ANCHR's Artist of the Week: Elizabeth Moen

This week’s ANCHR’s artist of the week goes to singer-songwriter Elizabeth Moen.

Photo Source

Based right here in Chicago, I had the chance to see Moen perform live back in July at Out of Space Festival in Evanston. Moen instantly won me over with her silky yet powerful vocals and folky, alt-country guitar styling. Stylistically she gave me Steve Nicks vibes, but I’d recommend adding her to your playlists if you’re a fan of Allison Ponthier, Waxahatchee, Alabama Shakes, or Faye Webster.

Moen has a few albums in her discography already—her most recent releases include 2022’s album Wherever You Aren’t and the 2023 EP For Arthur, which features covers of Arthur Russell songs.

While she currently resides in Chicago and Moen has toured around the US, UK and Europe, she got her start as a musician in the nearby state of Iowa. She wrote her first songs while studying at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, but her 2022 album came together in the different places she visited after leaving Iowa City. For example, “Headgear” was recorded during a session in Dublin, Ireland and “Synthetic Fabrics” came together in Alabama. When the pandemic hit, Moen tracked vocals and overdubs wherever she could–apartments and studios across the States, Canada, and Ireland and finished mixing and mastering the record in late 2021. Moen summarizes the tracks on Wherever You Aren’t by saying, “These songs are about mental health, joy, panic attacks, falling in love, falling out of it, and accepting that sometimes it will stay with you forever.”

Tune into Moen’s video for “Sorry That I Love Yoy” below, and see where you can catch her on tour here.

ANCHR's Artist of the Week: Grapetooth

Photo by Alex Hupp

This week’s ANCHR Artist of the Week goes to another Chicago group— Grapetooth!

The duo of Twin Peak’s Clay Frankel and Chris Bailoni (Home-Sick) made a splash with Grapetooth’s debut single “Trouble” that released in the summer of 2018. It’s one of those ear-wormy songs with a hook that will latch onto your brain and remain there for hours, or possibly days. “Trouble” featured whimsical synths and an air of giddiness alongside its massive hook, characteristics that rang throughout the majority of Grapetooth’s self-titled debut record, which was released later in 2018. Bailoni and Frankel’s artful blend of New Wave influences and blissful dance beats crafted the perfect recipe for their rowdy and effervescent live performances. Off the back of their album’s release, Grapetooth performed sold out shows across the US and even play at Pitchfork Fest in 2019.

Every time I saw them perform there was an unwavering sense of joy and camaraderie that filled the venue, so it was sad to see Grapetooth take a bit of a hiatus after their bout of success. If you, too, enjoyed Grapetooth’s short-but-sweet stint, then you can rejoice in knowing they’ve made a resurgance at the end of 2022. This past December, Grapetooth released a double single (their first music drop since February 2020) with “Infinite Source,” featuring Knox Fortune, and “Shining,” featuring Squirrel Flower. There’s something slightly refined and subdued about the new material, but at the heart of it, Grapetooth’s wild and youthful nature remains just below the surface. And of course, they’re still just as addictively hooky as before.

Talking about the new track “Infinite Source,” the band says the song captures the “endless well of creativity, gratitude, and positivity that exists within all of us.” “We’re turning that feeling into dance music and feel blessed to have Ella (Squirrel Flower) and Kevin (Knox Fortune) singing on these songs. They’re both so talented and have incredible voices,” they add.

Grapetooth also returned with a live performance at The Empty Bottle on NYE 2022. Be sure to follow them for any additional show or music updates, and tune into the video for “Infinite Source” below.

ANCHR's Artist of the Week: Friko

The first Artist of the Week for 2023 is Chicago’s own Friko!

Photo by Nando Espinosa Herrera

I had the chance to see Friko when they opened up for Horsegirl at Thalia Hall, and their set that night proved that Chicago really does have the one of (if not the) best music scenes in the world as they mesmerized the audience with their dynamic indie rock style.

