It is the first single from her debut EP of the same name, to be released on Friday 8^th September 2017 but available to pre-order now, on a limited edition coloured vinyl run of just 300 copies, or digitally here.

Samantha Urbani, ex–front-woman for conceptual punk pop chart crashers Friends, is back!!  Previous, online-only tracks, “1 2 3 4” and “U Know I Know” have provided tantalizing tasters of what to expect but, with new full single “Go Deeper”, Urbani now cements her position as unparalleled pop contrarian bar none.   Watch her, Dazed premiered, self-directed video below.

On first listen it is a deliciously infectious homage to 80s Jam & Lewis Janet Jackson sprinkled with the gold dust of vintage 90s Max Martin productions – but scratch beneath its surface and you may hear nods to everyone from 90s boybands to melodramatic auteurs such as Jim Steinman and Vangelis.

Similarly, the pristine sheen of the track belies Urbani’s determinedly DIY production. Writing, recording and co-producing the track with a number of key collaborators, including co-producers Daniel Aged and Sam Mehran, in several different bedrooms and basements in LA and NYC, Urbani has somehow managed to make something that wouldn’t sound out of place on Jackson’s “Velvet Rope” – sleek and assured, poised and incisive.

And beneath the instantly hummable choruses and pop hooks is a deeper meditation on themes of power dynamics and communication. In Urbani’s own words, “Go Deeper” is about “how necessary visibility and accountability are – getting to the bottom of things, transformatively: the harder it is, the more worth it. The only way out is to go through”.

Go Deeper will be digitally available from Friday 30^th June. Further information and physical and digital release details for Samantha’s debut EP are to follow.  The EP will be released by ourselves in-conjunction with Samantha’s label URU.

FTSE has announced the release of ‘Work U Out’ featuring Shola Ama & Donae’O via Ministry of Sound.

Unifying disconnected global cultures to take club music in a new direction, FTSE creates the ultimate nostalgia in the form of this garage influenced track with two of the most prominent names in the UK scene. Shola Ama’s sultry vocals laced over the beat, coupled with Donae’O and his signature flow, creates a sure fire hit ready to blaze the airways this summer.

Dream Wife have today announced a headline UK tour for October which includes a date at London’s Scala, their biggest headline show yet. Preceding the tour, Dream Wife will be appearing at a number of festivals throughout the Summer including Blue Dot, Benicassim, Latitude and Truck.

Full list of shows below and tickets for all shows are available via Dice FM or See Tickets

Tour dates (NEW):

15/06/2017   Les Inrocks @ Les Bains, Paris, France
30/06/2017   Festival Rockorama, Toulon, France
08/07/2017   Blue Dot Festival, Nebula Stage, Cheshire
13/07/2017   Benicassim, Spain
14/07/2017   Chauffer Dans La Noirceur, France
16/07/2017   Latitude Festival, Suffolk
21/07/2017   Truck Festival, Oxfordshire
12/10/2017   Magnet Bar, Liverpool  16+
13/10/2017   King Tuts, Glasgow  18+
14/10/2017   Hare & Hounds, Birmingham  18+
15/10/2017   The Cookie, Leicester  14+
16/10/2017   The Bullingdon, Oxford  16+
18/10/2017   The Wardrobe, Leeds  14+
19/10/2017   Band on the Wall, Manchester  14+
20/10/2017   Esquires, Bedford  14+
21/10/2017   The Haunt, Brighton  14+
22/10/2017   The Louisiana, Bristol  16+
24/10/2017   Old Fire Station, Bournemouth  14+
25/10/2017   Scala, London  14+

Mellah has shared his self directed, 8mm video to ‘Old Friend’, taken from his debut EP Liminality.  The sun soaked clip,  premiered by The FADER, accompanies the most intimate and personal moment on the recently released EP.

The ‘Old Friend’ video is Mellah’s third self-directed clip, following the stark and imaginative ‘Round’ and the emotive ‘Nada’; comprised of hundreds of photographs taken by Liam. ‘Old Friend’ has already been featured on the most recent series of Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror.

Mellah recently performed a sold-out show in his native South London, at The Montague Arms. Further dates are to be announced soon.

