“I like surreal settings, but with tangible messages,” says Conchúr White. A singer-songwriter from County Armagh, White navigates the dreamlike and the grounded with blissful fluency on his beautifully lambent debut album. Released through Bella Union in January 2024, Swirling Violets is allusive and intimate, unearthly yet instantly accessible: touching on fully felt themes with grace and lightness, it’s a richly imagined album of multitudes from an instinctive talent.

As White explains it, “There wasn’t a conscious theme, though the songs operate in the same sort of space, that sense of surrealism. There’s ghosts, there's other worlds. There's a cosmic feeling, questions about the beginning and the end and dreams. And then there’s simpler songs, love songs about the feelings of infatuation you have when you’re young…”

A music graduate who has also worked alongside young people with mental health issues, White’s story began in bands. He played in atmospheric indie-rockers Silences before their split allowed Conchúr – pronounced Conor – to develop his solo voice at his own pace. That sense of freedom colours Conchúr’s music. On the Bikini Crops and Dreamers EPs, he filtered the influences of acts such as Arctic Monkeys (recent vintage) and Father John Misty into songs at once playful, referential and experiential.

With praise from SPIN, The Line of Best Fit, Under the Radar, Steve Lamacq, Radio 6 and others under his belt, he has also notched up touring slots with Villagers, Billie Marten and John Grant, who complemented White’s work warmly. (“It felt genuine,” marvels White. “I mean, he didn’t need to say it…”) Meanwhile, a recent invitation to support the mighty John Cale in concert lead to more complements from Cale’s storied bandmembers.

Collaborators on Swirling Violets include Matt Wiggins, who mixed the album; producers Kris Platt and Danny Morgan Ball; and co-writer/producer Iain Archer (‘Swirling Violets’). Finally, Brendan Jenkinson produced the closer, ‘Deadwood’, a serene drift through the “mystic night” under the “summer’s moonlight”. An irresistible invitation to float along with White, Swirling Violets is a magic-realist wonder from a new name to reckon with, bathed in a radiant glow.

TRACK LISTING

1. The Holy Death
2. Righteous (Why Did I Feel Like That?)
3. 501s
4. Rivers
5. I Did Good Today
6. Swirling Violets
7. Red House Parlour
8. Before Ten

Sometimes, even amidst the most chaotic moments of our lives, things have a way of coming together. Raze Regal, prolific electric guitarist and James Petralli, founding member and vocalist of Austin, TX indie rock legends White Denim, met during a West Coast tour in 2019, and quickly formed a deep friendship bound by their mutual love of ‘60s and ‘70s rock, the Jazz saxophone innovations and compositions of Eddie Harris, Joe Henderson and Wayne Shorter, ‘80s R & B production techniques and New Wave energy. In another world, perhaps their rapport would have remained casual; two music fans meeting occasionally in loud music venues to share a drink and catch up on their respective projects. However, and luckily for music fans everywhere, that’s not what happened. What followed for both men was a period of intense personal change, growth, and transformation—a period that is reflected in the creation of Raze Regal & White Denim Inc., a profoundly collaborative album that saw both musicians pour years of blood, sweat, and tears into some of the most soul-affirming music of their careers.

“It was a very hard time for both of us,” explains Raze matter-of-factly, from his home in Austin. He relocated there in 2020, smack dab in the middle of the pandemic, after ending a long-term relationship and the dissolution of his previous band back in Oakland, CA. “This record was born out of the friendship and the closeness that James and I share, as well as pure creativity.” With Raze in serious need of a change of scenery, Austin and James provided just the right atmosphere to let his creative juices flow a little more freely. “James and I were talking and he was like, ‘Come up to Austin!’ and I was like, ‘Maybe I should.’ We would just kind of hang out in those early days, and then I started kind of writing these tunes, and I started presenting them to James. They were just sketches of ideas I had, and he was like, ‘You know these are really good. What if we worked on these together?’ And I was like, ‘Absolutely.’

It wasn’t long before the duo realized they had something special on their hands. It was more than just the fact that they were good at writing songs together—there was something deeply complementary in the way Raze and James thought about music and songwriting that made them better than the sum of their parts. The work took place at Radio Milk, James’ studio, curious to see what would come out of it; although, the process proved to be slightly more intense that either of them had imagined. “The week Raze arrived in Austin he joined my family/creative bubble, and we began writing and cutting music together,” explains James. “Through these initial sessions I learned that Raze possesses a unique gift as a lyricist and songwriter as well as a striking and colorful chord vocabulary. He naturally led these writing sessions and I supported him as an editor, instrumentalist, and engineer. We quickly developed an easy flow together in the studio. Which was refreshing for both of us. These were particularly hard times: Raze and I became close friends and helped each other get to the other side.”

The result of these summertime sessions, Raze Regal & White Denim Inc. bursts at the seams with jazz chords, rock hooks, soul vocals, pop melodies, and everything that made the latter half of the 20th century some of the most cardinal music in human history. Completely eschewing the trappings of “retro” or “throwback” sentiments, the record could have only come from artists with such a deep knowledge of popular music, that they are able to transcend references and homages, presenting something comfortably familiar yet totally fresh. Raze and James’ creative union took form before their very eyes, with James at first wanting to take more of a backseat role—but luckily, fate had other plans.

“Raze was bursting with musical ideas during a time when I was focused on learning how to capture and represent them,” James says, clearly holding his bandmate in the utmost respect. “He wrote the changes for the songs and we cut demos together and he'd sit with a note pad and sketch lyrical ideas once the framework was down. I did my best not to impose too much as a writer, rather mostly offering perspective as a singer and sometimes pulling a few books off of the shelf for consideration and reference. Raze was writing about our lives. We knew well where we were coming from.”

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: This absolutely sings with the hazy melodic groove of White Denim, but it's accentuated with a rich seam of airy funk, psychedelic soul and twisting melodicism from Raze Regals considerable talent pool. What a lovely thing.

TRACK LISTING

1. Ashley Goudeau
2. Blood
3. Tivoli
4. Complaining In Heaven
5. Don’t Laff
6. The Hustle In You
7. Before The Fact
8. Idle Later
9. Dislocation
10. Ugly Man Suit

Bella White’s new album Among Other Things sees her music evolving as she embraces a fuller band sound while continuing to write the kind of deeply personal, intimate lyrics that made Just Like Leaving such a captivating debut. Produced by Jonathan Wilson (Angel Olsen, Father John Misty, Margo Price, Billy Strings) at his Topanga Canyon Studios and featuring an array of first-rate musicians including Wilson on drums, Big Thief’s Buck Meek on guitar, and string arranger and keyboard player Drew Erikson (Lana Del Rey).

TRACK LISTING

1. The Way I Oughta Go
2. Flowers On My Bedside
3. Dishes
4. Break My Heart
5. Marilyn
6. Numbers
7. Rhododendron
8. Worth My While
9. The Best Of Me
10. Among Other Things