Each week we like to champion the music scene with ten songs in our playlist that all have a connection to the RaW (Reading and Wokingham) area and sometimes beyond. This week we have three new tracks for you from acts with connections to Reading and Wokingham. As always, we have a wide variety of musical styles, but we think they’re all worth a listen and we hope you find something new to enjoy as well as maybe getting out to experience the thrill of live music.
1. Villumier – HEAT –
Alt rock band Villumier from the Reading area have been fairly productive recently, with four singles released last year, and appearances at Reading Rising at the Face Bar last November, and at the Purple Turtle at the beginning of March, and this month they open Modern Era Fest on Sunday 10th at New Cross Inn in London. This is the last of their four tracks from last year, also the lead track from the EP which collected the singles together. https://www.instagram.com/villumier/
2. White Label – Dance On My Own –
We featured their last single only last month, but it’s not too soon to include the Reading-based duos’ latest release, hot off the presses just last week, as it’s so good! This is a very upbeat, danceable track, while the lyrics deal with being unable to sleep or concentrate because you’re waiting to hear from someone you can’t stop thinking about. You can see White Label play live at Milk in Reading on 19th April; it’s a Sunday night, but it’s an early show. https://www.instagram.com/ whitelabeltheband/
3. Emerson – Too Pretty To Die –
It’s always worth checking out the Purple Turtle Stage outside the stadium before a Reading FC home match. We did that last week and saw an exciting and energetic set of very good songs from Fleet based band, Emerson. With their jangly guitar based indie pop featuring excellent vocal harmonies this very tight four piece were very impressive. With a 3-0 victory for Reading and such an enjoyable pre match band that’s what we call a good day so we had to feature the band’s new single in celebration – https://linktr.ee/emerson.band99
4. Wrex – Consume –
Wrex are based in Brighton, but we were impressed when we saw them at Reading Rising at the Face Bar last November, so made sure we were at the Purple Turtle last week when they appeared there. This is their latest single which muses on the modern world, both the overconsumption of resources and the time we spend on social media looking for the next dopamine hit. Their next track, Paranoia, is out this Friday, 27th. If you get the chance to see them live, take it! https://www.facebook.com/ wearewrex
5. Midge Ure – Just Words –
It’s always good when legendary artists plan to visit the area and Midge Ure is certainly one of those. He’ll be at Reading Hexagon in May (26th) and has a new album out a few weeks before the Hexagon show called ‘A Man Of Two Worlds’. This single is from the album and it’s a good one which shows that he can still produce excellent music. We love that guitar solo! Well worth getting along to the Hexagon to hear a mix of new material and classic hits, all linked with instrumentals to give a cinematic feel. Sounds intriguing!! – http://www.midgeure.co.uk/
6. A Better Life – Murmuration –
This is the lead track from the new Tranquil State EP from the A Better Life collective. We’ve featured Phil Daniels’ project before, which aims to produce music which promotes a feeling of calm and tranquility, and, as previously, these tracks absolutely deliver. If you need to chill out, put the EP on, lay back and relax. https:// www.facebook.com/abetterlifemusic
7. The Kokroachez – Vampire Town –
The Kokroachez are a dynamic young alternative rock band from Oxford. We saw them play last summer at The Oracle as part of their Riverbeats event curated by Readipop and were blown away by their energy. This was their most recent single, released at the end of last year, but they’ve not been idle since, with gigs in Oxford and Abingdon supporting the likes of Reading’s InAir, and shooting a video to go with their latest single, That Kind of Girl, which is out now. We’re also looking forward to seeing them at this year’s Wokingham Festival in August, where they’re opening the second stage on the Sunday. https://www.instagram.com/thekokroachez/
8. SEREN – Maybe, I Don’t Know –
SEREN was one of the lucky winners of the Battle of the Bands that Only The Poets held at the Purple Turtle to find the support act for their gig at the O2 Academy Brixton. This is the lead track from SEREN’s latest EP, Where The Heart is, which is a collection of songs about her adolescence and how to deal with growing up in an ever-changing world, and this song captures the strangeness of returning home after living in a new place and seeing the people you left behind. https:// www.instagram.com/serenmusic__/
9. Mordecai Smyth – Breaking the Backs –
Mordecai’s music is a sort of prog, psych, pop, garage hybrid which has flavours of the 60’s/70’s rock scene but still sounds current. When we saw him live at Crumbs in Woodley recently the set was predominantly Mordecai originals, which left us looking forward to the forthcoming release of his new album, ‘Gather the Scattered Mind’ on local label, Mega Dodo Records, from which the single we feature is taken Let’s hope too that there are more music nights at Crumbs as it’s a big ‘well done’ to the venue for trying something new – https://www.facebook.com/stickytapeandrust
10. One Last Day – Ash & Bone –
Alt metal rockers One Last Day continue to release great songs with their Eyes Like Glass // Thoughts Like Fuel EP, released at the end of last year, including five new tracks from which we’ve chosen this one, Ash & Bone. The band will be out and about later in the year, including a gig at the Face Bar in Reading on May 31st alongside Purple Grace and The Hellfire Club, and headlining for Radio Wigwam at Wokingham Festival in August; see you there! https://onelastdayofficial.com/
You can listen to all the songs featured in our Spotify playlist at https://bit.ly/rawsoundstoday
