ANCHR's Artist of the Week: Amelia Moore

This week’s ANCHR Artist of the Week goes to Amelia Moore, a 20-year-old vocalist, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who crafts heartfelt electro-pop anthems.

Moore grew up in Georgia and got introduced to her love of music by singing in a church choir and playing violin, before she eventually decided she wanted to play her own music and also taught herself to play piano. Moore continued to invest in her passion for creating music and went to Belmont University in Nashville for college. At 18, Moore found herself moving to LA and collaborating with artists like Austin Sanders (aka ASTN, a Florida-bred singer/songwriter) and producer Pink Slip—the latter of which she worked with on her debut EP. When the pandemic hit in 2020, it was hard for anyone, including Moore, not to be discouraged about a future in music, but she was able share her songs on TikTok and cultivate an audience in that way.

In a short amount of time, Moore has been able to garner over 3 million streams of her debut single “sweet and sour” on Spotify, and she just released her debut EP teaching a robot to love earlier this month on June 3, via Capitol Records. Talking about the debut project, Moore says ““This project is the culmination of first love, first loss and the recognition that love is what separates us from the robots.” She has also described her songwriting process as therapeutic, and with all of the wonderful reception so far, it’s clear that listeners also find sanctuary in Moore’s storytelling. After all, Moore’s social media handles are “@icryatwork” and if you can’t appreciate that level of emotional honesty, then we can’t be friends.

Despite all her success online so far, Moore only recently played her ever first headline show. Be sure to keep an eye on future show announcements from Moore on her website, and give her a follow on TikTok and Instagram.

ANCHR's Artist of the Week: Hatchie

Photo by Lissyelle

This week’s ANCHR artist of the week goes to Australian singer-songwriter Harriette Pilbeam, better known by her stage name Hatchie. Hatchie’s whimsical sound is vast and expansive, particularly on her latest album Giving The World Away, which was just released last month via Secretly Canadian. The song “The Rhythm” for example has a hypnotic beat that’s reminiscent 90’s electro-pop— think tinges of Ace of Base or Fatboy Slim. Then there’s the single “Quicksand” which is more moody and atmospheric with a swelling chorus that gives nods to Mazzy Star, or the title track “Giving The World Away” that opens with distorted guitars and a funky drumbeat.

Hatchie describes the new album as being a deeper and unexplored territory for her. “There's more to me than just writing songs about being in love or being heartbroken—there's a bigger picture than that,” she says. “This album really just feels like the beginning to me, and scratching the surface – and even though it’s my third release as Hatchie, I feel like I’m rebooting from scratch.” The record features collaborations from musician Joe Agius, as well as percussion from James Barone, the drummer for Beach House.

Prior to Giving The World Away, Hatchie released 2018’s EP “Sugar & Spice” and the 2019 album called Keepsake, so there’s plenty of previous songs to tune into as well.

In the celebration of the new album, Hatchie kicks off tour this month and you can catch her show in Chicago on May 14th at Sleeping Village. Snag tickets here, and watch the video for the enchanting “The Rhythm” below.

ANCHR’s Artist of the Week: Mdou Moctar

Here at ANCHR, we don't really dive too deep into rock music from the Sahara, but when the music hits, you just gotta take your licks and do what you can to spread the musical gospel for all to enjoy. I, Michael Perez, feel that I am the man for the job and all you readers should feel very lucky to have me. That being said, I present to you: Mahamadou Souleymane, professionally known as Mdou Moctar. Mdou is a self taught virtuoso guitar master from Agadez, Niger who specializes in the Taureg style of music called assouf, aka Desert Blues. Coming from a religious household, his family was averse to rock music because of the flaunted lifestyle of partying, chicks, and booze that's exhibited, but Mdou realized his calling after attending a concert and proceeded to make his own guitar out of wood and strings he took from bicycle breaks. Thankfully for us, his makeshift guitar helped him become the musical artists he is today.

Photo credit: WH Moustapha

Mdou Moctar has recently found success in the states after releasing his triumphant album Afrique Victime. The album is sung in Tamasheq, which I do not speak, but from reading past reviews, song themes range from love to politics with women's rights and even religious radical terrorism being some of the topics. Whether you speak Tamasheq, or are just a general music lover, this album slaps. Afrique Victime is anthemic, melodic, dancey, and filled with beautiful guitar riffs. The song that sticks out most to the American ear is the title track “Afrique Victime.” Give it a listen and if that song doesn't cause you to either tap your foot, sway your shoulders, bop your head, or just plain dance, slide in my DMs and let me know. I'm interested in knowing who all of ANCHR’s readers are insane.

