Music News

Today, Becca Mancari announces her forthcoming digital EP, Juniata, out March 19 via Captured Tracks. Along with the announcement, Mancari shares ‘Annie’, a nostalgic tune reminiscent of old hollywood film soundtracks, featuring a lush strings quintet. Listen to ‘Annie’ here. Confronting one’s past doesn’t always end in a fiery explosion – sometimes, acceptance has the quiet strength of water. Mancari knows this; it’s why she chose to name her new EP Juniata​, after the rural Pennsylvania river where she spent much of her childhood. In this new collection, she returns to her past both literally and figuratively, casting new light with a stripped-down selection of some of her sophomore album’s most haunting tracks.

Becca Mancari on ‘Annie’ – “I grew up watching 1950’s and 60’s movies that my grandma would record for us because we didn’t have TV growing up. The thing that I loved the most about these old films was the music… it was a time period where it felt almost appropriate to be a little dramatic in this lush orchestral fashion. So when I wrote “Annie” I wanted to harken back to that time of feeling like you were swept up into a dance. Also, I wrote this song on the front porch where I started my other band Bermuda Triangle. We used to play it during our live set, where Brittany would rip this incredible solo on classical guitar. “Annie” has definitely lived a few lives already, but it feels right that it would now be on this EP. It’s a little piece of coming back home.”

Released in June of last year, the critically-acclaimed ​The Greatest Part ​is a deceptively upbeat collection of sharp indie pop that explores Mancari’s experience growing up gay in a fundamentalist Christian home. Described by the New York Times as “Stereolab gone Nashville,” it boasts infectious electric guitar hooks and explosive percussion, cloaking the emotional weight of its subject matter in vibrant technicolor. The celebratory sound was by design – the album was meant as a paean to resilience and joy in the face of pain. Still, Mancari felt there was more to be expressed in these songs – she’d been having a recurring dream about the river, too, which felt like a symbol of unfinished business.

Though there is no shortage of formidable lyricism on ​Juniata’s t​racks, listening to the EP recalls another line from ​The Greatest Part:​“ ​Do you know your body anymore?”​ she asked on ‘I’m Sorry.’ “​Does it haunt you every night?​” Exposing oneself isn’t easy, especially with the whole world watching. But as Mancari confidently peels back the layers of her songwriting to reveal their gut-wrenching core, one gets the sense that she isn’t feeling so haunted anymore.

Pre-save Becca Mancari – Juanita EP: http://beccamancari.ffm.to/juniata.opr

Braids is thrilled to start 2021 with a brand-new ‘Young Buck’ remix from renowned New York-based DJ Python. The lead single from their most recent album Shadow Offering was widely acclaimed by fans and media when it was released a year ago. DJ Python’s take on the track is hypnotic, throbbing and intoxicating. Electronic modulations of Raphaelle’s voice project the listener to an out of comfort, new dimension where Braids is suddenly dominating the dancefloor. Amid this year-long pandemic struggle, it is time to reclaim dancing and expressing ourselves.

“Upon receiving DJ Python’s remix of our track Young Buck, my pining for the dance floor kicked in,” explains Braids. “I pulled my car over to an empty parking lot and turned the volume up as far as it could go. Alone beside the concrete barriers of a now desolate shopping mall, I was reminded of bodies beside bodies, of a night that you never want to end, of sweat, of joy. For a moment I was transported from my new and uncomfortable reality: distanced, living through a pandemic, to memories streaming behind my closed eyes, of a life lived prior, and one that will be lived again. This track offers the fuel needed to keep going, the energy needed to stay hopeful. When I close my eyes and dance to it in my living room, I am at the club and the club is with me.”

Python is a renowned DJ from Queens, New York with South American roots and who was raised in Miami. His latest album ‘Mas Amable’ came out last spring to rave reviews. “Music is just moods to me,” Python explains. “When I sit down and make music, I’m feeling something and then I just try to translate it into sounds. It’s like a conversation with the self. I like sounds that are a bit more whispery, or not as aggressively telling you exactly what to think or feel.” (Pitchfork).

Braids most recent album Shadow Offering co-produced by Chris Walla, is out now via Secret City Records / Remote Control. A luscious and expansive release, Shadow Offering leads us through a sonic tapestry of narrative. With heartbreaking honesty and precision, listeners traverse a nuanced and complicated world: one full of beautiful contradictions. Braids in currently in the studio writing new material.

Purchase / Stream ‘Young Buck (DJ Python Remix): https://found.ee/YB_RMX