In November 2024, Ria Aursjoen released her solo debut, the excellent ‘Strand’ EP. Although the material shared some common links with the artist’s band Octavian Winters, the six songs explored a lighter sound in places. With Ria adding elements of folk and dreampop to her rocky sound, the EP very much captured an artist sounding a little more mature.
Tag Archives: rock
THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #102
Welcome back to the Real Gone Singles Bar, the place where we explore some of the individual tracks that’ve landed in our inbox over the past few weeks. For our rock loving regulars, this selection offers a great track from Fen man Doug Harrison and some alternative leanings from an up and coming Scottish band. Exploring other genres, there’s a perfect slice of folk, some twisted pop, and even a slab of synth pop from a familiar figure. As always, this is just a small selection of the recent submissions and there will be many more singles shared in the near future. In the meantime, we hope you find something new to enjoy…
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EMILY ZUZIK – Age + Alchemy EP
When thinking of singer songwriters, Emily Zuzik certainly won’t be the first name that comes to most people’s minds. However, the Los Angeles based performer has had an interesting career. In addition to releasing work under her own name dating back to the early 2000’s, she’s collaborated with Moby, Enchanted Kids and several other artists. Dip into her back catalogue and you’ll find material from an artist who doesn’t want to be pigeonholed. Her 2006 release ‘You Had Me At Goodbye’, for example, features guitar driven pop-rock that would be perfect for a ‘Trouble’-era P!nk (‘Potential’), tunes that are Sheryl Crow-esque (pop-rocker ‘Subtraction’ and the country tinged ‘Breaking It Down’), light vocal jazz (‘Fascinating’) and even a number that sounds like something from the Morcheeba back catalogue (‘Stand Up Stand Out’). …And yet, Zuzik’s strong vocal presence is such that the material never feels like a musical grab-bag. The album is the work of a performer who not only appears to have sucked up a world of influences like a sponge, but also clearly believes in their art.
THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #101
Following another week where there have been an insane amount of submissions for the Singles Bar, this visit offers a broad selection of sounds. Among the eight picks, there’s a really atmospheric slice of pop from a singer songwriter on her way to becoming a proper cult figure, some superb indie pop vibes, and even a long stoner infused jam which really doesn’t suggest a “single” at all. As usual, we hope you find something new to enjoy…
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PEARL HANDLED REVOLVER – Tales You Lose
In 2016, British rock band Pearl Handled Revolver released ‘If The Devil Casts His Net’, an excellent album of dark rock tunes taking in influence from The Doors, with a swathe of riffs from Queens of The Stone Age and a pinch of early Deep Purple. They’d released material prior to this, but this record is where their brand of retro rock really came into its own. Over the course of the years that followed, the band played a huge number of gigs – even appearing on the bill for the A New Day Festival in 2023 as support for Caravan, Ozric Tentacles and System 7 (the electronica duo featuring the legendary Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy) – and released a couple more albums.