The trio composed of Niko Kapetan, Bailey Minzenberger, and Luke Stamos are relatively new to the Chicago scene, but Kapetan and Stamos have been friends since their kindergarten years. The pair officially became Friko when they joined up with Minzenberger during their senior year of high school. Now they’ve already made a big impact locally and released a steady stream of singles— most recently putting out their debut EP entitled “Whenever Forever” in March of 2022. Songs like “Half As Far” and “IN_OUT” captivate listeners by exploring quieter lo-fi moments that contrast against crescendoing guitar riffs.

Friko has also recorded an Audiotree session, featuring live versions of the majority of their aforementioned EP, and they kicked off on their first ever tour at the end of November last year, which ended with a hometown show at the legendary Metro. The band shared their excitement for getting out there and playing more shows by saying, “After spending a lot of time in the studio, we feel like we’ve really come into ourselves as a band and what we have to say, and can’t wait to share that with as many people that are willing to listen.”

Be sure to give Friko a follow to see what they get up to next, and tune into their music video for “IN_OUT” below. Also, if you’re in Chicago, catch them at Schubas on January 28th, along with a bunch of other Chicago bands, for an abortion funds benefit show.

Premiere: "Strange Actress" by Uma Bloo

Photo by Monika Oliver

Today we’re honored to be premiering the single “Strange Actress” from our friends in Uma Bloo. The Chicago-based outfit of songwriter and vocalist Molly Madden, Uma Bloo was originally Madden’s moniker as a burlesque performer before she started performing as a solo musician with the same name. Nowadays, the Uma Bloo project has blossomed into a full band lineup consisting of Mike Altergott on guitar and keys, Steven Rutledge on drums, and Luke Blanco on bass and keys.

The new track “Strange Actress” comes from the group’s upcoming debut album entitled Don't Drive Into the Smoke. Talking about the song, Luke Blanco describes it as “a piece containing the most quiet of moments; a piece containing the loudest,” adding that “Strange Actress” is exemplary of Uma Bloo’s wide dynamic range. “The drums and bass maintain the beat in lockstep during the second verse without sacrificing the subdued mood. Guitars blare in increasing intensity as the song progresses, overdriven guitars blanketing the listener in a warm, yet heightened emotional state. Uma projects her voice with strength - you can hear her diaphragm hard at work through the speakers - yet it falls into the most beautiful of falsettos as the song concludes,” Blanco says.

The entirety of the upcoming album was recorded over a period of just three days at Chicago’s JAMDEK Studio and co-produced by Madden, Altergott, and Doug Malone. The origin of some of the songs on the record dates back to Madden’s late teen years, when she moved to Chicago to explore her artistic potential and broke free from a conservative and religious upbringing. “The emotions I wanted to express in my art didn’t tie in with my family’s values, but once I accepted the fact that I wanted to create, these songs started pouring out of me,” she says. “In a lot of ways, this album has been in process since I was eight years old without me fully knowing it, unpacking the life I had and what I wanted to build.” While many of these songs have been a long time coming, Madden also credits the collaborative nature of the band and her co-producers with pushing her to expand beyond her comfort zone more than ever before. “There were many moments of trying to express an idea or question without knowing the right language or terminology, which felt lonely at times, but that challenge also created a lot of innovative choices on all of our parts. There was a silent acknowledgement of the very intimate place these songs came from that resulted in very intentional communication between the three of us,” Madden says about the group’s collaboration.

Don't Drive Into the Smoke releases March 23, 2022 via Earth Libraries. Pre-Order your copy here, and tune into the premiere of “Strange Actress” below.

Earth Libraries · Strange Actress - Uma Bloo

Don't Drive Into the Smoke - TRACKLISTING
1. Never Know Me
2. Annie
3. Marguerite's Novels
4. Coming Home
5. Strange Actress
6. Your Pussycat
7. Was I Ever
8. The Actor's Last Question
9. Don't Drive Into the Smoke
10. To Be Vast

ANCHR's Artist of the Week: Divino Niño

Sheeta-Kuri-Ooah! ( I am not sure what that means but it sounds like a great salutation.) As I'm sure many of you Chicago music lovers were able recognize, that is a lyric from the title track of Divino Niño's album Foam.

