New release alert! ‘Desperately Seeking Sunshine’ (matcd085) is the eagerly awaited new album from Glasgow pop perfectionists Bubblegum Lemonade! Timed for release just as springtime reaches Scotland, the album is the latest hit parade from prolific multi-instrumentalist Laz McCluskey with a liberal dose of backing vocals by Sandra of fellow Scottish band Strawberry Whiplash.

Lead track ‘Our Mothers House’ is a jangly autobiographical radio hit proudly heralding the return of Glasgow’s finest with a song featuring Rickenbacker guitars, glockenspiel, layered harmonies and excellent backing vocals. ‘Warm Heart Cold Feet’ boasts shimmering major seventh chords, classy arpeggio guitars, a Beach Boys bass line, and a tambourine shake finish, while ‘First Dance For the Last Time’ is Laz laughing at his own mortality: classic country song writing in indie pop clothing, witty lyrics, a life-affirming zippy guitar intro, jangling Fender Jaguar guitars and plenty of sha-la-las all at 170bpm.

Never to be a Bubblegum Lemonade single, ‘Just An Album Track’ channels The Stone Roses with Madchester vibes, sunkissed harmonies, crackling record sound effects and clever lyrics on the subject of vinyl fetishism. ‘She Only Smiles For You’ is an alternative disco floor filler with Orange Juice strumming and ace harmonies, and ‘An Avenue In France’ makes its case as perhaps the most outstanding track on the album complete with French sounding melodica intro, backwards 12-string guitars, and a beautiful three part harmony about a brief holiday encounter.

Side two of the album opens with potential radio hit ‘Heaven With You’ with its chiming Byrds-like guitar intro, celestial backing vocals, an infectious hi hat, and more glockenspiel. ‘When Love Bites’ is an exceptional song with baroque instrumentation, another dose of sha-la-las, and Laz on violin, and ‘You Don’t Like Music’ is a Strokes-inspired blast of pop questioning the motivations of some in the music industry and featuring signature double-tracked Jaguar guitar solos and an instantly memorable dual vocal chorus.

‘Girls In The Song’ is an ode to women in song, referencing classic tracks by The Monkees, Velvet Underground, and The Hollies plus previous singles from Bubblegum Lemonade … a superb exercise in song structure with beautiful harmonies and a cascading 12-string climax. ‘Show Me A Miracle’, a secular hymn to the great Sunday morning lie-in, is a big production number including baggy inspired wah-wah guitar, more backing vox from Sandra, and an exciting musical climax, while final track ‘What Have You Done For Me Lately?’ is a cheeky backhanded celebration of human achievements that contrasts a soft mono verse with a loud stereo chorus and showcases jangling to the max and a blissful partial fade-out.

Bubbling with insanely catchy songs, rich instrumentation, and stunning pop melodies, ‘Desperately Seeking Sunshine’ is a very welcome return for Bubblegum Lemonade and an essential addition to any reputable record collection. The album is officially released April 26, but you can order a copy RIGHT NOW exclusively from the Matinée shop and enjoy a digital copy while you wait for the postman to deliver it. You can also stream select album tracks now on our Soundcloud!

Surprise! You may be here to check out the ace new single ‘The Swedish Winter’ from the new Red Sleeping Beauty album ‘Stockholm’ (matcd084), but you’re in for an even bigger treat because you can order the entire album RIGHT NOW!

For anyone that needs a refresher, Red Sleeping Beauty is a trio of Niklas Angergard, Kristina Borg, and Mikael Matsson and they formed in the early 1990s and released a series of pop gems on the finest labels of the day including Marsh Marigold, Motorway, Sunday and Siesta. After a 15-year disappearance, they returned in 2016 with new releases including the excellent album ‘Kristina’ on modern label titans Shelflife and Labrador. The band contributed the smash hit ‘Dressed In Yellow and Blue’ to the ‘Matinée World Cup’ EP (matinée 098) last year and this album marks their official first full release for Matinée.

The euphoric ‘We Are Magic’ is both the first song recorded for the album and the first song Kristina sang after defeating cancer. With swirling synthesizers and crystalline vocals, it marks an especially impressive return for the band and is the perfect opening track for the album.

