ANCHR's Artist of the Week: Ralph Pelleymounter

Photo by Flore Diamant

I first became acquainted with the songwriting of Ralph Pelleymounter through his band To Kill a King several years ago. The band’s music and Pelleymounter ’s voice instantly made an impression on me for a few reasons. First, Pelleymounter ‘s vocals have such a velvety richness and captivating depth to them—he’s one of those singers who listeners can immediately identify even if they don’t know the song because he has such a unique tone. To complement his voice, Pelleymounter has a songwriting knack for crafting lyrics that are both ruminative and descriptive, while remaining catchy and melodic.

While it’s been a few years since To Kill a King released music as a group, Pelleymounter has released a handful of singles and an album, 2019’s Dead Debutante’s Ball, as a solo artist. Following his debut record as a solo act, Pelleymounter filled his time during the pandemic performing online gigs, working on new material for himself, and even co-writing Bastille’s latest album Give Me The Future. Pelleymounter gave listeners their first taste of his new material just last week with the release of his single called “Steady Love.” The track begins with a harmonized embrace from Pelleymounter’s vocals blending with the backing vocals of Edith Violet from the band Fours, which is followed up by a guitar-driven melody that you can’t help but tap your foot along to. Pelleymounter describes the song as his reaction during the pandemic to “the 'will-they, won't-they' stories I was watching, and a thank you to those who showed me such kindness and love while everything was falling apart.”

To celebrate his new music, Pelleymounter has announced a show at The Social venue in London on April 6th. Tune into the new track below, and if you’re in London, snag tickets to the show here.

ANCHR's Artist of the Week: The Mysterines

The Mysterines are Lia Metcalfe, George Favanger, Paul Crilly, and Callum Thompson

I hope you guys are ready for some hot new rock out of Liverpool, because The Mysterines are going to be the next band you're blasting in your car, headphones, and/or speakers. The Mysterines are the creative love child of Lia Metcalfe and George Favanger. Metcalfe is the guitarist/singer-songwriter and Favanger rips the bass. The band is rounded out by Paul Crilly on drums and Callum Thompson on guitar. Although they have yet to release their first album, they have garnered much attention in the UK with the singles and EPs they have put out. Even more, touring with The Amazons, Royal Blood, and Miles Kane has captured the attention of their respective fans as well. If any ANCHR readers are Paul Weller fans, you'll hear Metcalfe on "True" from Weller's latest album Fat Pop.

I can't wait until they come to The States. Thompson's guitar work combined with Metcalfe's thunderous vocals can't help but set my expectations that their live show will be raucous. From what I have read about them, Metcalfe states that her influences vary from Bob Dylan all the way to Billie Eilish, but when I listen to songs like "In My Head" or "Who's Ur Girl", I get a Queens of the Stone Age vibe from them. Listening to the tracks The Mysterines have out there give me the same energy and aggressiveness as QOTSA and thus takes my mind straight to songs like "Go With The Flow" and "If I Had a Tail.” On the flip side, songs like "Take Control" and "Love's Not Enough" seem more melodic and like a classic, fun, fist-pumping, rock and roll show similar to what you would get with bands like Angels & Airwaves or old Arctic Monkeys. Regardless of whether you agree with my comparisons or not, you should give them a listen because I have a feeling we're going to be hearing more about them in the near future.

Make sure to keep up with the band on Twitter and Instagram, and tune into the video for “In My Head” below.