Another very warm welcome to My Four, the last edition of the year. Christmas is just around the corner, but that hasn’t stopped the new music from adorning our pages. So let me, Mark Sharpley, take you through the choice cuts of the week. And we begin with…
THE PEACE COLLECTIVE
100 years on since the Christmas Day truce was called in World War I, and the warring factions laid down their arms for a game of football. This is remembered by The Peace Collective and their release of All Together Now. Originally a hit in 1990 for The Farm, this version has a host of familiar faces, including Peter Hooton from The Farm, Julian Lennon, John Power of Cast and The La’s, Mick Jones of The Clash, David Gray and Shara Nelson from Massive Attack amongst the participants of this recording. And all the proceeds from this release go to the British Red Cross, so do yourself a favour and let’s have a proper Christmas number one. Available on the DemonMusicGroup label, this is the video for, “All Together Now”.
NEON HITCH
Next up this week is Neon Hitch and the release of her new album, Eleutheromaniac. Born in Nottingham, she was originally on The Beats record label which was created by Mike Skinner of The Streets and Ted Mayhem. After the closure of the label, MySpace (remember that?) was the platform for which Neon showcased her music, and was discovered by Benny Blanco. That turned out to be a very fruitful discovery as she then signed to the Warner Bros label. This album contains the song, “Warner Blvd”, and it’s a reference to her departure from the Warner label. A truly independent artist. Available on her WeRNeon label, this is the video for, “Yard Sale”. www.werneon.com
CHARLI XCX
Cambridge born Charli XCX is here this week with the release of her new album, Sucker. Charli, or Charlotte Emma Aitchison as she is better known, has been on the music scene since 2005 and has already been on tour with the likes of Coldplay, Paramore and Marina & The Diamonds. She has also made an appearance on Saturday Night Live and indeed joined the list of the 9th annual Billboard Women in Music honourees. And all this has been achieved at the age of 22. A long productive career for this talent, it seems. Available on the Atlantic Records label, this is the video for, “Break The Rules”. www.charlixcxmusic.com
LAUREL
And we finish this week with Laurel and the release of her new E.P. entitled Holy Water. Another young English musician hailing from Southampton, the 19 year old had started out in her young life dreaming of becoming Britney Spears. Having watched Laura Marling, those dreams soon changed and she purchased herself a Spanish guitar and decided that folk would be the way forward in her career. By the age of 17, she was busy recording in Los Angeles and had Diane Warren writing songs for her too. She has her debut album coming out in 2015, and big things are expected. So keep an eye on Laurel, we certainly will be. Available on the Next Time Records label, this is a cut from the E.P. called, “Memorials”. www.classiclaurel.com
https://soundcloud.com/classiclaurel/memorials-1
And that is your lot for this week, and indeed the year. Join us in 2015 as we seek out more fresh talent and those bands you already know, but always the four tracks you need to know about. Have a great Christmas and New Year and, as always, keep on keeping on…
