ALBUM ANNOUNCEMENT: Glasgow lo-fi pop sensation “Lloyd’s House” to release his debut self-titled album
Recorded in various bedrooms from January to June 2021, ‘Lloyd’s House’ is their most directed and autonomous work yet.
After releasing January’s ‘We Could Be Friends’ EP on Corkscrew Records to critical acclaim, Lloyd’s House continues to develop their sound into that of an experimental pop prowess built on melodic bass guitar, soulful drums, heart wrenching synth and lilted yet bittersweet vocals.
Rich textures and ear candy are imbued throughout the work, but Lloyd’s songwriting is where this album shines more than any other release. Taking influence from the clear-cut yet abstract lyricism of artists such as Elvis Depressedly, Porches and Alex G, the album tells a tale of self-determination and actualisation of sexual identity, finding one’s own and presenting it to the world through 12 story-telling tracks.
Almost entirely recorded and mixed through means of Lloyd’s own, the expert mastering by Jason Shaw creates the depth and punchiness the album deserves, allowing tales of love, conquest and reflection to flourish. ‘Lloyd’s House’ will be released on the 3rd of December 2021 via Corkscrew Records.
A cassette release will also be available.
OUT NOW: DESI PUNX – a zine highlighting the voices of the south asian diaspora
Purchase a physical copy here. All profits go to sangama.org – a Bangalore-based NGO dedicated to protecting LGBT individuals and sex workers.
Alternatively, you can read a PDF version for free here.
This cut’n’paste xeroxed zine features two interviews: one with ex-riot grrrl zinester Dr. Madhu Krishnan, and another with Jyoti Sekhawat of Berlin-based grunge band Passionless Pointless.
Even if you are not a member of the South Asian diaspora, there is something for everyone in this zine, including Dr Krishnan’s insightful discussions of the corporatisation of riot grrrl and Jyoti’s inspiring journey to becoming a badass musician.
Desi Punx is also within the stacks of Barnard College’s zine library – if you’re a Columbia/Barnard student or alumni, you can find information here.
we’ve made some cassettes!!!
Lloyd gave me the fantastic idea to release his stellar debut in cassette form. It didn’t even register to me that people still listened to cassettes, let alone even think about making them from scratch. While I was skeptical at first, I ended up finding an amazing community through cassette enthusiasts. Major props to Jack of Devil Town Tapes for encouraging me to take the plunge and giving me step-by-step guidance when it comes to the progress. Anyway… two cassette decks (and one Walkman!) later, I think I’ve transformed into a proper tapehead.
I’d like to present to you: Lloyd’s debut EP on a custom brown cassette. The warm nature of the music format really does his music justice. We’re going to be releasing this in a limited edition of 50, and you can purchase directly from here: https://lloydshouse.bandcamp.com/album/we-could-be-friends
out now: lloyd’s house debut EP, “we could be friends”
Stream/buy the EP here.
Lloyd’s House is the emotional, lo-fi pop journey of solo artist Lloyd Ledingham.
“We Could Be Friends” – his debut EP – will be released 29th of January 2021 through Corkscrew Records.
The project combines rich bass chords with the sounds of crashing drums, leaving just enough space for lyricism which could have been taken right out of Lloyd’s diary. The honest and self-critical songwriting is the result of his continued struggle with sexuality and related OCD & anxiety. With the entirety of the EP’s melody sections arranged on bass, “We Could Be Friends” explores rich textures and sounds reminiscent of artists such as Alex G, Duster, Phoebe Bridgers, and American Football.
The EP is Lloyd’s most intimate work; the whole project was recorded on a 2005 8-track mixer in his bedroom. Spending restless nights strumming open chords and walking to rehearsal rooms in the rain, Ledingham conveys a sense of struggle and uncertainty through every track. Yet by recording drums with only two mics at practice studios, he creates a lo-fi and DIY atmosphere mixed with a resounding warmth and belonging.
‘we could be friends’ and ‘tell me it’s over’ delve into themes of self-loathing and obsession, while tracks “that’s when i sold myself’ and ‘i’m too cold’ express sudden realisation and guilt within the boundaries of relationships. Constantly meandering between guilt and innocence, love and hatred, knowing and unknowing, Lloyd’s House gives a glimpse into the conflicts of sexuality and compulsive, obsessive thinking through the medium of low-frequency sonic honesty.
