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Music heard, and observed

Enjoying established acts | Championing new and independent artists | Event promotions | Press kits, demos, EPKs, press passes, tickets etc. welcome: therealmusicobserver (at) gmail (dot) com

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Hannah Grae: I Missed The Joke

on April 30, 2023

alt-rock angst Hannah Grae indie Wales

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Ella Clayton + Eevah + Jemma Johnson: RSD 2023, Rough Trade, Nottingham [Live]

on April 26, 2023

Eevah Ella Clayton indie Jemma Johnson live music Nottingham Record Store Day Rough Trade RSD

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Grace Calver: My Life and Its Disasters [EP]

on April 21, 2023

Album alt-pop alt-rock Essex Grace Calver indie singer-songwriter

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BACKSPACE: Come Round

on April 20, 2023

alt-rock alternative BACKSPACE indie Leeds

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Jen Dixon: Over You

on April 07, 2023

alt-folk alternative indie Jen Dixon singer-songwriter

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Sam Shields: Start Over

on March 31, 2023

alt-folk alternative Liverpool Sam Shields singer-songwriter

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The Candle Thieves + Ross Stewart: Mama Liz's, Stamford [Live]

on March 16, 2023

alt-rock alternative live music Mama Liz's Ross Stewart Stamford The Candle Thieves

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The Slow Readers Club: Knowledge Freedom Power [Album]

on March 01, 2023

Album alt-rock alternative The Slow Readers Club

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Jenny Colquitt: The Musician, Leicester [Live] [Interview]

on February 26, 2023

alt-folk alt-rock Americana exclusive interview Jenny Colquitt Leicester live music The Musician

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Death of the High Street: Not Fair

on February 10, 2023

alt-rock Death Of The High Street post-punk rock

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New release horizon scanner:

11/1/25 - Rosie Gault: Dim lights
29/1/25 - Dictator: Middle of the road (EP)
7/2/25 - Arliston: Disappointment machine (Album)
28/2/25 - Hachiku: The joys of being pure at heart (Album(

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Popular Posts

All roads lead to Leicester: Emma Mae + JJ Lovegrove + Greysha + Emily Carr [Live]

Those of you who follow my social media will have seen plenty of posts from me in the run up to this event - it was my first Music Observer promotion. I was very happy to be able to bring these four artists together for an event at Duffy's Bar in Leicester - and hopefully everyone who was there would agree that it was a great night, with a supportive and open atmosphere. The venue was excellent - they have a great stage area, in a separate room to the rear of the pub, with top-notch equipment (and serve top-notch Guinness). Here are some of my thoughts on the gig ... First on stage was Emily Carr , a very talented local singer-songwriter who I'd seen once before (last summer at an acoustic gig outdoors at The Soundhouse). Her wonderfully mellow vocals and evocative songs struck me then, so it was a pleasure to be able to see her perform again. She was even better than I remembered. She delivered a very tidy, engaging 30-minute set, mixing original material with a nice sprinkli...

William The Conqueror + Chloe Foy: The Big Difference, Leicester [Live]

I was particularly looking forward to this gig at The Big Difference in Leicester (formerly The Cookie) on Monday night - it was an event which was meant to have happened in March, towards the end of William The Conqueror's UK tour. Unfortunately, that date and some subsequent ones had to be postponed due to - yes you guessed it - Covid. But the new date soon rolled round, and I arrived early to make sure I heard Chloe Foy . She's someone I've listened to at various points over the years, revelling in the beautiful, meditative, country-inflected folk melodies she writes. Her debut single was released in 2013, and since then she's been developing her style and repertoire. To me, it feels like she's pretty much perfected it. Her set was short but definitely sweet, featuring a carefully curated selection of songs . She was accompanied by Harry Fausing Smith, delicately and unobtrusively picking out subtle notes and harmonics on his electric guitar. Everything felt tho...

Amber Saqladi: Becoming a modern-day Siren [Interview]

Amber Saqladi began her journey as a song-writer scribbling poetry at age seven, before graduating to writing songs with a felt-tipped pen on sheets of A3 paper. But it took some time for this pastime to evolve into a way of life. "It's always been something I've done but it was never anything I really took seriously growing up. I was a very academic kid, so that's what I expected to do," Amber explains. By 15, though, she had started writing music more seriously, and gigging. "Since then, it's become undeniable that that's the thing I enjoy the most - being able to be creative, and be academic at the same time," she says. Amber quickly established herself as a familiar name on the music scene in her home town of Leicester, where she also recorded her first three singles at HQ Studios . "The music scene in Leicester is absolutely lovely - it's very community based. I can always count on the other musicians there to support me, and I...

Dry Cleaning: Rescue Rooms, Nottingham [Live]

To be honest, I wasn't quite sure what to expect from a Dry Cleaning live performance - Would that deadpan delivery from Florence Shaw, and the toned down post-punk/alt vibes translate? Would the songs be engaging enough to carry the audience along through a full set? Simply put - yes. It all worked really well. The music sounded much heavier when played live and the musicianship of the band members was really clear to see and hear. One thing that stood out to me in particular was the drumming from Nick Buxton: this came across as several times more exciting, and much more organic - it was a more prominent part of the band's songs as compared with the studio versions, and (as an ex drummer myself) I welcomed that. The guitar work from Tom Dowse was fantastic, too. You could see and feel the energy and effort that he put in, and there were some great moments when he was the sole focus during extended solos. Meanwhile Lewis Maynard provided growling, chunky bass sounds, underpi...

The Music Observer 10: Looking back at 2022 [Singles]

Scroll down for my top 10 singles of 2022! But first: a special award for Epic Banger Of The Year , to Metric's 'Doomscroller' , a 10-minute track which truly deserves the often overused label of "awesome". I previously wrote: " It takes a certain kind of brilliance to create an epic, progressive but listenable track which twists and turns, rises and falls, surprises and engages from start to end ... It's a piece of music which feels like a voyage, through space rather than across seas. It's a song showcasing some high-level skills, both in the song-writing and in the interpretation and performance. It's well-judged, too, without any sense of time-wasting or unnecessary padding. This song needs 10 minutes." As well as opening the band's latest album 'Formentera' - one of my "honourable mentions" in this year's album run-down - 'Doomscroller' was released as a single in May. [Listen here ] THE MUSIC OBSE...

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