Bring me one good love.

Mike Clark is a sensation. He's a living, breathing, blue-eyed, soulful sensation. The first time I encountered the music of Mr. Clark, it was through the amazingness that is Heather Browne's Fuel/Friends blog, in the form of a gorgeous Chapel Session. You see, Mike Clark is 34 years old and he works as a land surveyor in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He is not a professional, but he is a natural. He didn't start playing tunes until he was 27. A late bloomer, he's now played in several bands in his local scene on his way to perfecting his solo sound with his current project: Mike Clark & The Sugar Sounds.



He has a voice for the blues and a flair for soul. He finds his home in the neighborhood near Otis Redding and Ray LaMontagne, and he fits right in. The first time I heard him, I knew I had to have his album: Round & Round. It's pretty much perfect. You can purchase that HERE. You can listen to and download his entire Fuel/Friends Chapel Session, right HERE, and find the rest of his stuff via his website HERE. But, before you go, remember to try and check out his Daytrotter session that just came out today. It's what spurred on this post and it is entirely worth your time.

DAYTROTTER. GO NOW!

Introducing: BODYWORK

BODYWORK is kind of mysterious. There's not a lot of information out there. All I know is that they're from England, they have a free album up for download on their website, and they sound kind of like Yeasayer. I found out about them through I Guess I'm Floating, who posted about them this last week.

I recommend checking out their music video for "The Grind," the title track to their recently released free album. It sounds like classic Yeasayer, the voice, the synths, everything, and I'm certainly not complaining.



Their album is up for download RIGHT HERE and you can check out their website HERE. Also, here's their sadly underappreciated FACEBOOK PAGE. You can also follow them on Twitter HERE.

Check these dudes out. You can't turn down free music, can you? Is that a thing you do? THIS IS A GIFT.

Let me float away.

The creative core of the band is provided by the brothers Lawhon out of Santa Ana, California. They formed a band called KO KO in 2012 that eventually evolved into Pacific Air with the release of their Long Live KOKO - EP that year. The entire EP went on to be parts of their debut album, Stop Talking, which they released last week.

Pacific Air's debut album, Stop Talking, dropped this week and they lived up to their name. This record is a flawless collection of aqua-tinged poolside pop. After picking it up, I listened to it once while driving around the Kentucky country side and it was great, but it didn't really come to life until I listened to it by the pool.

"Move", for me, is the stand-out track on the album. It's easily one of the quicker songs on the album. It's catchy. And it keeps their summer aesthetic.

 

The new songs are all great, too. "Suits," "Play Nice," and "Duet In B Minor" all satisfy that itch you're trying to scratch with this band. It's perfect sugary summery tuneage for your relaxed consumption. "Sunshine" is probably my favorite of the newer stuff though.

Introducing: Alice & The Glass Lake

Strikingly beautiful, the music of Alice & The Glass Lake is keenly cinematic. I can feel the wind coming in from far off lands, blowing my hair back as I set off on an adventure that will change my life forever. If the light of the full moon made a sound, it would sound like Alice & The Glass Lake. Her brand of pop music is effortlessly brilliant.



Hailing from Wisconsin, Alice associates the Glass Lake with escaping: "It's the lens through which I live my dreams. It's an escapist place of possibility and heartbreak. And it's a sonic space to become lost and find truth." Her music is just that: audio-escapism.

Check out her music video for "Higher," where she conjures shapes out of the air and pulls you into her world and introduces you to her brand of dream pop.



She recently released a stream of her debut EP, The Evolution, which can be streamed HERE. It's awesome to the max and you shouldn't deny your ears the pleasure of listening to it. You can purchase the EP on iTunes and bandcamp (it's also available on Spotify).

Introducing: Karl X Johan

 Karl X Johan makes a curious kind of music. It clearly falls somewhere in the genre of electropop, but has elements of R&B as well. The most telling comparison I can give them is Hurry Up, We're Dreaming M83. Their most recent release is "Never Leave Me", an impressive pop tune that reminds me of M83's "Reunion".



The music video for their song "Flames" actually won a Swedish Grammy. It's symphonic electropop at its finest. The video itself is full of gorgeous hi-def close-ups.

 

These dudes might not make it in America anytime soon, but hopefully they'll drop an album that gets the kind of study-time attention that Hurry Up, We're Dreaming did a year ago.

Introducing: To Kill A King

I've actually known about To Kill A King for a few months now. I first found them when I stumbled onto this blog called Music vs. Misery ran by Megan Forsyth. She posted this awesome video of To Kill A King and a bunch of their friends (including Bastille, who I love unabashedly) performing a rendition of their song "Choices". This blew me out of the water.



Hearing this version inspired me to check out their then-fresh debut album Cannibals With Cutlery, which I soon found out was pretty much the bee's knees. It's full of fantastically arranged folk tunes with pop sensibilities. Sounds like Typhoon and The National rolled into one. Besides "Choices", you should definitely listen to "Fictional State" with it's huge slightly out of place but massively uplifting crescendo.

 

Also, take the time to check out their cover of Lana Del Rey's "Video Games". I like it more than the original, but that may just be me.

Being good isn't always easy

Since I posted about Roo & The Howl a little over a month ago, she's been quite busy. First, she announced she'd be doing a Daytrotter session (which I'm already hype for). Then, she changed up her website and announced some tour dates. And, just last week, she put up a video of her performing the Dusty Springfield classic "Son Of A Preacher Man."



Like I said last time, this girl is going places. She took a brassy over-the-top number like "Son Of A Preacher Man" and turned it into the soft, reminiscent tune it always should have been. Just for a quick review, here's how you can find all of Roo's stuff:

FACEBOOK
TWITTER
WEBSITE