Nicky Aiken, Indigo Daydream, & Firesites
To be completely honest, when we received Nicky Aiken’s song submission, we thought it would be another Leonard Cohen cover. We were wrong. Aiken’s latest release, “Hallelujah,” could not be further removed from the 1984 song of the same name. This track might fade in with what we’ll call a ‘sweet soul fakeout,’ but it quickly becomes something akin to the gritty indie rock made popular by The White Stripes and even some bits of The Black Keys. To repeat, this indie scorcher of a song has absolutely nothing to do with Leonard Cohen. You really need to understand this before pressing play and letting it rock the ever-loving piss out of you.
Indigo Daydream is the project name for multi-instrumentalist Nick Cheshire, who is keen on exploring the depths of both alt-rock and dream-pop. He has just released a new track, “Room on My Cloud,” and explains, “I wanted to write a personal song from my own experience, something positive and uplifting. I think we all need a little of that right now.” The idea came to Cheshire after a head injury, getting an MRI and listening to the surreal rhythm of the machine. “Room on My Cloud” is a gradual crescendo that spans a cinematic dreamscape. It is deep, ethereal, drenched in reverb, and, as its name implies, beckons the listener to join him in the clouds.
With most of the COVID restrictions having been lifted, Newcastle’s Firesites have spent the last year gigging and honing their recording craft, longing for a means to capture their live shows, often including “submerging their listeners in a vast and ethereal soundscape of playful jazzy guitars and warm-hug synths.” For their latest release, “Home Again,” they have offered up a dream-pop ballad that features the neo-soul vocal work of LYRAS’ Ada Grace Francis. If you’ve been keeping up with our blog posts, you’ll know that one of our favorite song recipes includes the male/female duet, which is very tasteful here, but we also encourage you to take a deeper dive into Firesites’ catalogue, especially if you like what you hear with “Home Again.”
-ST