I know I’m bit overdoing the blog at the moment, but I can’t help it. I’m finally on vacation from the day job, so I have time for this dear hobby. So I put together another one of these silly Four Arms to Hold You entries for tonight. I’m not sure is it a strength or a weakness that the last post contained countrified rock’n’roll and this time I’m approaching pop music from a few different angles. Too very different, but equally awesome things.

This pop goes the world tour starts from Toronto, Canada with the glorious new Ian Daniel Kehoe album Secret Republic. It was co-released by You’ve Changed Records and Tin Angel Records on the 22nd of March. He has released several awesome records under the moniker Marine Dreams, but this time he went with his given name. The music world also knows or should know him as a masterly drummer who has played with The Weather Station, Andy Shauf and Julia Jacklin. Anyway, back to the new album Secret Republic, which is an awesome pop triumph. Synth pop, a whole lot of 80s, danceable rhythms. If I look that in written form, it looks like it couldn’t be much further from music taste. But if I hit play and listen, it sounds like it couldn’t be any closer to my taste. Inconceivable!

He is currently touring with Daniel Romano in Sweden and Norway, so catch his show if you possibly can. A shame he isn’t on the bill on STHLM Americana (understandable, because one would have to stretch the genre limit pretty far to include this..), because I would love to see him play live and grap a vinyl copy of the album too.

Ian Daniel Kehoe Website

Heading to Glasgow, Scotland for a date with the new The Pearlfishers album Love & Other Hopeless Things that came out on Marina Records on the 26th of April. Their music has been by my side throughout my whole adult life and I will carry David Scott’s songs in my heart for as long as I breathe. The new album is again full of beautiful melodies and timeless pop arrangements. Here’s a lyric video for album outtake Could Be a Street Could Be a Saint.

The Pearlfishers Website

Back across the pond to Oakland, CA for the new Natural Bridges album Residual Daydreams that just came out last Friday on Royal Oakie. I’m new to Natural Bridges and just a month or so ago I was hooked into their Good Medicine album. I actually thought it was brand new until I saw more Natural Bridges songs coming out and found out that it was their old record from 2013 that Royal Oakie reissued before this new one. Anyway, I already love this band and this is so completely my kind of music. They are blending together all kinds of things that I love. Timeless pop melodies, mellow soul moods, gentle 70s west coast folk rock plus namedropping a list of my all-time faves like Brian Wilson, Big Star, Todd Rundgren, Badfinger and so forth on the press release. I will keep on shouting their name from the rooftops. Here’s a great song from each of these great records showing two different sides of Natural Bridges.

Natural Bridges at Facebook

If you are fan of Finnish pop music and/or have followed this page during its early years you might remember a lovely band called Le Futur Pompiste. If you loved them like I did, I have good news for you. LFP’s Einar Ekström lives in Stockholm these days and he has started a new group with Siri Af Burén. They are called Astral Brain and they released their debut single From Above / Field Trip in April. I hope this is just the beginning, because both songs are utterly wonderful. These charming pop sounds makes me want to dig up my collection of 60s/70s soft pop-psych and that’s never a bad thing. Just ah.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLvMDMF4ZIo

Astral Brain at Facebook

Four Arms to Hold You is an ongoing feature with a weird name. It might not contain a whole lot of words, but it does contain a whole lot of love towards the featured songs. Basicly this is just four albums / songs / artists that have done their part in holding me together and therefore I want to tell the world or the seven readers of this blog how much I love them. Not entirely sure do these kind of posts serve any kind of purpose and I do hope I manage to write longer posts too. Right now it just feels like the playlists and these kind of short posts are the only way to keep this dear hobby alive. Plus it’s really the music that matters, not my random ramblings and these posts will always contain magical music.

These posts will keep on dropping on a daily basis now that I’m on vacation. Don’t worry, I’ll get back to the usual one post a month thing when the dayjob shoves the reality down my throat in a few weeks. I’ll throw in another gear today and add some rock’n’roll albeit countrified to this weird ongoing series. Starting with something brand new from Nashville, TN. Matt Woods is a long time blog favourite and his new album Natural Disasters is coming out on the 28th of June. A music video for the gorgeous album opener Blue-Eyed Wanderer surfaced yesterday. Directed by another huge blog favourite and personal hero Joey Kneiser (who also produced and engineered the forthcoming album).