With an intro that should appeal to vintage O.M.D. enthusiasts, ‘Always On Your Side’ is an indie gem featuring Niklas on lead vocals, while ‘Tonight’ is an ode to the hopes and possibilities of youthful summer nights and a hit single just waiting to happen.

‘New York City Girls’ channels early Pet Shop Boys and Kraftwerk and is surely the coolest song recorded by the band to date, and ‘A Perfect Facade’ is a sad song detailing life in a small seaside town and featuring the angelic backing vocals of Rose Suau of Shoestrings / Djustin / Invisible Twins fame.

Side two of the album opens with ‘Top Love’ – a duet about everyday life and a modern synth classic complete with shameless Yazoo outro, and is followed by ‘Tell Me Lies’ featuring pop guitars, a heavenly chorus, and lyrics about having really high thoughts about yourself.

Having stolen their name from a great McCarthy single, it was only a matter of time before the band covered ‘Red Sleeping Beauty’ and now, nearly 30 years after their first recordings, their haunting version slots perfectly into the new album.

Future dancefloor filler ‘The Swedish Winter’ is the band’s most Saint Etienne moment so far. It’s a song about the long, depressing Swedish winter and the short (one day or so), not-so-depressing Swedish summer, while album closer ‘Don’t Cry for Me, California’ begins as a power ballad but morphs into another club hit, complete with 80s Pet Shop Boys orchestral flourishes.

Mixed and mastered by sound genius Tomas Boden (co-producer of the latest album from fellow Swedes The Radio Dept.), ‘Stockholm’ is by far the strongest set of Red Sleeping Beauty songs to date with the right amount of edge and spark to allow them to reach their true potential. The album is a modern classic and an absolutely magnificent addition to the Matinée discography.

‘Stockholm’ is officially released April 12, but you can order a copy RIGHT NOW exclusively from the Matinée shop and get a digital copy to keep you company while you wait for your mailman to deliver it. You can also stream several album tracks now on our Soundcloud!

The brilliant new album ‘Stockholm’ (matcd084) from Swedish legends Red Sleeping Beauty is released April 12, but you don’t have to wait any longer to hear the lead single ‘The Swedish Winter’ because it is out today!

The song is about the long, depressing Swedish winter and the short (one day or so), not-so-depressing Swedish summer. It is the band’s most Saint Etienne moment so far.

The digital single (matda007) is available now in the Matinée shop and the usual digital platforms including iTunes, Amazon, and Spotify.

You can also stream it on our Soundcloud:

New release alert: Scottish faves Bubblegum Lemonade have an astonishing new 12-track album entitled ‘Desperately Seeking Sunshine’ (matcd085) out next month!

The first single from the album is called ‘Our Mother’s House’ and it is one of those catchy singalong numbers that will be stuck in your head for months to come. It’s up there with ‘Caroline’s Radio’ or ‘Susan’s In The Sky’ or ‘Beard On A Bike’ in the pantheon of bubblegum pop hits.

To celebrate its release, we’ve created a three-track EP (matda006) that showcases a few of the extra songs the band recorded during the album sessions.

In addition to ‘Our Mother’s House’ the EP includes a smash about a certain royal family called ‘Barely Regal’ and another too-good-to-be-a-b-side track called ‘When Life Gives You Lemons’. These two tracks are exclusive to the EP and will not appear on the forthcoming album.

The digital single is available now in the Matinée shop and other digital platforms including iTunes, Amazon, and Spotify. You can also stream the title track on the Soundcloud player below:

The second single from the new album ‘Don’t You Wanna Feel The Rain?’ (matcd083) from The Perfect English Weather is ‘Only Shadows’ (matda008). The digital single is available now in the Matinée shop and other digital platforms. You can also stream it from our Soundcloud below:

As we continue work on our 2019 release schedule, it’s time to clear space with a year-end clearance sale! Take up to 50 percent off every item in the Matinée shop now through December 31. Just enter the applicable promo code in the shopping cart at checkout. We are shipping orders all week so treat yourself to new releases and back catalog classics that will make your stereo smile … or buy digital downloads for immediate gratification. Thanks for all your support this year and best wishes for 2019!

