Back in 2021, Maple Glider was singing about her restrictive and traditional religious upbringing in her gorgeous debut album To Enjoy is the Only Thing. Today, the singer-songwriter – real name Tori Zietsch – explores once again this topic in her new single “Dinah”. “I’ve been in the church but the church is in my skirt,” she repeats in this song inspired by a biblical tale, which addresses the hypocrisy and double standards of the patriarcal institution.

“For me, “Dinah” is the scariest thing I’ve ever put out,” she explains. “It’s probably the most pop feeling song I’ve released, but it’s really quite an angry song. I have felt incredibly disturbed and frustrated and sad in the process of writing and putting it together.”

Alongside the track, Zietsch also shared a colorful video, that she co-directed with Bridgette Winten. “Dinah”, as well as previously released single “Don’t Kiss Me”, will be featured on her sophomore album I Get Into Trouble.

“These songs have been no easy feat, but I’m ready as all hell for you to hear them. Hope you can hold them with tenderness and self-care,” she details. “This album feels more like an opening up because there are things I wasn’t feeling ready to publicly share through songs, but now I finally feel ready.” And we’re also ready to hear them.

Watch the video below, and pre-oder the LP via Bandcamp.

After releasing one beautiful track after another, Tori Zeitsch AKA Maple Glider finalises her ethereal collective with “Friend,” a heartbreaking and reflective tale of lost friendship.

The soundscape follows in the same vein as her last singles. Gorgeously diaristic and intensely personal, “Friend” is led by a stoically struck guitar, solemn keys and an echoing drum beat. It is simplistic yet haunting in its honest delivery and admirable heart.

Of the track, she said: “This song is for an old, good friend. In some ways it feels like one of the most personal songs on the album. I knew I wanted to write it for a long time, before I finally did. It’s a reflection of some of my experience in the music industry from the age of sixteen or so, before Maple Glider existed, and the story of a friendship intertwined inside of each of our shiny music dreams. It was turbulent and unbalanced, and we both became a little undone within it. A lot of hurt and healing came to the surface after years of close collaboration, and ‘Friend’ is the result of that.”

There’s often a lot of emphasis placed upon the impact of the end of a romantic relationship, yet the loss of a friendship is one that’s often bypassed as less hurtful or messy. In “Friend”, Maple Glider confronts this head on, revealing in a personal yet universal way the influence that this gone but not forgotten friend had on her.

Unlike her past offerings, the video accompaniment for “Friend” is directed by Athina Wilson (her previous singles were all directed by her good friend Bridgette Winten). Straying from the super 8 vignettes that we’re used to, it’s fitting that her final video allows us to see a completely clear and present Maple Glider.

And well, those purple boots make for one grand finale also.

Following three widely praised singles, Tori Zietsch AKA Maple Glider returns to offer us her latest cut “Baby Tiger”. Much like her previous singles “As Tradition,” “Good Thing,” and “Swimming,” this new offering showcases Zietsch’s haunting ability to condense her highly complex emotions into intensely personal, yet strangely universal musical slices.

On her stripped back fourth single, “Baby Tiger,” there is something forlorn about the succinctly and thoughtfully strummed acoustic guitar. The minute “imperfections” and naturalistic noises that are littered throughout the track, such as the scratch of the strings when she changes chords, or the slight knocking sound that’s heard as her knuckles hit the body of the guitar when strumming, all add to the charm of the track.

Maple Glider consistently offers us parts of her life in absolute earnest and “Baby Tiger” is no different. These minor “isms” that go hand in hand with her music offer a complete immersion into her world, her mind. It’s akin to the feeling of gathering around the teacher for story time as a child; her music possesses that same narrative styling and odd rapture despite its quiet nature.

Lyrically the sombre essence is sustained, focussing on the strange limbo that comes from a downward episode, where time ceases to move in a linear way. The presence of the cat or “baby tiger” at the door is a beautiful and wholesome reminder that even at your worst times, your cat is always there for you.

Of the track, Maple Glider commented: “‘Baby Tiger’ was written soon after I’d returned home from Brighton. I was really struggling with my mental health, but I was going out and kind of using dating as a distraction from dealing with it. It never really worked. I’d just end up feeling worse when I was alone. Coriander (the cat) hates closed doors. She’ll always want to know what you’re doing on the other side. It kind of became comforting to hear her scratch at my door. It was something that felt constant and unwavering and regular at a time when I was a bit vacant. Her energy made me feel lighter. I’m very detached from the ‘man’ I address in the song, but I beg for him to comfort me. Though I am feeling unwell, I am pretty certain that it is temporary. I know that ‘I’ll come back to me soon.’ My housemate says she sees this as a kind of happy song because it features Coriander, and I really love that perspective, because even though I was in a bad place when I wrote it, there is an element of hopefulness.”

The accompanying visuals are once again directed by friend and project partner Bridgette Winten. Following on from the now well established motif of a Maple Glider x Bridgette Winten project, the video is made up of grainy textured super 8 film, comprised of vignettes – mostly in black and white – of Maple Glider’s very own baby tiger. Ferociously cute.

Having settled back in Melbourne after her somewhat semi-nomadic existence, Tori Zietsch aka Maple Glider has set her musical sights on releasing her debut album To Enjoy is the Only Thing. With the release of her previous single “Good Thing”, the artist also announced that she had signed to Partisan Records in partnership with Australian label Pieater.

Led by a fizzling, languid drum beat and the sparse guitars, “Swimming” follows in what is now an established formula for a Maple Glider track. Her power lies in her buttery light, delicate voice that weaves tales of woe and despair, whilst managing to sound achingly beautiful.

