WILL VARLEY – WATCH THE HOMEMADE VIDEO FOR 'WE DON'T BELIEVE YOU'

As you will know by now, Will Varley will release his new live five-track EP 'Live at the Lighthouse' on 4 May 2015. Oh, and there's that general election thing too. Do what you like with the latter (it's probably too late), but you can preorder (or buy, depending on when you read this) the digital-only EP from our digital-only shop, or from either Google Play or Amazon.

Why are we mentioning the election? Well, Will has taken his lead track from the EP, 'We Don't Believe You', and married it with this caustic homemade video. Watch below.

Taken from the forthcoming EP 'Live At The Lighthouse' out on 4th May 2015 Pre-order - http://smarturl.it/LATL-iTunes Tour dates: MAY 02 Nottingham @ Bodega Social Club 03 Salford @ Sounds From the Other City Festival 04 Edinburgh @ The Voodoo Rooms 05 Leeds @ Oporto 07 Winchester @ The Railway

Happy voting! (or living under whatever government gets in!)

Will is also touring soon. Check out dates on the news story below, or at our handy gigs calendar.

facebook.com/willvarleymusic / Twitter @willvarleymusic / www.willvarley.com

WILL VARLEY 'LIVE AT THE LIGHTHOUSE EP' OUT 4 MAY 2015 // STREAM LEAD TRACK 'WE DON'T BELIEVE YOU' // UK SPRING TOUR

Xtra Mile Recordings’ newest signing Will Varley unveils details of his forthcoming five-track digital EP, Live At The Lighthouse, which will be released on 4 May 2015.  You can preorder the EP now from the Xtra Mile digital shop, from Amazon or Google Play.

The EP includes new song 'We Don't Believe You', a timely look at the current political climate in Britain - “If we're after Britain First than we should probably be last, and before UK independence we should give back what isn't ours,” - taking on colonial history, globalisation and foreign policy all in the time it takes a pop song to say “I love you”. You can stream the track below.

Taken from the forthcoming digital-only EP 'Live At The Lighthouse' Pre-order here: Amazon - http://smarturl.it/LATL-Amazon Google Play - http://smarturl.it/LATL-GP XMR - http://smarturl.it/LATL-XMR

More live tracks from previous albums feature too, including the much-loved 'Weddings and Wars' (the history of the human race) and 'King for a King' (the story of a life from birth to death). There's hardly time to breathe as Will's viewpoint flows across the timeline of a mere moment, or an entire millennium.

Will signed to Xtra Mile Recordings backstage at the Royal Albert Hall just moments before he performed on stage supporting Frank Turner as part of a Teenage Cancer Trust gig at the end of March. He’s been named one of Time Out's rising stars of 2015 as well as “powerful, political and pertinent” by the Independent.

The 27-year-old rambling folk singer-songwriter from Kent is a self-made man who, on one recent tour, walked 500 miles with a guitar on his back, playing shows along the way. He makes his own music videos. He co-runs his own record label and music festival, Smugglers. As if mirroring his work ethic, his songs pack narrative detail. Each three or four minutes is earthy and punchy, rolling and rollicking upon barely-concealed anger, or blatant piss-taking.

The EP tracklisting is:

  1. Weddings and Wars
  2. From Halcyon
  3. We Don't Believe You
  4. King For A King
  5. I Got This Email

Will Varley is on tour during May. Tour dates and ticket links can be found, along with all other artists' shows, on our gigs calendar, or look below:

MAY
02 Nottingham @ Bodega Social Club
03 Salford @ Sounds From the Other City Festival
04 Edinburgh @ The Voodoo Rooms
05 Leeds @ Oporto
07 Winchester @ The Railway
08 Cardiff @ The Moon Club
10 Portsmouth @ Edge of the Wedge
15 Leicester @ The Cookie Jar
16 Brighton @ The Mesmerist (The Alt Escape)
20 St Albans @ The Horn
21 Bristol @ The Louisiana
23 Hay-On-Wye @ How the Light Gets In Festival
24 Cambridge @ Junction 2
27 London @ Oslo
29 Canterbury @ The Gulbenkian Theatre 

facebook.com/willvarleymusic / Twitter @willvarleymusic / www.willvarley.com

SKINNY LISTER NEW SINGLE AND VIDEO 'WHAT CAN I SAY?' // STREAM 'DOWN ON DEPTFORD BROADWAY' EXCLUSIVELY ON THE GUARDIAN // LIVE IN-SHOP AT RISE AND BANQUET 18 APRIL RECORD STORE DAY WEEKEND

Currently tearing through Europe, rum-soaked folk-punk collective Skinny Lister release new single 'What Can I Say?' on 1 June 2015, with a brand new video. The song is a more restrained, melodic and folk-steeped singalong for Skinny Lister, the light-hearted pre-hangover dawn song you sing to both celebrate and mourn the morning to come.

