The RGM Inbox - March 2023
Welcome to the latest edition of the RGM Inbox, where we delve into a selection of recent and upcoming musical delights that caught our attention. We’ve scoured the globe to discover new music from Germany, Norway, Australia and back home here in the UK.
Photo Credit: Miriam Marlene
German-based singer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer M. Byrd has released the fourth single, ‘Outside Of Town’ from his upcoming debut album ‘The Seed’ due June 16th via Nettwerk. A tale of loss and uncertainly laced with hope told through a veil of shimmering guitars that builds to a crescendo, ‘Outside Of Town’ bodes well for the album release and builds on M Bryd’s run of impressive single releases (‘Flood’ especially). Fans of the likes of War On Drugs should find much to enjoy here.
Photo Credit: Grethe Nygaard
And now for something a little on the mellow side. Norwegian trio Les Dunes will release their debut album of instrumental rock on March 24th via Germany’s Kapitaen Platte and on Norway’s Apollon Records - the latter covering the Nordic markets as well as the UK and the US. Les Dunes features Per Andreas Haftorsen (Guitars), Per Steinar Lie (bass) and drummer Morten Jackman who’ve a long list of credits including The Low Frequency in Stereo, Undergrünnen, Lumen Drones, Action & Tension and Helldorado, Check out the first single ‘Mellow Skies’ in anticipation of the next - equally good - single ‘Mayhem In Hm’ due March 3rd. ‘
“Nice mellow vibes with explosions in the sky feelings xx”
Photo credit: Nick McKinlay
They say timing is everything. Unfortunately, mine seems very off as The Paper Kites have just completed a short tour of the UK, which I’ve obviously missed…Luckily we’ve new music on the way from the Australian quintet (currently expanded to an octet) in the shape of their “Roadhouse” project, which, on the strength of the first single ‘The Sweet Sound Of You’ could well be a little bit special. Sam Bentley’s understated delivery is supported by tasteful piano, wistful harmonica and a dash of pedal steel that leaves the listener desperate to hear more.
Image credit: Daniel Israel-Quinn
A pleasant surprise and a new name to me, UK-based singer-songwriter Marti West released his new single ‘Somebody New’ today, 3rd of March via Marti West Music. As bouncy a slice of indie folk pop as you’re likely to hear. Marti’s sweet voice is tailor-made for ethereal harmonies as he utilizes an acoustic bed and builds from there. The interplay between electric guitars and brass is unexpected and rather clever. ‘Somebody New’ is taken from an album Talking To Strangers, slated for release on the 28th of April. I’d recommend checking out his Soundcloud page to discover a string of lovely songs.
When it comes to LP Box Sets there can’t be too many acts more suited to the format than Pentangle. The Folk supergroup released six albums in a mere four-year period from 1968-1972 and these are now collected, with a host of bonus material, on a very smart-looking 14 LP deluxe box set via Svart Records on 16th April 2025. A breakdown of the release including a full tracklisting follows: