Playlist: Safe hands throwing stones

Jodie Nicholson – Another Frequency

One of the most exciting things about following the emergence of young musicians is hearing how their music evolves and matures. Jodie Nicholson, whose new album is out on today and gets a gala launch at the Glasshouse in Gateshead on May 18, is a great example. A talented songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, her debut album, "Golden Hour", was a relatively restrained, largely acoustic effort. Its obvious qualities got a bit lost in the Covid carnage – no chance to put on any gigs in support of the release – and much of what she could do online had to be stripped back to voice and guitar or keyboards.

The new material builds on this and adds all sorts of electronic excitement. There were hints of this on 2022’s “Can’t Escape the Feeling” and this month’s album, “Safe Hands” makes further progress down the same intriguing path. “Another Frequency” moves to another level, emerging from a swirl of static to present a stark, synth-backed meditation on a relationship that doesn’t quite work. If this is evidence of what to expect from “Safe Hands” we have something a bit special on our hands. With Jodie taking on production responsibilities as well, this is very much her vision – and it’s one to explore in greater depth.

New directions aside, there’s still space for Jodie to pick up her guitar and weave an enchanting spell like “Second Sun”, a haunting track that first got an airing on that 2022 EP. Here, a gentle guitar ballad gradually swells into a dizzying harmonic swirl of layered vocals that send a shiver down the spine. Check out the whole album here. Highly recommended.

Bled – Deustche Oper

The upcoming Stone’s Throw festival, on the Tyneside coast on May 25, looks like another blast. A good number of the acts on the roster have featured in these columns before (check out, for example, Maius Mollis, Hannah Robinson, Polyvinyl and Labyrinthine Oceans from past weeks). And, with a stack of extra material from the local scene – rising and established – this feels like a finger-on-the-pulse mix-tape performed live across a raft of venues in Tynemouth and North Shields.

Among the bands to look out for, Bled stands out. This is the kind of goth-hued synth pop that has a huge underground scene on the continent but rarely makes much impact locally (indeed, the lack of interest in his native Sunderland helped persuade William Maybelline to cross the channel to establish Euro coldwave giants Lebanon Hanover). Bled might just change that. A sharp aesthetic (she’s Red, he’s Blue, the colours run to create Bled) grabs attention, and they’ve got the chops to hold onto it.

The European influence extends beyond the title, as this track explores the dark demise of a relationship in terms suited to a Germanic operatic melodrama. If that sounds a bit heavy, it is, but happily not in the bombastic Wagnerian sense. Instead, there’s a jet-black humour about the lyrics (“No cigarettes, but already lung cancer,” anyone?) and a sound-world that ties Berlin-era Bowie to the gloom-chic of Lebanon Hanover’s chums with synth sounds stolen from early Depeche Mode. It’s not for everyone, but there’s not much else quite like this on the local scene.

Isabel Maria - Flower

File under ‘wise beyond her years’. Sunderland’s Isabel Maria might struggle to get served in her local, but that hasn’t stopped her delivering an EP of stunning depth and maturity. No mere teen gimmick, last year’s “Melodramatic Milers” brings together six tracks with a depth – musical and lyrical – that promises a bright future.

These are tales of faltering relationships, of unwillingness to change and – just as important – reluctance to settle. Starting life as piano ballads, then expanded with some lush string arrangements, these tracks stick in the mind. Isabel is another artist heading to the Stone’s Throw festival at the end of the month and very much someone to watch on the local scene and beyond.

Thanks for reading playlist number eight. If you liked it, give a like and subscribe. If you really liked it, consider buying me a coffee. But, most of all, please consider supporting the artists by buying their music or attending their gigs.

Previous playlists: Folksy flavours / Politics / Stockton Calling / Russia / Aelius / #6 / Border Crossings / #8