Photo by Alexa Viscius

Divino Niño is a five piece rock band based in Chicago composed of Camilo Medina, Javier Forero, Guillermo Rodriguez-Torres, Pierce Codina, and Justin Vitorri. Forero and Medina were buds as young children in Bogota, Columbia but when Forero's family moved to Miami, the two had lost touch… That is, until one day, Medina's family also moved to Miami, and fate had it to where he and Ferero reconnected when they recognized each other on the bus. In Miami they attended the same church where they had the opportunity to perform before an audience and experience the high of performing live. Years later, the pair moved to Chicago for college and their new independence granted them the opportunity to discover secular music like The Beatles and The Beach Boys, which thankfully for us, began the formation of Divino Niño.

Foam is a lovely album that should be on every vinyl collector's list. All ten songs are exceptional. “Melty Caramelo”? Bop. “Coca Cola”? Bop. “Maria”? Heart Break Bop.

Before anyone asks, yes, Divino Niño did make Perez's Best of 2019 with their song “Foam.” It was a hit amongst my fans. Full disclosure though, they sing in both Spanish and English— so if that turns you off, grow up. It's 2021 and all of us should be able to groove no matter the tongue. I love that we here in Chicago get to have our own Latin music group that we get to claim. Even cooler is that they actually sound great. With the present popularity of Latin-American artists being so high, i.e. Cuco, Omar Apollo, and the Marías to name a few, Divino Niño add a beautiful psychedelic rock ambiance to the current prevailing musical climate. I have yet to catch them live (I know, I know, very unlike me), but I'm pumped to finally get the chance to check them out at Pitchfork this fall.

Snag your own copy of Foam here, and get tickets to Pitchfork fest here.

ANCHR's Artist of the Week: Mia Joy

Photo by Ash Dye

One of my favorite aspects about music is that it can provide an escape from reality—with just the right mix of lyrics and melody, a song can wash away the worst of your anxieties and envelope you in a tranquil environment. Mia Joy is one artist in particular who excels in her ability to mollify listeners and provide an oasis through her songwriting. Take the hypnotic wind chimes that introduce Mia’s track “See Us” or the nostalgia-laced synths that fade in on “Haha,” and it’s no surprise that she introduces her latest single “Saturn” with meditative vocalizations. Despite the unique stamp that all of Mia Joy’s releases possess, there’s a common thread of peacefulness embedded throughout.

The Chicago based project of Mia Joy is fronted by lead singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Mia Rocha with Joseph Farago on keys and Emerson Hunton on percussion. The latest single “Saturn” debuted last week, marking the final countdown before Mia Joy’s debut album Spirit Tamer releases Friday, May 7th via Fire Talk Records. Speaking about the new track, Rocha says, “I am a practicing astrologer and It is written in the voice of Saturn, the planet of restriction, isolation, responsibility, hard lessons. It mockingly asks me how it has affected my life, makes me question my faith in humanity and inner loneliness. All running themes of the album.”

Recorded at Pallet Sound studios in Chicago by Michael Mac and co-produced with Rocha, Spirit Tamer highlights Rocha’s wide array of influences that range from Grouper to Sade and Selena. Prior to gigs being shut down, I only had the pleasure of seeing Mia Joy perform live a couple of times, but I’m certainly looking forward to venues reopening and getting to hear some of these new songs played in person!

Make sure you pre-order the new record here, and check out the video for “Saturn” below.

ANCHR's Artist of the Week: Fauvely

Fauvely is Sophie Brochu, Dale Price, Dave Piscotti & Phil Conklin / Photo by Aaron Ehinger

At this point in the pandemic, we’ve all got our list of “things-we-can’t-wait-to-do-after-Covid.” At the very top of my post-pandemic bucket list sits a night out at a venue like Schubas or Empty Bottle, seeing a bill of Chicago bands perform. It may still be a while before we can all gather and experience the magic of the bustling local music scene together, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t new music continuing to be created in the city.

One group that has been hard at work crafting their debut album throughout the past year is Fauvely, the project of songwriter Sophie Brochu and bandmates Dale Price, Dave Piscotti, and Phil Conklin. Following the 2017 EP Watch Me Overcomplicate This, Fauvely gained traction in Chicago performing everywhere from The Hideout to Sleeping Village and Lincoln Hall. The band had kicked off 2020 with a slot playing alongside Hand Habits at the annual Tomorrow Never Knows festival, with plans to tour in Japan and perform as an official showcasing artist at SXSW festival during the spring.

While those tour dates unfortunately never came to fruition, Fauvely reemerged in early 2021 with “May3e,” the lead single off their upcoming album. The track resonates with vulnerability, driven by Brochu’s reflective lyrics and dreamy vocal range. This same sentiment carries over into the latest single that Fauvely released earlier this month. “There’s always a reason to be sad,” Bronchu sings on “Always,” which I think we all can agree rang particularly true during the year 2020.

These two songs lead up to the release of Fauvely’s debut album Beautiful Places, a collection of songs which the band describes as being “about duality: light and dark, memory and haze, being stuck and running away.” Pre-order the record ahead of its April 2nd release date on Bandcamp and check out the video for “May3e” below.

ANCHR's Artist of the Day: V.V. Lightbody

Today’s spotlight shines on V.V. Lightbody, the project of Chicago musician and songwriter Vivian McConnell. Although technically a solo project of McConnell, V.V. Lightbody embodies the collaborative nature of the Chicago music scene and delivers layered and complex arrangements consisting of strings, flutes, Farfisa, and saxophones (in addition to your standard instrumentation).

Today, McConnell shares the news of her sophomore album called Make a Shrine or Burn It, out May 1st, 2020 on Acrophase Records, and the record features strings section arrangements by Macie Stewart of OHMME and was engineered by Dave Vettraino (Lala Lala, Makaya McCraven, Deeper). To accompany the announcement of the album, V.V. Lightbody also released the brand new single “If It’s Not Me” today. McConnell calls the track her anti-jealousy anthem— “It’s about not hating the future partner of your current partner. Feeling happy for an ex, although not always easy, feels healthy and mature to me, especially when you aren’t ready to commit. There’s no need to be possessive,” she says.

Be sure to tune into “If It’s Not Me” and “Car Alarm” below, and catch V.V. Lightbody on tour throughout the spring.

TOUR DATES:

March 14 - Chicago, IL @ Hideout
March 15 - St Louis, MO @ House show
March 16 - Memphis, TN @ Hi Tone Cafe
March 18-21 - Austin, TX @ SXSW
March 22 - Hot Springs, AR @ Valley of the Vapors Festival
April 1 - Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club
April 2 - Madison, WI @ Communication
April 3 - Ashland, WI @ Ashland Folk Festival

May 7 - Detroit, MI @ Sanctuary
May 8 - Toronto, ON @ Burdock Music Hall
May 9 - Montreal, QC @ Case del Popolo
May 10 - Burlington, VT @ The Lamp Shop
May 13 - New York, NY @ Trans Pecos
May 16 - Washington, DC @ Vinyl Lounge
May 17 - Raleigh, NC @ Neptune’s Parlour
May 18 - Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
May 19 - Nashville, TN @ Drkmttr
May 20 - Louisville, KY @ Kaiju
May 21 - Bloomington, IN @ The Blockhouse
May 22 - Champaign, IL @ Rose Bow
May 23 - Chicago, IL @ Sleeping Village 

PREMIERE: "Deadly Stare" by Thompson Springs

Today we’re sharing the first single “Deadly Stare” from Thompson Springs’ upcoming debut album Undertones.