Mdou's band is rounded out by Ahmoudou Madassane on rhythm guitar, Souleymane Ibrahim on drums, and Michael "Mikey" Coltun on bass. Along with being the bands bassist, Coltun also produced and engineered Afrique Victime throughout the bands touring in 2019. Based in Brooklyn, Coltun travels 20 hours by air and 28 hours by bus to reach Agadez so the band can practice and record. Fairly safe to say Coltun does not have commitment issues. When I saw Mdou Moctar perform at Lincoln Hall in September, I arrived minutes before their set since I was coming straight from Riot Fest, and the house was packed. I slithered my way to the center back of the floor, right in front of the sound stage, and it was as good of a spot I could ask for to see and feel the Mdou Moctar performance. Being in my thirties, I would usually not be all that excited to have to continue standing at another show across town after walking and standing all day at a music festival, but my lack of enthusiasm was swiftly purged after the first song. They had the crowd swaying and dancing right off the bat and even had some of their friends accompany them on stage to dance for a number of songs.

Afrique Victime is very much worth a listen and an Mdou Moctar concert is definitely worth the ticket price. Your next chance to see Mdou Moctar is in March when they open for Parquet Courts at the Riv. If my spidey sense is as good as I think it is, I wouldn't be surprised if they make it back to Chi-city during festival season as well.

Premiere: Charlie Reed's "Don't Drop Me"

Today, ANCHR has the honor of premiering Charlie Reed’s debut single “Don’t Drop Me” from their upcoming record Eddy, out May 1, 2022.

Charlie Reed is Luke Trimble, Colin Croom, Nick Beaudoin, Nora Chin, Nolan Chin, and Justin Vittori

Charlie Reed is the project of Chicago musician and songwriter Luke Trimble, who is joined by bandmates Colin Croom on guitar and pedal steel, Justin Vittori on guitar, Nick Beaudoin on bass, Nolan Chin on piano and organ, and Nora Chin on backing vocals. The collaborative project began after Trimble experienced an apartment burglary that resulted in the loss of his music gear and his self-recorded demos for Charlie Reed. Out of the unfortunate event, Trimble was inspired to partner with his bandmates to work more collaboratively and step out of his comfort zone for a fresh start. “The physical reality of losing my stuff became this emotional metaphor for starting over in every way,” he says— and the end result became the new album material.

The lead single “Don’t Drop Me” came to fruition when Trimble began to reminisce about one of his first long-term relationships in which his partner decided to break things off with him. About writing this song, Trimble says, “I couldn’t believe that it was happening and what I had done to be ‘dropped’  or left behind. In retrospect I realize that I was in such a deep depression that I had no capacity to love this person anymore. In their eyes I was taking the relationship for granted."

Elaborating on the recording process of the song, Trimble adds, “The bones of the song were first tracked live. Bass, drums, acoustic guitar.  Starting off I didn’t think much besides I liked the hook. Since we hadn’t really rehearsed it I wasn’t sure how it would turn out. That enabled me to have some fun with the song. I pieced some of the instruments together at my home. Vocals, electric guitar, and Nolan on My upright piano. Later, Colin added some awesome guitar lead and keys that really brought the song together making it one of my favorites on the album."

You can watch the official video for the song below, and make sure to follow Charlie Reed on Facebook // Instagram // Twitter.

ANCHR’s Artist of the Week: KennyHoopla

The project of musician and songwriter Kenneth La'ron, KennyHoopla crafts nostalgia-tinged songs that blend pop punk, emo, and rock influences with modern and experimental touches.

KennyHoopla began releasing music as early as 2016 via SoundCloud, but his most popular release to date was his single “how will i rest in peace if i’m buried by a highway?//”— which came to be the title track of his May 2020 EP that also included tracks like “sore loser//” and “the world is flat and this is the edge//.” From the genre-defying sounds and artistic exploration in his music to the specific stylization of his song names, the creative element of KennyHoopla continues to shine through in everything he releases.

Later on in 2020, KennyHoopla collaborated with the artist grandson on a version of the track “lost cause//” before releasing yet another version of the single with Jesse Rutherford. In 2021, he worked with Travis Barker on the song “hollywood sucks//,’ which ended up on the collaborative EP called SURVIVORS GUILT: THE MIXTAPE//.

I’m looking forward to see what other work KennyHoopla puts out in the future, and who he’ll partner with next. As far as his live show, I caught most of his set at Riot Fest this year and had a lot of fun watching his performance. He had a minimal stage set up but made up for that with his presence and the energy he projected.

He’ll be touring again this month, including two sold out shows at Schubas Tavern on November 27 and 28th, and you can see all of his upcoming tour dates here.

ANCHR's Artist of the Week: Kacy Hill

Photo by Lauren Dunn

My first introduction to Kacy Hill dates back to 2016 when I saw her perform as a support act for Jack Garratt. In addition to touring together, Hill also worked with Garratt as a producer of her single “Foreign Fields” from the 2015 EP Bloo. That track, like much of Hill’s further music catalog, showcases her thrilling falsettos and crisp production style in a blend of indie and electronic pop music.

Following the Bloo EP, Hill released her debut full length album Like a Woman in 2017, which delivered empowering lyrics and introspective musings alongside her goosebump-inducing vocal performance. After a little bit of a break, fans of Kacy Hill got the gift of new music in the form of her sophomore album entitled Is It Selfish If We Talk About Me Again. We were also quickly topped up with even more new music in 2021, when Hill announced her third album Simple, Sweet, and Smiling. The third record features collaborations with John Carroll Kirby, Ariel Rechtshaid, Jim-E Stack and it continues to highlight Hill’s vulnerable nature behind her songwriting. At the beginning of recording the new record, Hill’s father suffered a heart attack, and Hill says this album is part of her confrontation of these feelings of powerlessness in the face of her own mind and mortality, while also being a vehicle to give thanks to the partners, friends and family who have helped her through.

In celebration of the new record, Hill has embarked on her first US headlining tour, which includes a stop at Schubas on November 18th. Snag your tickets to the show here, and watch the video for “Easy Going” below.

Feature: The Vulnerable and Vibrant Debut Album from Minneapolis' Sass

Sass is Stephanie Jo Murck, Willem Vander Ark, Joey Hays, and Alex Mcormick // Photo by Cleo Pupillo

I remember seeing Sass for the first time, lead vocalist and guitarist Stephanie Jo Murck bounding up the stage strapped with a sparkling guitar and donning rose-colored sunglasses. It was a set with a powerful sort of vibrancy that doesn’t really allow you to forget it. And Sass’s first full length record, Chew Toy, is much of the same…Vivid and relentless. Chew Toy comes in reckonings, with the titular song being the gritted teeth finally opening into a gaping maw. “He was my favorite guy/ I liked him all the time/ He was my favorite boy/ I was his chew toy” Murck sings, reconciling the form of love you may still carry for someone who violated you. Chew Toy has a resounding resilience to it; Murck delving into her own experience with sexual assault as a child, creating a catharsis in listening. The buoyancy of Chew Toy isn’t so much surprising as it is heartening. Sass maintains a subversively cheery sound, reflected in track titles like “See Saw” and “Nice Things.” Though its title sounds positive, “Role Model” captures that moment of realizing that other people expect adulthood out of you when, in reality, getting stick ‘n pokes is your greatest coping mechanism. It’s one of the many peaks on Chew Toy in which we feel literal growing pains. Murck listlessly singing “filling myself with empty calories, what even is an empty calorie?” as Joey Hays’ manic drumming punctuates her sentences. The song reaches a combustive peak before devolving into chaos with Murck’s voice rolling into a squeak. The worry that, if people really knew who you were, they wouldn’t love you underscores this album. On “Gut Feeling,” Murck admits “I still feel ashamed, yeah who knows how to heal. The ways I taught myself to hide instead of deal” before the frenetic guitar and screeching amp give way to her wails. Chew Toy peers over that wall desperately wondering “what’s next?” It occupies that point in life in which we are ambling around without a map just trying to do the right thing. This doesn’t mean that Chew Toy is devoid of joy, there’s a playfulness to it that seeps in on songs like “Minutes” where Murcks bouncily taunts “When you’re desperate and horny come on and whore me” and the band chants “horny” in harmony before the track’s sudden end. On “Freshwater Pearls” Murck spreads her Pisces energy and claims water as her greatest healer (a common theme throughout the album). There’s a sweetness hovering right above the debut that keeps it all from collapsing in on itself. Chew Toy is steered by the steady bass line of Alex Mcormick, not to be tipped by the staggering, wayward guitar of Willem Vander Ark. It’s all wonderfully lopsided, with Murck’s elastic voice expanding and shrinking like the musical equivalent of a rubber band snapped against the wrist. Her malleability is part of what makes Chew Toy such an addictive listen. Murck can be stretched thin, clenched tight, or totally snap— and it’s that volatility that propels this defiant debut. At times the guitars of Murck and Vander Ark become indistinguishable from Hay’s drumming, all merging into a fever break. From the moment Murck screams “I want to do everything” on the opening track, you can feel the frustration to the vivacious energy. The vulnerability displayed on Chew Toy isn’t so much spilling your guts as it is flipping your stomach inside out. This debut is tremendous and tender and ragged, it’s a mouth holding you gently on its tongue until you’re decidedly let loose. Chew Toy is not so easily discarded as the title suggests.