The video features singer Lorna asking the titular question in various windswept locations, and giving us an answer towards the end. Watch it here: 

The track is taken from new album Down on Deptford Broadway which is available to preorder now for 20 April 2015. Get it from our digital shop on CD or download,  vinyl and CD from Banquet Records, on CD  or vinyl from Amazon, or simply download it from iTunes.

You can help your decision to preorder by streaming the entire album a week ahead of release, exclusively on The Guardian's website. 

The band will be supporting the release of the album with four gigs in two days over Record Store Day weekend, playing the three Rise Stores in Bristol, Cheltenham and Worcester on 18 April, and then Banquet Records in Kingston on 19 April.

They then embark on their huge headline tour of the UK from 22 April. Dates are on our gig calendar, which can also be viewed below.

  www.facebook.com/skinnylister / Twitter @skinnylister / www.skinnylister.com

PJ BOND EUROPEAN SUMMER TOUR JUNE 2015 // STREAM NEW TRACK 'EVERGLADES' FROM SECOND ALBUM 'WHERE WERE YOU?'

PJ Bond will be returning to Europe for a string of dates in June 2015. Tour dates can be found on our gig calendar, displayed below. A full UK tour will be announced soon. 

The tour will celebrate the release of his new album Where Were You?, out 4 May 2015, which you can preorder on CD or for download here from our digital shop, as well as from Amazon, and Google Play.

You can also listen to a stream of ‘Everglades', giving you another angle on PJ Bond's diverse tale-telling from the new album. A song that speaks of murder and infidelity, it's sung with a nod and a wink that is either amusing or even more sinister, depending on your ears.

Listen to ‘Everglades’ here.

Taken from the forthcoming album 'Where Were You?' out on 4th May 2015 on Xtra Mile Recordings. Pre-order here: iTunes - smarturl.it/PJBond-WWY_iTunes Amazon – smarturl.it/PJBond-WWY_Amz Xtra Mile Recordings – smarturl.it/PJBond-WWY_XMR Google Play - smarturl.it/PJBond-WWY_GP

PJ Bond has been compared to Elliott Smith, Micah P Hinson, and Wilco, while his new album reveals all the bombast and ambition of someone who has listened to a fair amount of Dylan or Springsteen, and dreamed. 

He's spent years travelling and playing to everyone he could, essentially homeless, while recording a heap of songs including for the breakout solo release You Didn't Know I Was Alphabetical.

Talking about signing with Xtra Mile, PJ said:

“Xtra Mile is one of the rare labels where it seems that they put out music that they truly believe in, and are not so much constrained by genre that they'll question whether or not it is a 'good idea'. This approach by clearly music-loving people is what drew me most to XMR, and was supported by everyone with whom I spoke about them. Honesty, respect, heart, these are the common threads. All in all, I think I've found a lovely home.”

www.facebook.com/PJBond // Twitter @pjbondmusic // pjbondmusic.tumblr.com

TO KILL A KING NEW SINGLE 'COMPARE SCARS' OUT 1 JUNE 2015 // HEADLINE LATITUDE FESTIVAL 2015 LAKE STAGE

'Compare Scars' is the new single from To Kill A King, out 1 June on Xtra Mile Recordings. You can stream it right now below. Brand new video will be available soon.

Described as “instantly, insanely catchy” by the Guardian, 'Compare Scars' is the follow up to recent single Love Is Not Control, a Huw Stephens Single Of The Week at Radio 1 and a Track Of The Day at XFM. Annie Mac, Zane Lowe, Alice Levine, Greg James and Fearne Cotton also played the single on Radio 1, and Huw Stephens had the band in for a session, which you can hear here.

To Kill A King’s April 2015 headline UK tour culminated with their biggest headline date so far at Shepherds Bush Empire. This summer, they've been hand-picked by Huw Stephens to headline the Lake Stage at the beautiful Latitude Festival on 16 - 19 July 2015. Further festivals in the UK and across Europe to be announced soon.

'Compare Scars' and 'Love Is Not Control' are taken from the critically acclaimed new album To Kill A King, which is out now. The self-titled follow up to their 2013 debut Cannibals With Cutlery was produced by Mark Crew (Bastille, Rag n Bone Man) and Ben Jackson of the band, and is the sound of a band hitting the peak of their powers. It’s the sort of record that could only be made now, an album where stadium-sized choruses, artful dynamism and sonic experimentalism slide seamlessly together.

"The likes of Compare Scars and Love Is Not Control are instantly, insanely catchy, with feverish rhythms and call-and-response routines” The Guardian

“They’ve upped their game beyond recognition….their calling card is singer Ralph Pelleymounter’s voice, a gorgeous flexible croon” **** Q

"The love child of INXS, The Maccabees and The National, with everything from charming ballads to big anthems” Shortlist

www.facebook.com/tokillaking // @ToKillAKing // tokillaking.co.uk