MT. DOUBT - IN AWE OF NOTHING

Mt. Doubt's 2015 debut album My Past Is A Quiet Beast was one of my favourite albums of last year with its blend of deep lyrics and dark, intriguing guitar pop a real breath of fresh air. Leo Bargery quickly established himself as one of Scotland's most interesting new singer-songwriters, and In Awe Of Nothing, a quick follow up to My Past..., shows that the last twelve have only scratched the surface of what Mt Doubt is capable of. Merging dark pop with indie rock, bits of post punk and powerful, affecting songwriting, In Awe Of Nothing is yet another, tremendous Mt. Doubt release.

Recent single Afterglow (below) shows Mt. Doubt at their best with its irresistible melodies encased warm but edgy guitars. Thirst, Sheer And Utter and Soak are in a similar vein, each one distinct from the other, but all following one of Mt. Doubt's key paths - emotional, guitar led, anthemic indie pop with a near the surface undertone of sheer power that is only revealed when the song's are played live. There, songs which grab you on record take on a new life and that's one of the most intriguing things about Mt. Doubt. Both in their recorded and live versions, these songs are impossible to ignore.  Closing track Bastard Sea comes closest to combining the two and it's a thrilling end to the album. Bargery gives us the full Matt Beringer meets Eddie Vedder vocal style that sounds so huge live and it's a real treat.

In Awe Of Nothing is a noticeable step on from My Past Is A Quiet Beast, mainly because the songs here have a fresh confidence to them, feeling less confessional and private that the tracks on the debut. That's not to belittle that album of course because, as I mentioned above, I love it and you really should hear it, but In Awe Of Nothing adds new dimensions to Mt. Doubt's sound and is yet more evidence that this is a very special band indeed. It's a special album too - give it a listen.

In Awe Of Nothing by Mt. Doubt is out now on Scottish Fiction on very limited vinyl, cd and download. Mt. Doubt are playing the T-Break stage this Saturday (9 July) at 2 p.m at T In the Park. Check out their Facebook page below for more details and for all news and upcoming gigs.

Mt Doubt Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MtDoubt/?fref=ts
Mt Doubt Bandcamp https://mtdoubt.bandcamp.com/album/in-awe-of-nothing

TONGUES - RELIGION

Tongues are one of the bands I've featured on my ongoing New Bands 2015 series (right here) and they caught my ear because the superb Colours In The Dark and Anymore were two of the finest examples of synthpop I'd heard in a long time. Anymore also featured on the second Almost Scottish Fiction e.p. which you can still grab at no cost at all here. It's no surprise that Tongues have continued to attract praise from all sorts of places and their recent set at T In the Park on the BBC Introducing stage unsurprisingly went down a storm.

The excellent news I have for you Tongues have released a new track today and that track, Religion, is available for you to listen to below. Religion is a cracking track; a combination of chants, vocoded vocals, laid back beats and instantly catchy synth melodies that you can easily see a packed venue bouncing along to very happily indeed. This track is a prime example of why Tongues are fast becoming talked about in more than just blogging circles. Religion is a prime slice of clever, hook laden electronic music that you are bound to fall in love with.

For more info about Tongues, check out their Facebook page

INTERVIEW - APACHE DARLING

As regular readers will know, I'm something of a fan of Glasgow's synthpop duo Apache Darling, having first fallen under their spell last year when I heard their superb debut single More Than Me. I'm not alone in this as the band's fanbase has steadily grown since that song's release through a series of much talked about live shows, radio appearances (including an appearance on Radio Scotland's Janice Forsyth show this week) and their second single Firebird. Big things are surely about to happen for Apache Darling and this Saturday they take their first steps towards whatever those big things may be with an appearance on the T Break Stage at T In The Park. That will swiftly be followed by an appearance at Glasgow's King Tut's on 21 July as part of that venue's Summer Nights 2015 month of gigs. I caught up with Apache Darling, who are Stefanie Lawrence (vocals) and Andrew Black (synthesizers), to have a chat about T in The Park, King Tut's and more.

APA: You've got some fairly high profile gigs coming up, starting with your appearance on the T Break Stage at T In The Park. Daft question I suppose, but are you looking forward to it?

Stefanie: YES! We honestly can't wait. Although Apache Darling is just over a year old, I've been wanting to play T In The Park for years. For this to be our first U.K. festival show, and with it being the 20th anniversary of T In The Park, it feels like a perfect start.

APA: What can we expect from your T In The Park show?

Andrew: People who have seen us playing live before can expect a totally new experience with this show. We've ditched all trace of backing tracks, which was something we felt strongly about doing, and the band has a much greater energy as a result. Expect huge electronics and pop writing, but with the feel of a pretty heavy rock band. Mixed with the atmosphere of T, it should be an epic sound!

APA: Hot on the heels of that you have King Tut's on 21 July with AmatrAnt, Miracle Strip and Le Thug. That's a rather cool line up - you must be excited?

Stefanie: Yes again! We're really just excited to unleash this new live sound and I think that the line up for Tut's will make for a really exciting night. We still have some tickets available for this one which you can buy via our Big Cartel store for only £5 (http://apachedarling.bigcartel.com)

APA: King Tut's obviously has quite a status as a live venue. What are your thoughts about playing there?

Andrew: We love it. It's of course a very famous venue, but it really does live up to the hype. It's kind of the perfect size and when it's full of people, the energy is amazing on stage. We've played there once before. We've played there once before, but it was a last minute thing and our band weren't involved, so it'll be fun to play there with live bass and drums, and in front of a crowd who know our sound.

APA: You recently played in Toronto at NXNE - how was that?

Stefanie: Toronto was a really special one. We're unsigned and don't even have a manager, so the trip was fan-funded, something we're immensely grateful for. We played two packed out shows in one night and gained a lot of new fans. Canadian audiences are great fun and take live music very seriously: they really have a sincere respect for musicians and Toronto especially is a great artsy town.

APA: What are you plans for the next few months? Can we expect an album?

Andrew: We've just spent a week working on our live show with a musical director from England. He's worked on stadium shows for guys like Robbie Williams and currently tours with Bryan Ferry, so he really knows what he's doing and has really helped us enhance our sound. We're aiming to record some new material in Autumn and start putting out new tracks by the end of the year. We also have some more shows coming up that we'll be announcing soon, so follow our socials for updates on those shows (links below).

Thanks very much to Stefanie and Andrew for sparing the time to chat. As you've read above, keep an eye on the band's Facebook page (Apache Darling Facebook) and follow them on Twitter at @APACHEDARLING for all upcoming gig info.