Blog Posts by Catherine Fuentes

Click to listen to PAPA's 'I Am The Lion King'

California group PAPA is the brainchild of Girls' drummer Darren
Weiss and his friend from childhood, bassist Danny Presant. The first
single off PAPA's new EP A Good Woman Is Hard To Find is the
bright and twinkling "I Am The Lion King," which Weiss explains was
inspired by his time living in New York. "This was written while we were
living in New York, and I don't think I could have written it anywhere
else," Weiss tells Rolling Stone about the track, which infuses
pop hooks with soulful grooves. "Being a young man in that city is like
being a stick of dynamic at a gasoline party - it's stinky, strange,
explosive and wonderful. It's enough to make anyone feel like the lion
king."

PAPA's A Good Woman Is Hard To Find is available now, but you can download "I Am The Lion King" for free here.

Photo courtesy Hit City U.S.A / Psychedelic Judaism

Click to listen to Family of the Year's 'St. Croix (Hooray for Earth Mix)'

Los Angeles-based Family of the Year recently released their St. Croix
EP to build hype for their next full-length album, set to be released
early next year. The Hooray For Earth mix of title track "St. Croix" is
intense and atmospheric, which might not be the vibe one would expect
from a track named after a Caribbean island. Keyboardist and vocalist
Christina Schroeter tells Rolling Stone why this track is so
moody. "We wrote this song when Jamesy (our guitarist) was looking
forward to his trip to the Caribbean with some friends. Those friends
weren't us, so we wrote about what we thought should happen," she
explains. "Let's just say the original lyrics to the chorus weren't
quite as appropriate..." The St. Croix EP is already available, but you can download the "St. Croix (Hooray for Earth mix)" for free here.

Photo by E. Weinberg

Click to listen to The Drift's 'Luminous Friend'

Earlier this month San Francisco-based The Drift released Blue Hour, their first album since the passing of founding member, Jeff Jacobs. Danny Grody tells Rolling Stone
the hypnotic and tightly woven instrumental track "Luminous Friend"
"was a bit of an anomaly for the album. Just seemed to come out of thin
air. It was written shortly before going into the studio and around the
time our very dear friend and member of the band Jeff Jacobs lost his
courageous battle with cancer."

The band considers the melodic song to be a tribute to Jacobs.
"Something about this piece felt very cathartic and really seemed to
recall his soaring trumpet playing," Grody explains. "It seemed a
fitting dedication to an amazing and talented person."

The Drift's Blue Hour was released on October 4th, but you can download "Luminous Friend" for free here.

Photo by Paul Clipson

Click to listen to The Hours' 'I Want More'

British rock band The Hours is hitting the road in North America to support their upcoming EP release, I Want More,
on November 11th. The upbeat track, which starts off with a twinkling
and siren-filled introduction, is optimistic and hopeful. Frontman
Antony Genn tells Rolling Stone, "'I Want More' is a song about
wanting more from this short life we live on planet Earth! It's about
wanting more than perhaps we were told we are allowed."

"I want more than just to exist for the brief time I have here on
this mortal coil," Genn explains the inspiration behind the track. "I'm
made of flesh and blood and bones and water like every other human being
that ever walked this planet... so why shouldn't I be able to
experience the best?"

The I Want More EP will be released on November 11th, but you can download the title track "I Want More" for free here.

Photo by Billie Scheepers

Click to listen to Twin Sister's 'Bad Street'

Brooklyn-based quintet Twin Sister released their first full-length album, the dreamy In Heaven,
on September 27th. Earlier this summer, the band filmed the video for
lead single "Bad Street" during a neighborhood party at singer Andrea
Estella's childhood home on Long Island. "Bad Street" is a cheerful pop
song with a funky guitar riff that creates a bright, summery vibe. Twin
Sister's keyboardist, Udbhav Gupta, tells Rolling Stone that
"Bad Street" is "sewn together from many other songs. We had the easiest
time recording it, and the video is a representation of what the song
is about - being poor, but still having fun." In Heaven is available in stores now, but you can download "Bad Street" for free here.

Photo by Shawn Brackbill

Click to listen to James Vincent McMorrow's 'Sparrow and the Wolf'

Dublin-based singer-songwriter James Vincent McMorrow released his debut Early in the Morning
earlier this year, and is currently on an American tour to support the
album. "This record was borne out of my desire to create something
singular, take the simplest of chords, wrap them in washes of melody, so
lines come in, they drop out, everything ebbs and flows as the songs
move towards their inevitable end," McMorrow tells Rolling Stone
about his cheerful and upbeat track, "Sparrow and the Wolf." "I don't
sit down with an agenda when I write, I usually have a first line, and a
vague sense in my head of where I'm going, but no real solid
structure." Although Early in the Morning is in stores now, you can download "Sparrow and the Wolf" for free here.

Photo courtesy of Vagrant

Click to listen to Waters' 'For the One'

After Van Pierszalowski's band, Port O'Brien, broke up last year,
Pierszalowski moved to Oslo craving space - but he ultimately embarked
on a world journey that culminated in the creation of his new project,
Waters. During his travels, Pierszalowski wrote very raw and thought-out
songs, which he recorded with a band upon his return to Oslo.
Pierszalowski describes Waters' first track, the low-fi and incredibly
catchy "For the One," as his "favorite song I've ever written. Usually I
would feel bad for the other songs in saying that, but not with this
one." Pierszalowski explains to Rolling Stone that "For the One" "sums up all of 'Out in the Light' and everything I've gone through over the last couple years."

Waters' debut "Out in the Light" hits stores on September 20th, but you can download "For the One" for free here.

Photo by Ashlie and Amber Chavez