EAST OF 8TH PLAYLIST UPDATE: FEBRUARY 25, 2024

eastof8th

2 years ago

Welcome to latest roundup of new music that we’ve added to the East of 8th Spotify playlist! We’ve got up-tempo folk rock, some great singer/songwriter tracks, and some real indie rock coming your way! Without further ado, we present to you this update of our blog’s playlist!

Artists added to the playlist-clockwise from top left: The Strumbellas, Ron Pope, Blair Lee, Sabrina Song, Imogen Clark (photo credit included below if known)

THE STRUMBELLAS: “STEAL MY SOUL”

The Strumbellas Band Photo By Stephanie Montani

Fresh from their recently released new album, Part Time Believer, The Strumbellas bring us their latest single, the upbeat, folk-influenced track, “Steal My Soul.” While the band now features Jimmy Chauveau on lead vocals, the group continues in a musical direction that will be familiar with fans. While we’d never label their brand of music as “stomp and holler,” it does always have an anthemic folk rhythm that gets the heart beating. The Strumbellas have shared that the theme for the album Part Time Believer is “…about getting knocked down and getting back up again, about how it feels to keep fighting when half your brain is telling you to stop.” It only takes one listen to “Steal My Soul” to feel that message shining through.

Connect with The Strumbellas:

SABRINA SONG: “OKAY, OKAY”

In anticipation of the June 7, 2024 release of her debut LP, You Could Stay In One Spot, And I’d Love You The Same, Brooklyn-based, multi-instrumentalist, Sabrina Song brings us the single, “Okay, Okay.” The track opens featuring Song’s gentle, yet emotive vocals. While it quickly transitions into a full indie-rocker, the rumble of guitar fortunately doesn’t overpower it, allowing a balance between music and vocals that lets Song’s nuanced introspection on love and taking a leap of faith flow naturally.

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BLAIR LEE: “GROW”

There’s a sense of unexplainable nostalgia when listing to “Grow,” the latest track from Toronto’s Blair Lee. It’s a new song, yet it takes our mind to some unidentifiable memory—like how the whispers of a forgotten dream can still linger in a waking mind. Perhaps it’s Lee’s wistfully hazy vocals that give us this illusion. Or perhaps it’s how the song reflects on a searching journey that many of us have taken: “‘Grow’ is about the twists and turns of life,” shares Lee. “Thinking that you’re off course as life changes and goes through cycles, but learning that you’re right where you wanna be after all.” No matter the reason, “Grow” gets in your head and feels right at home there.

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RON POPE (ft. TAYLOR BICKETT): “I’M NOT THE DEVIL”

There are emotive singers…and then there’s Ron Pope—a performer who’s lyrical delivery could cause a listener’s tears to swell even if he was singing the ingredients on a cereal box. On the single “I’m Not The Devil,” Pope may have finally met his emotive match as he has teamed with Taylor Bickett to spin a tale of volatile love on this powerful track. Bickett’s high notes mixing with Pope’s deeper, introspective delivery makes for the perfect vocal combination. The release of the single through Brooklyn Basement Records coincided with Pope’s announcement of a 15^th anniversary tour featuring his hit album Daylight and its viral single, “A Drop In The Ocean.” For our Nashville readers, the tour will be stopping at City Winery on March 9.

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IMOGEN CLARK: “ALL HARD FEELINGS”

Imogen Clark Artist Photo By Michelle Grace Hunder

Big alt rock sounds, with touches of pop and indie rock mixed in, come through on “All Hard Feelings,” the latest single from Sydney, Australia’s Imogen Clark. “This song is about the layers of emotional baggage I’ve accumulated through my life,” Clark shares about the song. That theme certainly inspired her emotional-baggage-toting music video she has released for the track. Delivered with a healthy dose of electric guitar, the song is a blend of anthemic and cathartic. It’s also the type of song that makes you feel like we might just have enough in us to power through.

Connect with Imogen Clark:

Listen to the East of 8th Playlist: