Singer – RCRD LBL

February 23, 2026

February 23, 2026February 23, 2026 Mew Zikwryder

Seth Tabatznik Unveils Awakening Embers, Building on His Rising Indie Folk Presence

Seth Tabatznik released his sophomore album Awakening Embers, this past weekend through Moth Music, arriving with the key single ‘Pacha Mama’ and a performance lined up on the Forest Stage at Retreat Yourself Festival. The London-born, Western Cape-based songwriter has moved fast since dropping his first tracks in 2024, pulling in over 200,000 streams and picking up coverage from CLASH Magazine and EARMILK for earlier cuts ‘Shining For Love’ and ‘Choose To Be Alive’. He’s already proven he can pack rooms, selling out his debut at Boschendal Estate in Cape Town and another at Green Note in Camden. Tabatznik’s sound pulls from acoustic folk and medicine music, grounding soulful vocal layers and direct lyrics in a clear respect for the natural world. Nick Mulvey mentored him through the making of this record, while guitar work draws on lessons from Rainer Scheurenbrand, creating a style that lines up naturally with acts like Ben Howard, Blanco White, and Gregory Alan Isakov.

Across its tracks, Awakening Embers works through ideas of nature, recovery, and shared connection in clean indie folk arrangements. It kicks off with the stripped-back ‘Dear Nature’ and builds toward the wider-reaching ‘We Are Walking Home’, keeping a consistent acoustic core. The central ‘Pacha Mama’ deals in personal shift and renewal, held together by even drum grooves, detailed guitar fingerwork, light shaker texture, and Tabatznik’s steady, expressive vocals that drive the narrative forward.

The album gets its full launch with two intimate evenings on March 14 and 15 at Boschendal Farm in South Africa’s winelands, pairing live runs of the material with storytelling tied to its themes—space is tight, so registration is essential. He’ll follow that with a slot at Reforest Fest in April at Bodhi Khaya Nature Retreat.

Seth shared: “I don’t have many regrets in life, but after hearing the sound of this album, which was recorded in the studio, I really wish I had now recorded the first album in there rather than at home. This album is sounding amazing and am super excited to be sharing it with the world. It was a lot of fun to put together, one of those processes that just emerged from a flow state effortlessly like it wanted to be born. The whole thing took just a few months from conceiving the songs to completing the mixing.”

Awakening Embers Album Tracklist

1. Dear Nature
2. Choose to be Alive
3. Shining For Love
4. Floresta
5. Beautiful Day
6. Let Go of Fear
7. Pacha Mama
8. On My Way
9. Good Night Everyone
10. We Are Walking Home

Seth Tabatznik Upcoming Shows

14 and 15 March – Boschendal Farm, Franschhoek, South Africa (Album Launch)
3 – 6 April – Reforest Fest – Stanford, South Africa

Stream Awakening Embers:

Follow Seth Tabatznik:

Website – Instagram – Facebook – Soundcloud – TikTok – Youtube – Spotify

February 9, 2026

February 9, 2026February 9, 2026 Mew Zikwryder

Plain Mister Smith Delivers Hazy, Personal New Single, ‘Dream To Be Free’ with Jordan Klassen

Plain Mister Smith has released ‘Dream To Be Free’, his new single featuring Jordan Klassen, now available via Amelia Records/Symphonic following its February 6 release. The track is the fourth single from his upcoming album, due in spring 2026. The artist, a long-time guitarist in Canadian darkwave outfit Moev and current cellist with the Vancouver Philharmonic Orchestra, has built steady momentum as Plain Mister Smith with coverage from NPR Music, Wonderland Magazine, CLASH Magazine, NOTION, Under The Radar, Earmilk, METAL, Noctis Mag, and Atwood Magazine.

Split between Vancouver and London, Plain Mister Smith works where indie-folk clarity meets psych-rock drift, threading sharp lyrics through quieter reflective stretches. ‘Dream To Be Free’ connects directly to the worlds of Death Cab for Cutie, The War on Drugs, and Pavement. It moves between inward pull and lighter whimsy, built on bright, repeating keyboard lines over gently syncopated drum work. Layered instrumental shifts frame the direct, plaintive vocal exchange, evoking blurred images of cities rushing past in recollection.

