Cold Specks is the irrepresable vocal talents of Al Spx, a Canadian singer-songwriter currently based in Montréal. The name Cold Specks is taken from a line in James Joyce's Ulysses ("Born all in the dark wormy earth, cold specks of fire, evil, lights shining in the darkness.").
With two studio albums to her name, her star is very much on the rise and she's just been announced as the main support for cult legend Surfjan Stevens on his upcoming US tour.
Check out the haunting cover of Nick Cave's We No Who U R below.
Twitter @coldspecks
Essential Sounds
A mixture of new, old, unsigned and established artists we've been listening to over the last 7 days…
Cold Specks
'Don't restrict us with a genre, we just sound like Black Sonic Revolver...'
So there Facebook page says, and quite right too. Started in 2012, BSR are a tight indie rock outfit from Manchester. They've gigged regularly in that time and built up a considerable following.
As the initial statement suggests, it's hard to pin these guys down to a genre but with vibrant guitars, swirling harmonica and passionate vocals, they do what they do very well.
Twitter @BSRevolver
Black Sonic Revolver
A LUM favourite since we saw them tear up the Soup Kitchen a couple of years ago, we've been tipping Findlay for the top for a while.
Combining powerful and hypnotic vocals with an infectious energy, Findlay have already toured with Jake Bugg and The Courtneers and have recently been back in the studio making new music.
New track Electric Bones is included below along with the debut single from 2013, the insatiable Your Sister.
Twitter @FindlayMusic
Findlay
Despite the name, Manchester Orchestra aren't from this wonderful, diverse (rainy) city we call home. They are in actual fact an American indie rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 2004.
The band have released five albums in total, with two in 2014. Their sound is based around Andy Hull's high pitched pleading vocal against a multiple layers of keys, strings and synths.
Some of you may have seen a note from me earlier this week about stumbling upon a band I instantly fell for. This is them. I can't quite put my reasons into words but have a listen and decide for yourself.
Twitter @ManchesterOrch
Manchester Orchestra
This is one that should need little introduction. A man whose grizzled tones have been described as, "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car.", Tom Waits has been recording music for over 40 years.
I've included two videos below; one from the beginning of his career, his first album in fact, the other, a tremendous live performance of Ol' 55 from his VH1 Storytellers set in 1999. A perfect fit for the format, Waits is the archetypal storyteller and the raw power of that vocal is there for all to esee.
Tom Waits