Photo by Kayla Thornton

Lead vocalist and songwriter Matt Smith of the group wrote the leading track while he was living in Memphis, and ultimately the group recorded it in Nashville last year with the assistance of Patrick Sansone (Wilco, The Autumn Defense) on the 12-string guitar and as a producer. “I still have the video of the [“Deadly Stare”] demo, and I remember being really excited about the chord changes. I was new to Memphis and didn't have a lot of friends yet, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I had lots of time to work on songs! It's a slower pace of life down there, and I like to think that influenced the song,” Smith says.

Eventually Smith brought the song to drummer and synth player Jake Bicknase, who added his own melody on the synth that really tied together the track. Smith says he and Bicknase got to that point by just jamming and letting everything fall together. “'It’s kind of my mentality not to talk about it too much or else the magic might disappear,” he adds. The final version of the song came about with the help of Pat Sansone and engineer Andy Freeman in the recording studio. “Originally this song existed just with just vocals, guitar and synth. We went into the studio with that instrumentation, but after showing the song to Pat and Freeman, we experimented with a few different things and decided that the song would have a totally different vibe and edge with this driving drumbeat pushing it along. It definitely became dreamier,” says Bicknase. “It was really cool to see in a matter of hours how the song changed from being stripped down to really full and complete, just by being open to each others ideas,” Smith adds.

To accompany the song, Thompson Springs worked with Chicago director Joe Martinez Jr., who has directed videos of other local acts like Ryley Walker. “I was really pleased to work with Joe after seeing some of his videos with local groups around town. He has that special vibe where you can feel he cares and has an eye that is artistic, not financial. He pulled out all the stops with a low budget,” says Smith. The video was shot in one day between the Pilsen and Logan Square neighborhoods with the help of friends and family.

Take a look at the finished piece below, and make sure you catch Thompson Springs at their next show at Sleeping Village on January 21st.

Video Credits:

Director

Joe Martinez Jr.

@instrajammer

AD

Jessica Batson

@jmayb

Cinematographer 

O’Connor Hartnett

@ohartnett

Movi Op

Michael Monar

@mmonar

AC

Christian Meija

@seemejia

Key Grip

Johnny Weichel

@weichel.jordan

Car Passenger 

Matt Smith

@thompsonsprings

Alley Keys

Jacob Bicknase

@jabickus

Car Driver

Jose Martinez

Kid on Bike

Ben Parks

Basketball Girl

Ellie Parks

Roller-Girl

Danielle Brod

@cptnd

Gas Station Hipster

David Alan Thrift

@thriftayyy

Street Clown

Sean Mills

@sdavidsonmills

Dog walker 

Emily Lindeman

Dog Thief 

Savanna Dickhut

@burroak

Mom

April Brossett

Big Sister

Aaliyah Montana

@aaliyahmontana1

Little Sister

Aria Denali

@ariadenali

Mobster #1

John Mcdonnell

Mobster #2

Michael Bonesteel

Editor 

Joe Martinez Jr.

@instajammer

Colourist 

Lindsey Mazur

@lindseyemazur

ANCHR's Artist of the Day: Cullen Omori

If you woke up and received a new stereo system for Christmas, this post is for you. 

You may know Cullen Omori as the lead singer of former Chicago band Smith Westerns (RIP), but it's a crime of epic proportions his work hasn't gotten the credit it deserves since he went solo in 2016.

Debut album "New Misery," where Omori plays every instrument, is incredible. Judging by Twitter, it seems like Omori has followed his brother's lead and went back to school at Northwestern. It makes sense to have a backup plan when you spent your traditional college years touring the planet. Nonetheless, I hope Omori keeps making music in 2020. 

He remained honest on second Sub-Pop release "The Diet" and subsequent single "Happiness Reigns" provided one of the best music videos of 2018. Dive into it below along with one of my favorite songs of the decade "Sour Silk" and first single "Cinnamon."