Coupled with some quiet keys underlying the song, the combined effect of “Swimming” is one of a hazy Sunday afternoon reminisce. It sounds like sipping a glass of freshly made lemonade on the porch and thinking about a lost love, the one that got away. Those subtle keys gift the song that sombre edge that Maple Glider is unparalleled at providing.

Accompanying the track, is a Bridgette Winden directed video. It’s already the third time that Maple Glider’s long time friend is in charge of the visuals. The “Swimming” clip retains the wonderful edge of her previous offerings, as we see super 8 footage of the artist romping around the coast, dunes and fields with a skeleton for a companion. It’s comically staged almost; the skeleton is an anatomically correct one that you find in a school biology lab, but it fits the more downtrodden side of the song. It’s tongue in cheek, but it’s ultimately reflective of the track’s ruminations about a kind of love that’s scarring, that’s so deep that it hurts whether it’s bad or not.

Solidifying her status of true storyteller, “Swimming” is essentially a cyclic song, ending with the same refrain that the track opened with. It feels like a perfect pearl, leaving the tale unending, like a chapter of a book enticing you to come back for the next installment.

After her striking, soul searching debut “As Tradition” caught our attention back in September last year, Tori Zietsch aka Maple Glider has quietly been making moves. Her sophomore track, “Good Thing,” is released via Partisan Records, in partnership with Australian label Pieater.

Living a semi-nomadic lifestyle for a time, moving to Melbourne and then Brighton, UK before back to Melbourne again, her travels and untethered nature undoubtedly continues to inform her writing.

Of this latest offering, Maple Glider commented, “I wrote this song out of a place of defeat. I was really heartbroken at this point, and very confused. I like the feeling of my independence and I think I was afraid of putting energy into the wrong people. Sometimes we make decisions out of fear and sometimes it’s because we know that it is the best decision to make. Those lines can get very blurry.”

Describing the consequences that accompany a breakup, including the pain you inflict while leaving someone that you once loved, “Good Thing” is tender and heartbreaking.

Opening with fragmented, sparse guitars and Maple Glider’s ethereal folk vocal work at the helm, “Good Thing” traverses her thoughts, landing finally on the conclusion that “I’d rather kill a good thing than wait for it to die”.

Much like her previous offering, “Good Thing” feels positively diaristic, like we’re truly being allowed into her innermost thoughts and feelings. We’re with her every step of the way as she processes over what is the right decision to make. This doubtful reflection is also palpable in the structure of the track, which eschews the comfort and familiarity of a repetitive chorus.

The video accompaniment is once again directed by Zietsch’s good friend Bridgette Winten. In a set of grainy super 8 shots, we see Maple Glider fluctuate between a carefree persona and a more introspective one; recollecting her thoughts and memories together to evaluate if this relationship really is a “Good Thing”.

West London songwriter Will Westerman is readying the release of his debut album Your Hero Is Not Dead with a graceful new single, “Waiting On Design”. Like the rest of the 12-track project, the luminous track was recorded alongside his close friend and producer Nathan Jenkins, aka Bullion, in Portugal. Speaking on the inspiration behind “Waiting on Design”, he stated:

[su_quote]I was thinking about the absurdity of the self, and how nobody wants to look at themselves from the perspective of the people they hurt. What’s interesting to me about storytelling isn’t necessarily the stories themselves, but the mutual connection that comes from people’s understanding of what’s being conjured by that story.[/su_quote]

Watch the accompanying animation, courtesy of Bráulio Amado, and pre-order the album via Bandcamp below.

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After a long series of captivating singles (“Confirmation” to the forefront), British singer-songwriter Westerman has finally announced the release of his debut album. The 12-track project will notably feature the previously released track “Blue Comanche.” Coming with this good news, he has also shared a new single, “Think I’ll Stay,” of which he said:

[su_quote]I wrote this while I was moving a lot. I was thinking about a chronic pain condition when it started. That pain is a very specific type, but I think there’s an inevitable amount of pain that everyone goes through just being alive. A friend was talking to me about how they’re going to be working until they’re 80 years old, so what’s the difference. In the song, I’m trying to say that it’s worth sticking around. It’s a sort of giddy affirmation of being.[/su_quote]

Listen and pre-order the album via Bandcamp below.

Molly Sarlé is no stranger to the music industry. She’s most well known for being one third of the Appalachian folk band Mountain Man, yet her solo material feels profoundly her own, like she’s carving a spot for herself to inhabit.

“This Close”, her second solo track, possesses an elegance in its simplicity. As a track it’s stripped down to the bare essentials musically, leaving room for Molly Sarlé’s voice to positively soar bee the top. Sarlé has a mesmerising and powerful voice, one that lilts over words with a twang that makes for perfect storytelling. It’s exactly this, her ability to create a narrative, that makes “This Close” so captivating.

There a poetic and cinematic lyricism to the track, one that Sarlé seems determined to convey as astutely as possible. She zooms in on the smallest details of the narrative, creating a story that is deeply personal. The stripped back nature of the song, with repetitive refrains and a stop start structure gives the track a real cohesion, almost like Sarlé is giving her listeners the chance to process each section of her story before moving on. It has the same effect as turning a page or starting a new chapter when reading a book, it makes the song all the more compelling and immersive.

All the while, Molly Sarlé’s beatific voice guided us along, encouraging the listener onto the next section of the track with a blissful ease. Watch the accompanying KITTY DISCO-directed visuals below.

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Molly Sarlé will play 6 UK shows later in the year, where she will perform songs from her debut album Karaoke Angel. The dates are detailed below.

Aug 30th | Brighton – Green Door Store

Aug 31st | Salisbury – End of the Road Festival

Sept 1st | North Yorkshire – The Band Room

Sept 2nd | Glasgow – Broadcast

Sept 3rd | Leeds – Hyde Park Book Club

Sept 4th | London – St. Pancras Old Church