We seem to say it every December, but this year has gone so quickly. We’ve fit a lot into twelve months, of course. Over the last twelve months, Real Gone has picked up a truckload of new followers and regular visitors; we’ve discovered new bands, reconnected with a couple of familiar faces, and given more column inches to old favourites.
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Welcome back to the Real Gone Singles Bar, the place where we explore the various individual tracks and mp3s that have landed in our inbox over the previous few weeks. This time around, we offer a festive selection – a collection of tunes with a Christmas theme, ranging from the traditional to the bespoke. Some of the material is brand new; some re-works the familiar in a new way, but when heard together, we hope these tunes entertain, and will prop up any great alternative playlist!
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The Delines’ 2022 album ‘The Sea Drift’ was a little smoother than their previous recordings, but in many ways, the record’s soulful Americana sound created some of the band’s richest sounds to date. Its timeless sound also translated perfectly to the stage – perhaps, in some ways, a little too perfectly – but it definitely showed off a band at the peak of their powers.
Welcome back to the Real Gone Singles Bar, the place where we explore the various mp3s and individual tracks that have landed in our inbox over the previous couple of weeks. This time around, singer songwriter’s dominate, making up five of our eight picks – but with that, obviously, comes the variety that, hopefully. makes the SB interesting. It’s time to say hello to Leon Frear – a performer with a brillianty retro style and also introduce Mighty One, a new indie pop band. We’re also welcoming back the brilliant Swimming Bell, and sharing a couple of rockier tunes along the way…
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Rowsie’s 2022 EP ‘Searching’ presented four tracks of solid sounding roots rock with noisier overtones. Somewhere between the solo works of Dan Baird, Boston bar room rockers Watts, the angrier end of the John Hiatt catalogue, a full blown Crazy Horse and Grant Lee Buffalo, the release’s four songs sold an enthusiastic DIY sound with relative ease.
This full length felt like a long time coming, but it does not disappoint. Working to Rowsie’s previous formula, its ten songs mix different elements of raw rock and Americana in a way that’s wholly natural, and the songwriting occasionally throws a sly humour into the mix, resulting in a collection of tracks that could’ve have been spawned at any point after the late 70s.