Author Archives: Ed Blow

Grant Olsen, also know as Arthur from Seattle based duo Arthur & Yu, has just unveiled a second track from his new solo project Gold Leaves. Christening his new band Gold Leaves as a testament to his autumnal character, Olsen has spent the best part of the last four years composing and refining his forthcoming long player ‘The Ornament’.

Gold Leaves have already preceded the album with a free download of the record’s title track which you can grab below and this week have dropped a second preview in the shape of ‘Cruel &Kind’, a beautifully orchestrated, nostalgia-evoking folk jam. Set for release on 16th August via Hardly Art, ‘The Ornament’ certainly sounds like it could be an old favorite in the making.

Gold Leaves – Cruel & Kind

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Gold Leaves – The Ornament

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There is a unique balance of honesty and maturity in the way Emma Louise sings, which may not seem impressive until you find out she is only 19 years old. Delicate and at times even fierce, her elegant lyrics accompanied by a hopeful, almost whimsical approach, is what makes Emma so easy to fall in love with.

‘Full Hearts & Empty Rooms’, Emma’s new EP, arrives so fully formed and exhilarating it’s hard to believe it’s her debut release. There’s an undeniable current of emotion running through the EP from opener ‘Bugs’, which sees Emma’s impassioned vocals pleading over a delicate acoustic guitar and restrained, paired-down drums, through to the simple, yet beautiful folk of ‘1000 Sundowns’. It’s track 2, the delightful ‘Jungle’ that really stood out for me. A heavy hearted, ethereal folk-pop anthem, this is a real gem which wouldn’t sound out of place on Florence and the Machine’s next album.

You can download her Full Hearts & Empty Rooms EP for the next 2 days at a discounted price on groopEase.

Emma Louise – Jungle

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‘Middle Of The Bed’ is the debut single from the incredibly talented young folk singer Lucy Rose. It sees an intimate and touching narrative of unrequited love and lonely nights spent in the middle of the bed centred around Lucy’s gentle but striking vocals.

Heading to London at the age of 18 to cement her place in the incestuous London folk scene, Lucy has already played at Mumford & Sons club night and featured on the title track of Bombay Bicycle Club’s
‘Flaws’ album. ‘Middle Of The Bed’ may well be the track that lifts her haunting folk-pop out of the London open-mic nights and onto much larger stages. Keep an ear out for Lucy Rose, I have a feeling she’s someone we’ll be hearing a lot more from…

‘Middle Of The Bed’ is out on the 8th August but in the mean time you can stream the single below

Lucy Rose – Middle Of The Bed by Lucy Rose

and grab these 2 incredible live acoustic tracks for free

Lucy Rose – Night Bus (Live Acoustic)

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Lucy Rose – First (Live Acoustic)

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British folk sensation, Laura Marling has unveiled details of her third album ‘A Creature I Don’t Know’ which is set to be released on 12th of September. It follows the success of her Mercury nominated sophomore record ‘I Speak Because I Can’, a dark and thoughtful masterpiece that was without doubt one of my favourite records of 2010.

Last week Laura released a preview of her forthcoming record in the shape of the above YouTube teaser which hints at the albums polished beauty. Today I stumbled across this live recording of ‘Night After Night’ on The Ruckus. Lifted from ‘A Creature I Don’t Know’ and recorded at Housing Works in New York City on June 14, 2011, this wonderful song really highlights Laura’s fluid guitar playing and impassioned Leonard Cohen-esque vocal delivery. This is folk at it’s finest

‘Laura Marling – Night After Night – Live in NYC

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‘A Creature I Don’t Know’ will be released on LP, CD and as a special edition box-set and is available to pre-order now