Across this run of singles, Plain Mister Smith shows a clearer hand at the controls. He keeps dynamics tight, letting percussion breathe under melodic fragments while vocal lines overlap to heighten the emotional weight without overstatement. Bringing in voices like Jordan Klassen adds natural harmonic depth that fits into the arrangements rather than standing apart. The tracks cohere through deliberate choices, such as subtle tonal bends and careful negative space, rewarding close listening and pointing to an album with real structural unity, grounded in personal detail yet precise in execution.

Plain Mister Smith shared: “Dream to be Free’ is a mesmeric reflection on a decades-old trip to Kyoto, where memories came flooding back – how such a trip to a faraway place can seem like an ultimate act of freedom, or it can be a more subtle escape from home. This trip took place during Daimonji time, when locals light giant bonfires on hills around Kyoto to guide the spirits back to the spirit world. In a way, this trip felt like a return to a source of rebirth.”

Stream ‘Dream To Be Free’:

Follow Plain Mister Smith:

Instagram – Facebook – X – Soundcloud – TikTok – Youtube – Spotify

January 19, 2026

January 19, 2026January 19, 2026 Mew Zikwryder

Mitski Returns With Nothing’s About to Happen to Me, Set for February 27 Release

Mitski has confirmed her eighth studio album, Nothing’s About to Happen to Me, arriving February 27 via Dead Oceans. The Japanese-American artist has spent the last decade establishing herself as one of indie rock’s most incisive voices, turning personal unease and cultural displacement into sharply observed songs. From the raw urgency of Puberty 2 and the conceptual precision of Be the Cowboy to the orchestral sweep of 2023’s The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We, she’s consistently balanced intimate confession with ambitious production, earning a reputation for records that feel both private and universal.

The lead single ‘Where’s My Phone?’ arrives with a video directed by Noel Paul that pulls directly from the paranoid, claustrophobic atmosphere of Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Mitski appears as a withdrawn figure holed up in a decaying gothic estate, watching as outsiders force their way in. The visual setup leans into isolation and violation that are recurring themes in her work, while keeping the tone controlled and unsettling rather than overdramatic.

Several players from the band that backed her on the The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We tour contributed to the new recordings. Last year also saw the release of a concert film and live album documenting those shows. Meanwhile, Mitski continues work on the stage musical adaptation of The Queen’s Gambit. With Nothing’s About to Happen to Me on the horizon, another close examination of solitude and intrusion seems to be taking shape.

Watch ‘Where’s My Phone’:

Nothing’s About to Happen to Me:

01 In a Lake
02 Where’s My Phone?
03 Cats
04 If I Leave
05 Dead Woman
06 Instead of Here
07 I’ll Change for You
08 Rules
09 That White Cat
10 Charon’s Obol
11 Lightning

Follow Mitski:

Spotify – Instagram – Facebook

November 7, 2025

November 7, 2025November 7, 2025 Mew Zikwryder

Seth Tabatznik Drops Intimate Indie Folk Single ‘Shining for Love’

London-raised indie folk talent Seth Tabatznik kicked off a fresh chapter with the release of his new single, ‘Shining for Love’, out now via Moth Music. Just a year into releasing music since 2024, Tabatznik has already pulled in more than 100,000 streams worldwide, thanks in part to buzz around his last release, ‘Choose To Be Alive’, which caught ears at major publications like CLASH Magazine. On the stage front, he’s no slouch either—his first-ever gig at Boschendal Estate in Cape Town, South Africa, sold out fast. He followed that with another packed venue at Green Note in London’s Camden area. With a second full-length album slated for 2026, Tabatznik is staking a solid claim in the indie folk scene.

‘Shining for Love’ unfolds as a gentle acoustic piece, layering guitars and subtle string swells over light beats to frame Tabatznik‘s clear, devoted vocals. The track leans into subtle ways of seeing expressions of love in nature, keeping things lofty and afloat yet pulling you right in with its steady emotional pull, like the sway of leaves in a cool summer breeze.

Seth Tabatznik had this to say: “This song came to me in a forest, spoken by the elements around me. It was like nature took my pen and transcribed the lyrics into my notebook, accompanied by a simple 4 chord progression. I love how the song builds and accelerates as a celebration for life, love and nature. This song is all about nature and how her every action comes from a place of love. Every sound, every movement, is her way of expressing herself, as she is one being, of which we are a part, not apart.“

Stream ‘Shining for Love’: