So, what are you listening to these days?

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New Barenaked Ladies last week and it sounds pretty good. The band is now well into their third decade with a couple original members still on board, including lead singer Steven Page. Joining on this slightly country-inflected tune is fiddler Kendal Carson (The Paperboys, Alan Doyle's backup band).

 
Sticking this here rather than in the metal thread because, while it comes from the channel of a metal band and is one of their songs, it is really something else entirely. Not a guitar riff or blast beat in sight. The band is Epica and the song is T.I.M.E., the latest single from their forthcoming album. But here, they do something really different with it. Lead vocalist Simone Simons and growler Mark Jansen are still providing the main vocal line, but backing them is Hellscore, a rock/metal choir. That's all. The song is done a capella, with just the choir and soloists. Hellscore was founded and is directed by Noa Gruman, lead singer of the band Scardust, and provides choral backing for that band as well as working with a number of others and even doing some recordings of their own.

Maybe it's the mood I am in, but this may be one of the best performances that I have heard in 2025. Epica is a band at the top of their form and blending their two superb vocalists with the choir creates a magical few minutes of music.

 
A new original song from Blake Morgan, tenor and occasional arranger for renowned choral group Voces8. Not surprisingly, Blake has the group and some former members singing backup. I love Blake's arrangements so it's nice to see him going the next step of writing his own music. This is from an EP containing two original songs and four of his arrangements.

 
And another Blake arrangement featuring the Ringmasters, "Shall We Gather At The River?"

 
One more Blake Morgan arrangement that is near and dear to my heart because I have sung it myself. "This is my song", set to the trio section of Jean Sibelius' Finlandia, was frequently sung in my old UU fellowship. I probably used it in services now and then myself since Finlandia is an favourite of mine. Blake also added a new third verse.

 
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Changes have been coming thick and fast to Voces8 in recent years and, to the sorrow of many fans, soprano Andrea Haines has announced that she is leaving after this year. Andrea has been with the group for 17 years. Only founder, music director, and countertenor Barnaby Smith has been with the group longer (being the founder and all). Her successor (she's irreplaceable really) has been announced and will join in the Fall. Here is Savannah Porter's debut with Voces8.


If you check the credits in the description, Andrea was the producer for this recording. Maybe a hint at where she is headed??
 
Envy of None is not quite a supergroup. Vocalist Maiah Wynne is newer and less well-known than her bandmates (and at 28, she is young enough to be the daughter or even granddaughter of any of them). But it comes dang close with Alex Lifeson of Rush on guitars and Andy Curran of Coney Hatch on bass and backing vocals. Joining the trio is veteran producer, engineer, and musician Alf Annibalini on keys and additional guitar. Nice mix of new and old, in other words. Three years after their debut, the band has dropped it's second album and it's ... hard to classify. It's rock, but isn't really the hard rock of Andy's old band or the prog of Rush. Maiah's soft, breathy voice sings melodic vocals over solid instrumentals from the guys. See what you think.



Interestingly, the band lacks a drummer, instead using session drummers. I know on the last album, they had a couple different guys on the kit (Tim Oxford of Arkells is the one I remember). Haven't seen who played drums this time around.
 
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Laufey has been teasing the first single from her upcoming third studio album in her Tik Toks and Shorts and now it's hear. Nice 50s-esque ballad called "Silver Linings". Still blows my mind that someone my son's age has such love and skill for a style of music that was already getting old when I was a kid.

 
LOL at "it's hear". I leave the typo. Makes for nice wordplay given this is about music.
 
One of my unexpected favourite albums of 2024 was Tavern by German hurdy gurdy maestro and singer Patty Gurdy. And it is the gift that keeps on giving as she released another video from it today. A lively, uplifting tune to spin us into the weekend.

 
Did Caesar fiddle ... while the empire was consumed?

Folk never listen to the word(s)! They cannot understand ... by choice of the leading factor! Imagine a dense sound that obliterates to the state of obliteration ...

Beats me why ...
 
Holy hell, does this ever rock. Harley Olivia is a former flight attendant from Toronto who is now pouring her mental health struggles out in her music. This performance is from, of all places, Palasad Socialbowl here in London. It's a bowling alley, arcade, and general entertainment centre but I swear I have never seen a music video shot there before. Incredible performance. That voice is to die for and the scream at 2:50? Crap, some metal artists can't scream that hard.

 
Another great song from Harley. Wow, I hope she succeeds at this because she sure should. She's only got an EP out so far but I assume an album will be the goal. The patient in the medical scenes, by the way, is her co-writer/producer/guitarist Siegfried Meier.

 
THe video for "You're Not Ready" has more concert footage including from the show at Palasad. She seems to be quite a dynamic stage performer as well as a terrific singer. And Siegfried is a terrific guitarist. She seems to have a landed a valuable asset early in her career.

 
It's been nearly a decade since I discovered Faouzia, the Moroccan-born Canadian singer-songwriter. She packs one of the most gorgeous voices in the music biz today and is also a very talented songwriter. She's never quite made it big, but has definitely had an interesting career, singing a duet with John Legend on one of her songs and recently appearing in a music series on Chinese television. New single dropped yesterday. The Gen Z star sometimes hews a bit too far into modern dance-pop for my tastes but this ballad is fantastic and a great showpiece for her voice.

 
Blast from the past time. Eighties all-female pop band the Go-Gos are back in action and performed at Coachella 2025. Tuneful pop with nice harmonies are their stock in trade.

Here they are joined by special guest Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day (who apparently wrote a song for one of their later albums) for "Head Over Heels".


And with usual lead singer Belinda Carlisle, their hit "Vacation".

 
Courtesy of random explorations of the vastness of the internet

A short SF tale in the vein of Douglas Adams mixed with Lovecraft

So
Much
Fun
 
If ever a song was due for a revival this year, it's Green Day's "American Idiot", originally released in 2004 during the Bush Jr. era. And, lo and behold, guess who was a headliner at Coachella this year?

 
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