“We Could Be Friends” will be released on the 29th of January 2021 via Corkscrew Records.
out now: maeve aickin’s new album, “waiting rooms”
Stream/buy the album here.
On November 13th, seventeen-year-old singer/songwriter Maeve Aickin will release her debut album, Waiting Rooms, through Corkscrew Records. The record was written between 2018 and 2020, preceding and following Aickin’s diagnosis with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. Aickin’s chronic illness has cast a shadow over nearly every aspect of her life, and the lyrical content of Waiting Rooms grapples with the process of accommodating change as one becomes alienated from their body. She recorded and produced the entirety of the album between her bedroom and bathroom early in the quarantine with borrowed school equipment, and enlisted former collaborator Adam Tucker of Signaturetone Recording (Blue Ox, The Crinn) to mix and master. Waiting Rooms is an expansion of Aickin’s 2019 EP of the same name, which was described by For the Rabbits as “the start of something incredible.”
Maeve has spent the last nine years in Mumbai, India, and was recently transplanted to her birthplace of Minneapolis, Minnesota due to the pandemic. The circumstances under which the album was recorded are ever-present, and made explicit in standout track “Harriet.” As Aickin reflects on her transitions both to suburban living and solitude, she comes to the conclusion that times of upheaval elevate and complicate the most base emotions. This idea recurs throughout the record as Aickin deals in the language of extremes, navigating the spaces between faith and doubt, sickness and health, solitude and overstimulation. The lead single, “Temple,” cements Aickin’s internal conflict in a single phrase: “I never know who I’m praying to.” While many of the tracks deal explicitly with the consequences of chronic illness, songs like “Park” take on classic teenage experiences through a self-aware and earnest lens. Aickin was inspired to teach herself the guitar two years ago after seeing Julien Baker in concert, and can directly trace the impact of watching an out lesbian woman sing about faith on a major stage to the conception of Waiting Rooms. Taken in totality, the work comes off as a young woman who has spent her life suppressing her emotions through guilt finally articulating the contours of her experience. Aickin even goes so far as to open a dialogue with her future self, initiated within “Noël” and culminating in the haunting acappella closer, “Boring.” Directly riffing off of The Pet Shop Boys’ “Being Boring,” Aickin takes the ethos of the seminal track and uses it to parse her anxieties and hopes for the future. She implicitly speaks to her generation’s existential fears due to climate change and global capitalism, presenting an idealized future with the tragic awareness that it is unlikely to materialize.
out now: emily mcnally’s new single, “pretty girl”
You find the track here.
This August 12, bisexual folk-pop singer/songwriter Emily McNally is releasing her latest single, ‘pretty girl’. An upbeat guitar-based track perfect for the last days of summer, ‘pretty girl’ was recorded, mixed, and mastered entirely by the Brooklyn-based artist on her iPhone.
‘pretty girl’ is a bubbly tune capturing the feeling of having a new crush and seeing everything through rose colored glasses. Emily seeks to provide a source of positive queer representation for younger folks, as she struggled to find voices like her own during adolescence.
Emily McNally is creating the soundtrack for the lovelorn and anxious generation of young people with her genre-fluid, DIY bedroom pop music. With vulnerable lyricism, Emily confronts her own naivete and yearning in layers of lush vocals. She hopes to share a time capsule of the emotional whirlwind of queer adolescence in order to ease the sense of loneliness in others (and herself).
out now: corkscrew compilation 001
corkscrew compilation 001 is the product of bedroom-based teenage boredom. The compilation itself contains a diverse range of voices from all over the world, from a “pop obsessed transgender individual from the UK (Sofa King)” to a “indie-folk-country-punk-singer-songwriter person based in NYC (Rella)”. You can find some more detailed information on each artist here.
It has everything from a lo-fi punk cover of a Kate Bush song, to an intricate classical piano track.
Almost all of the artists present on the compilation are still in high school or college.
corkscrew compilation 001 is out on most streaming platforms.
Corkscrew Records 