Song of the Day

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January 4, 2024

Nova: “Bird in the Hurricane”

By: Jack Anderson

Just like a ragtag team of survivors, when you find the perfect pack for your project, playing without them is like taking an axe to the face. So sure, choir singer and solo veteran Nova Barton has strong enough chops to create and command attention all on her own, as heard on her 2021 debut Novaville. But despite maintaining her project Nova‘s eponymous/mononymous status, the backing band of UT buddies she recruited in support of Novaville was just too killer to keep out of the studio the second time around.

Now we dawn on NovApocalypse, Nova’s sophomore LP that’s set for release this April. With the full four-piece of friends in tow, Barton’s already restorative and poignant songwriting (no doubt informed by her music therapy studies) takes a meteoric ascent with wider-than-ever arrangements. And thematically, NovApocalypse is set to sound sort of like if Towns Van Zandt wrote The Road instead of Cormac McCarthy, crippling isolation, excessive blood spurts, rampant deception and all.

While the storm of NovApocalypse is still a few months out, Nova kicks off the cataclysm with a single release show 10:30pm this Saturday at Captain Quackenbush’s Soundscape following openers Hover at 8:30 and Boomershack at 9:30. That single? “Bird in the Hurricane”. Ideal HBO intro credit material from its first guitar strums, “Bird in the Hurricane” soars with pizzicato plucks, light treading percussion, serene string harmonies, grounded bass, atmospheric and Barton’s moody, multi-tracked vocals that collectively “carry the fire”, no matter how bleak the future may look.


Episodes

May 8, 2024

Honey Luck: “Red Line”

Summer’s just over a month away. And with the birds and the bees still bringing new life into Spring, it’s a great time to appreciate fresh acts. So let’s stick a dipper into one of the latest projects to come out of Austin, Honey Luck. This Americana trio was born out of an auspicious meeting […]

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May 8, 2024

Jomo & The Possum Posse: “La Quinta”

Short-term shelter ain’t just part of a discreet routine for affairs and flings. Naw, as an integral piece to any touring musician’s itinerary, lodging has found a cozy place in the songwriter space, ranging from themes of post-breakup lifelessness (“Heartbreak Hotel”), raunchy encounters (“Chelsea Hotel #2”), and tour torpor (“Holiday Inn”) to whatever the hell […]

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May 7, 2024

Steel Gemini: “Only Freak”

If you’re a fan of that synth pop section of indie electronica in the ilk of Goldfrapp, Grimes, and CHVRCHES…there’s a relatively recent artist right here in town that’ll absolutely scratch that itch. And that’s Steel Gemini, the Austin-based project of singer-songwriter-producer Joy Baldwin. Ever since her December 2022 debut, Baldwin’s been a real joy […]

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May 5, 2024

Jana Mila: “Somebody New”

In an environment as dense and competitive as Americana, a unique set of lens can really help you stand out. But if that habitat appears even remotely unnatural to others, every little bit of local color improves your odds of surviving in the long run. Meet Jana Mila. Mila’s Amsterdam upbringing was spent in the […]

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May 2, 2024

Mikky & The Doom: “Garbage, USA”

In most situations, if you got it, flaunt it. But in an industry that demands infinitely more from your ears than from your eyes, if the hottest person on the planet doesn’t have the pipes to match their looks, they probably don’t have a shot at succeeding as a singer. So let’s talk newcomer Mikky […]

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May 2, 2024

Henry the Archer: “ViolinT”

If this late Spring’s got your spirits shook up and you’re looking for some renewed motivation to tend to your garden (be it literal or figurative), we’ve got a DFW act that’ll make you go hard in the yard. And that’s on behalf of singer-guitarist-keyboardist R. Hennessy, AKA “Henry O”, who’s been hitting the mark […]

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May 1, 2024

Emily Shirley: “Morning Light”

It’s the classic end to an encounter. You meet someone new. Sparks seemingly fly. You have fun for a night. But when you wake up ready to tell your new boo you’d like to see ’em again…they’re long gone. Hell, and in the modern era, that might all happen on just on an app alone. […]

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April 30, 2024

Grandmaster: “Castle Door”

Watch out, Golden Dawn Arkestra…there’s a new costumed collective in town, and they’re hunting for for fresh converts! But instead of frenetic Afro-inspired dance grooves, these fanatics have so far stuck to the slower side of ’70s-style jazz funk rock; think War whisked together with Steely Dan. Not that you’d be able to tell from […]

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