Biggest news these days is the generally excellent response to the most recent Matinée release, "Seven Songs" from Melodie Group. Housed in a stylishly blue digipak, it looks something like the image at the left and features strummed and jangled guitars, superb vocals and pure pop melodies compared to early Lloyd Cole, the Go Betweens and Felt. Those of you impressed with this six-track debut should be pleased to know a quick four-track follow-up is in production for release in early October.

Assuming the UPS delivery person doesn't skip town with 1000 copies later this week, August 28th should bring the American debut from Edson, Sweden's most talented pop purveyors, with their "Sunday, Lovely Sunday" EP (matinée 016). While the more astute of you will recognize the brilliant title track from Summersound Recordings' "Sound of Young Sweden" CD released late last year, the remaining three tracks should be quite new to nearly everyone. Fresh from their performance last week at Sweden's Emmaboda Festival, we're working on getting the band to London for a Matinée show this autumn.

Complete details of the two new releases can now be found on the updated catalogue page. The summer parade of pop will continue for the next month with new releases expected from Lovejoy, Sportique, the Lucksmiths and Harper Lee:

Brighton, England's Lovejoy follow their excellent debut single "A Taste of the High Life" with a 10-song masterpiece called "Songs In The Key of Lovejoy" (matcd008). Lead vocalist and guitarist Richard Preece (ex-Spinning Wheels; current collaborator in Beaumont and the Snowbound International Pop Club) delivers masterful vocals not unlike a more indiepop Adorable. Contributing to the new expanded lineup is Ally Board on angelic female vocals, Blueboy/Beaumont mainmen Keith Girdler and Paul Stewart on backing vocals and guitar, and Rich Haines on production wizardry. With brilliant use of keyboards, percussion, and vocal harmonies, the band's debut long-player is an essential soundtrack for the now generation and perfect for fans of Biff Bang Pow!, House of Love, the Wake, Razorcuts or Blueboy. Out September 4 if all goes well...

Sportique's "Don't Believe A Word I Say" 7" (matinée 017) features two exclusive tracks and provides an excellent showcase for most recent acquisition Amelia Fletcher (Marine Research, Heavenly, Talulah Gosh) on keyboards and backing vocals. The superb title track, previewed during a John Peel session last September, features shimmering guitars and keyboards, handclaps, and nice female harmonies. New song "A Nation of Soul" on the flip showcases trilling keyboards and Greg and Amelia sharing vocals on an anthemic dual chorus. The band will play a handful of East Coast dates in late October in support of the single and forthcoming Matinée album "The New Black." Expected release date for the single is September 11th.

Also expected on the 11th is "T-Shirt Weather" (matinée 018)...first release of the year from the extraordinarily popular Australian trio, The Lucksmiths, featuring some of their catchiest songs so far! The title track is an infectious summer pop hit with driving guitar and bass, tambourines, ba-ba-ba's, a shaky egg, and brilliant harmonies. "Tmrw vs. Y'day" features meandering gentle strums, vibraphone, and splendid vocals. The two-track 7" is limited to 800 copies and comes with a free postcard. The four-track CDEP adds a superb cover of the Magnetic Fields' "Deep Sea Diving Suit" and a handsome new version of "Southernmost" with multilayered keyboards.

Completing the September 11th pop trifecta is the highly anticipated second single (matinée 019) from Brighton, England duo Harper Lee featuring Keris Howard (formerly of Brighter and Hal; now also playing live with Trembling Blue Stars) on vocals and guitar, and Laura Bridge (formerly of Hood; now also in Kicker) on guitar, keyboards, and drums. A preview of the band's forthcoming debut album, this double A-side ("Bug" b/w "You Kill Me") showcases idyllic, earnest pop, beautifully layered keyboards and guitars, and tragic mournings of the Brighteresque variety.

Whew! All dates are targets and subject to the whims of a certain vinyl pressing plant in California, a printer in North Carolina, a CD plant in Pennsylvania, numerous UPS employees across the country, and my productivity at sending various boxes all over the globe...so please be understanding if something slips by a week or so.

After that, the autumn collection begins in earnest with great promise of the following:

matinée 015 Remember Fun - Train Journeys EP
matinée 020 Melodie Group - Raincoat CDEP
matinée 021 The Windmills - Drug Autumn CDEP
matinée 022 Simpático - Postal Museum CDEP
matinée 023 Fisher - Four Day Weekend CDEP
matcd005 The Siddeleys - Slum Clearance CD
matcd006 Ego - La Main Devant La Bouche CD
matcd009 Harper Lee - Only Connect CD
matcd010 Various - France On A Bicycle CD
matcd011 Airport Girl - Honey, I'm An Artist CD

Details and anticipated release dates to follow next month. I disclosed a tiny bit of it in the last update, which is archived here if you just can't wait... Cheers, Jimmy