Chew Toy is out this Friday, May 31st via Heavy Meadow Records— Pre-order it here.

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Keep up with Sass and Heavy Meadow Records:

Facebook + Twitter + Instagram

Feature: Hard Times With Niiice.

Photo Courtesy of Niiice

Niiice. walks into our place of meeting, a 24hr vegan restaurant owned by ex-punks, grinning and scraggly. Which is not out of character for their sound: emo with a kick of power. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t hesitant of sitting down with a three piece band comprised of all white dudes, but the more we talk the more they grow on me. And obviously, I’ve already listened to their forthcoming EP Never Better, out today, March 1st on Brave Cove Records, which has given me high expectations. Never Better actually jumps off 2018 LP, Try to Stay Positive. Whereas “try to stay positive” sounds like measly advice, “never better” sounds like the sarcastic retort to “how are you?” The titles work as a musical “two steps forward, one step back”. Never Better is more concise and collaborative than previous releases, which is ironic considering that it’s hinged around instability. The catalyst being the ass-kicking summer of 2018 where singer and guitarist Roddie Gadeberg and drummer Sage Livergood shared an apartment with rats and mold. Which is probably why there’s a certain need for comfort on this EP. But as Gadeberg tells me about his love for the first two Slipknot albums, Livergood tells me he’s been listening to Lil Peep lately, and bassist Abe Anderson sits quietly, I see the full picture of Niiice. come into focus. Their lovable burnout trope is self aware, not a hint of irony on them.

Never Better opens with the more pop-influenced track, “Snowbored,” which gleefully delves into Midwestern loneliness and the season of snow that interconnects our sadness. On it, Gadeberg mutters “the weather’s fucked, life fuckin’ sucks/but what’s new with you?” Niiice. takes themselves lightly and their music seriously, leaving the emotions to fall somewhere in between, coming in waves of goofy twists on a more classic emo sound. On ‘Love Handlez’ a chipper cartoon voice chimes in “wait, let’s always be stupid. Forever!”, giving us the idea that Niiice is in on the joke: another band crammed with longing, broke, and coming up with track titles in their free time. But Niiice. is reflective, with Never Better being a product of spending a lot of time with yourself- for better or for worse. On the jangly ‘Blunt Force Marijuana’ Gadeberg bemoans “it’s like my father told me, I’ve got no direction/I hate the way I look like him when I’m staring at the mirror.” But the pitfalls of trying to be more doesn’t stop the EP from having a good time: It’s persistent with dynamic riffs. Livergood tells me “we don’t just play emo,” meaning that there’s more to Niiice. than scraping vocals and hating your hometown. The most aching part of Never Better is that the “you” that Gadeberg sings about isn’t some woman-shaped space in his life. “You” is rarely even a person. It’s nostalgia. It refers to a better state of mind, a better time and place. When things were just a bit easier. Never Better doesn’t point to past romantic relationships, but contentious family ones, typically with father figures (Gadeberg calls Emo Boy breakup songs “misogynistic” and “annoying”). Don’t conflate Niiice.’s stoner jokes with their ability to feel deeply. Niiice. is fluent in puns and memes, but isolation undercuts the melodic humor with the shiftlessness that comes from being lonely even when you’re not alone. The cover art for Never Better features a gap-toothed kid smudged with a sinking black eye, giving you a thumbs up. At one point Roddie adds that sometimes he feels like the kid on the cover. Or maybe the cover art feels like him. A kid still standing with a goofy smile after a smack. When it comes down to it, maybe Never Better can best be surmised as a trampled on thumb still pointed upwards.

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Never Better is out now on Brave Cove Records. Niiice. will be touring March 8th-17th with a release show at the Garage in Burnsville, MN on March 17th.

Keep up with Niiice. on Facebook + Instagram

PREMIERE: "Feed The Pile" EP by Chromagnus

Photo Credit: Kelly Ngo

Today we have an exclusive sneak peek of Chromagnus’ brand new EP Feed The Pile, ahead of the project’s wide release tomorrow, March 1st.

Feed The Pile marks the Austin band’s first release as a four piece, with guitarist Max Prudhomme and bassist John “Hutch” Hutchinson joining founding members Will Grover and Ronnie Sokol. The tracking for the latest EP was done live to 1/2" tape in the band’s living room over the course of a week in early 2018, with band member John Hutchinson stepping into the producer role. The band says this recording process gave them full creative control, adding “We wanted the limitations and ‘vibe’ of analog recording to accurately convey the energy of the music, and we learned a lot in the process.”

Get your first listen of the four-track EP below, and keep up with Chromagnus on Facebook + Instagram.

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Austin- make sure you don’t miss the band’s EP release show tomorrow at Hotel Vegas, presented by Howdy Gals- details here.