Six months after the album ‘Fast Falls The Eventide’ (matcd082), Azure Blue presents the first single ‘Shine On’ (matda005) from a new album entitled ‘Images Of You’ coming early next year.

The dreamy sound from the internationally acclaimed debut album ‘Rule of Thirds’ (matcd059) is back but with sharper contours and colors, more distinct rhythms and shimmier reverbs that brighten up the songs like northern light.

The digital single is available now in the Matinée shop and other digital platforms. You can also stream it from our Soundcloud below:

The brilliant new album ‘Don’t You Wanna Feel The Rain?’ (matcd083) from The Perfect English Weather is available now!

The Perfect English Weather are Simon and Wendy Pickles, a husband and wife duo from Brighton, England, whose musical journey began in the late 1980s as part of the indie-chart regulars The Popguns. Perched on a melodic precipice at the frayed edges of indiedom, their beautiful, slightly melancholic pop has drawn comparisons to Everything But The Girl and more recently St Etienne. BBC 6 Music Radio seems to agree, with their songs receiving repeated airplay on the Gideon Coe and Steve Lamacq shows.

The new album is at heart a story of adulthood, with songs meandering around themes of travel and work, family and reminiscence, togetherness and separation. The albums journey of soundscapes sets out from London City bars through to memories of Ibiza nights, a freezing Warsaw winter and endless air travel, before finally settling in the rivers of Nova Scotia. Reflecting the various locations, situations and characters, the musical styles move in and out of guitar pop, moody electronica and the bare acoustic. The songs protagonists may change but the narrative flows consistently throughout, taking the listener through a personal history of estrangement and reunion.

The album is officially released November 16, but you can order a copy RIGHT NOW exclusively from the Matinée shop. You can also stream four ace album tracks now on our Soundcloud!

New release alert! Celebrated English duo The Perfect English Weather have a brand new album entitled ‘Don’t You Wanna Feel The Rain?’ out soon!

The first single from the album is called ‘Rockin’ To The Beat’ (matda004) and it is so good we couldn’t possibly make you wait to hear it. The song is a shamelessly trivial dose of laid back guitar pop, picturing a parent watching their adolescent child dancing at the edge of a summer festival crowd.

The single includes an exclusive Equinox mix of the song which should appeal to fans of Everything But The Girl in particular. The digital single is available now in the Matinée shop and other digital platforms. You can also stream both songs on the Soundcloud player below:

New release alert! ‘The Official Matinée World Cup EP’ (matinée 098) is available now! On this special release, Matinée bands celebrate the 2018 World Cup with five exclusive soccer-themed anthems to soundtrack the 21st international tournament this summer.

Australian stars Last Leaves kick things off with the splendid guitar pop classic ‘Golden Days To Come’ with its call and response chorus, trumpets, and a choir of fanatics to cheer on the Socceroos.

Swedish band Red Sleeping Beauty makes its Matinée debut with the glorious electric pop hit ‘Dressed In Yellow And Blue’ featuring an infectious chorus about one life-changing goal in the summertime.

Spanish duo The Royal Landscaping Society shows its support for La Furia Roja with the absolutely mesmerizing track ‘2010’ recalling Spain’s World Cup championship earlier this decade.

English legends The Popguns deliver in spades with ‘Red White And Blue’ posing the question “is it so unimaginable thinking we could win?” and using brilliant harmonies, furious guitars, cheering crowds, and handclaps to advance the English side to the next round.

Finally, Brazilian popstars Pale Sunday break a six-year silence with the ace fuzz pop song ‘Dirt Pitch Superstars’ in honor of their team’s campaign for an unprecedented sixth World Cup victory.

An essential release for Matinée and soccer enthusiasts alike, ‘The Official Matinée World Cup EP’ is a fun diversion from the games and a guaranteed score for summertime playlists. The EP is officially released June 15, but you can order it RIGHT NOW exclusively from the Matinée shop. Have a listen to all the tracks now on our Soundcloud!