Matt Woods Website

Moving on to Geelong, Australia for the next one. Musically we aren’t miles away though, because songwriter and storyteller Nathan Seeckts is delivering some extremely convincing country rock, folk and americana on his debut full-length The Heart of the City. The opening trio Old Blood, Beast Beneath the Bed and Sirens is a real homerun and the quality remains high even after that monster start. You need to check this one if you are into things like Lucero, American Aquarium and Drive-By Truckers.

Nathan Seeckts Website

Kentucky-born and Wisconsin-based Christopher Gold is the real unsung hero, if you are into the kind of music I posted in this little blog entry. He has this crazy or actually crazy good project going where he releases a new song every two weeks until he has 27 songs. I don’t know how he manages to keep the level so high all the time, because there’s about 20 of these songs out there now and I’ve probably liked them all (and most have been on the weekly playlists, I’ve left out a couple only when I’ve needed to give other artists some space too). These songs also form 3 different albums that will come available on his Bandcamp as name-your-price downloads. Here’s one great one from the first two albums that are now available. Showcasing slightly different sides of Christopher Gold & The New Old Things.

Christopher Gold Website

And last but definitely not the least, the new amazing Tyler Childers single / music video House Fire from his forthcoming album Country Squire. Maybe not the most perfect fit for this post, but not too far off either and I suppose Tyler Childers is so wonderful that he is a perfect fit with absolutely everyone. The success of Tyler Childers sure is some much needed reassurance that this music business can still make some sense. Country Squire will be co-released by Hickman Holler Records / RCA Records on the 2nd of August.

Tyler Childers Website

Four Arms to Hold You is an ongoing feature with a weird name. It might not contain a whole lot of words, but it does contain a whole lot of love towards the featured songs. Basicly this is just four albums / songs / artists that have done their part in holding me together and therefore I want to tell the world or the seven readers of this blog how much I love them. Not entirely sure do these kind of posts serve any kind of purpose and I do hope I manage to write longer posts too. Right now it just feels like the playlists and these kind of short posts are the only way to keep this dear hobby alive. Plus it’s really the music that matters, not my random ramblings and these posts will always contain magical music.

Starting tonight’s journey from Nashville with a song from the new Caroline Spence album Mint Condition that came out on the 3rd of May. It’s her first on Rounder Records who are giving a platform to lots of great songwriters at the moment. It has always been a good label, but it has risen to an even higher level since John P. Strohm took over in late 2017. But enough about the label, Caroline Spence is the real star here and she has written a powerful and engaging album. Sit Here and Love Me is a love song that leaves a strong impression. It’s written from the perspective of a person who is dealing with depression and the message for her loved one is that all you need to do is to be present and love me. Even anxieties aside that message is universal and something that can easily get lost in the world where we live with a phone attached to our hand. Be there for the one that is close to you and not for the guy who wrote a bad uninformed tweet on the other side of the globe. I definitely can personally learn from this song too, because sometimes I’m guilty of what I just wrote. Sit Here and Love Me goes a long way.

Caroline Spence Website

I know it’s way too obvious and an awkward transition, but next this train travels to Austin, Texas and I’m going to post Sit Here & Cry from Kathryn Legendre. Just because I love both of these songs and they just fit well under the same post. At least Jake Nyman would be proud of me. Kathryn Legendre is a wonderful country singer-songwriter and her great new EP Making It Up came out on the 17th of May on Shotgun House Records.

Kathryn Legendre Website

Every now and then also Finland delivers high quality roots music. At the moment, I’m personally excited about the forthcoming Iron Country Sisters debut that is due out this fall on Soit Se Silti. The latest single Leaves came out on the 24th of May and it’s another winner with engaging lyrics and eternally beautiful singing.

Iron Country Sisters Website

Closing up tonight’s post with one of the most courageous, powerful and important songs of the year. Emily Scott Robinson is a singer-songwriter from Greensboro, NC and her magnificent album Traveling Mercies came out on the 22nd of February. The Dress is a song that I love, but I hate that there is a reason for it to exist. She is a survivor of a sexual assault and the song tells that story and the fear and trauma it caused. I have no words so I just sit here and love this courageous song.

Emily Scott Robinson Website

Four Arms to Hold You is an ongoing feature with a weird name. It might not contain a whole lot of words, but it does contain a whole lot of love towards the featured songs. Basicly this is just four albums / songs / artists that have done their part in holding me together and therefore I want to tell the world or the seven readers of this blog how much I love them. Not entirely sure do these kind of posts serve any kind of purpose and I do hope I manage to write longer posts too. Right now it just feels like the playlists and these kind of short posts are the only way to keep this dear hobby alive. Plus it’s really the music that matters, not my random ramblings and these posts will always contain magical music.