Liminality is available to purchase via Rough Trade, and available to stream via Spotify and Apple Music.

“raw, stripped-back blues, ragged and furious – like PJ Harvey in her earliest, darkest days.” Sunday Times Culture

“Serious Beck vibes” NME

“… recalls the dark humour and storytelling of Leonard Cohen or Tom Waits” Independent

Ahead of the Liminality EP release, this Friday May 12th, Mellah, aka Liam Ramsden, has shared another track, this time in the form of “Nada“; a song that Liam says “is about death. My father died a couple of years ago now; his sudden, unexpected departure paraded in front of me the stark inevitability of death, which I had never really been faced with before, and through it illuminated the immediacy and beauty of my own life. “Nada” is my memento mori if you like.”

The song is accompanied by striking and evocative visuals created by Liam, “As ‘Nada’ is about the immediacy of life in the face of death, I wanted to make a video that would invoke that. My dad was a photographer, he gave me my first film SLR when I was 17. The video is simply every photograph I have ever taken with that camera.”

“Serious Beck vibes” – NME 

Mellah play the Montague Arms on May 16th – buy tickets here.

With his debut EP Liminality out May 12th, Mellah has shared his self-directed video for ‘Round’, a  dark and fantastical interpretation of the song’s inspiration.

Mellah, aka Liam Ramsden, says: “The video is in part a literal interpretation of an encounter I had with an ex-mod soldier in a pub in Warrington, which later became my motivation for the song. He was a pretty unhinged guy who had decided that what I needed was a stint in the British army to set me straight. He spent the evening making sure I knew about his hunch. It is also in part influenced by a book called ‘owning your own shadow’ by Robert Johnson (not the one who sold his soul to the devil). The White lady embodies the darker side of the soldier’s self, the part of himself that he cannot face and so torments him.”

‘Round’ has already received acclaim from the likes of The Line of Best Fit, DIY and The Sunday Times, who described the track as “raw, ragged and furious – like PJ Harvey in her earliest, darkest days”.

Mellah will celebrate the release of the EP with a show at Peckham’s Montague Arms on May 16th.

Delighted to introduce you to Mellah, the alias of Peckham musician and producer Liam Ramsden. We are thrilled to be releasing his debut EP Liminality on May 12th. Produced in Mellah’s studio by Liam and Oli Barton-Wood, Liminality is the raw and organic first release from one of South London’s most engaging new voices.

An impassioned storyteller, Liam was inspired to write the rhythmic and atmospheric EP opener ‘Round’ following a meeting with a former soldier in the British Army. ‘Round’ hints at the complexities of the human psyche while encapsulating the dark heart of Mellah’s song craft.

Of the track, Liam says: “The song is an attack on the entrenchment of war in the everyday, considering how a person can be broken down and rebuilt to fervently believe murder is not murder if it’s institutionalised”

Listen to ‘Round’ now and pre-order the EP now, via Rough Trade.

Dream Wife have only just returned from their triumphant stateside debut on tour with The Kills and at SXSW, which earned them praise from NPR, DIY, Nylon, Entertainment Weekly and more. Today the band share, via a premiere with NPR, the music video for their anthemic single “Somebody” which was shot and directed by bassist Bella Podpadec’s father, John.

Dream Wife on the music video for “Somebody”-

“With the video for Somebody we wanted to make something direct and simple. The song is a ballad about the experience of living with a female body, in respect of this subject matter we focused on capturing a truthful performance that was both elegant and stripped back. 

We drew inspiration from the male dominated iconography of 70s glam rock; a time where men were able to explore their femininity, with the video for Somebody we are playing off this subversion with our own exploration of contemporary femininity.”

 “Dream Wife is a perfect example of what makes SXSW special, the discovery and excitement of seeing something real that has feeling and meat to it, and makes you grateful you were there to witness it.” – NPR Music

 “New single ‘Somebody’ is a well-oiled machine worthy of the Strokes but performed with the righteous indignation of Bikini Kill…snappy, punk-informed rock ‘n’ roll.” – Stereogum

 “Dream Wife offer a soundtrack ripe for a punk Sofia Coppola movie soundtrack” – NYLON