Hi Gigantic gang,
Looking for something new you haven’t heard yet? Well you have come to the right place! Not only has Gigantic got the very best selection of tickets for gigs, events, theatre and festivals but we also have the soundtrack to your weekend with the #NewMusicFriday blog and playlist!
Discover the hottest new acts, the fiercest new tracks and the where to be at to experience the liver performance. With an excellent customer service team ready to help you make your choice from an ever-growing collection of the best tickets, award-winners Gigantic should always be your first choice whenever you are booking your big night out!
Singles
TRASH BOAT – ‘Given Up’ (Linkin Park Cover)
Released in conjunction with Mental Health Awareness Month as part of the Songs That Saved My Life project, St Albans premier post-hardcore band Trash Boat release their cover of Linkin Park’s ‘Given Up’. Taken from their third album ‘Minutes To Midnight’, ‘Given Up’ reached Gold certification in the US after exceeded sales on 500,000 and is sadly pertinent following the suicide of Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington in 2017.
Accompanying the single release is a candid interview on YouTube with Trash Boat singer Tobi Duncan about their reasons for choosing the song, the importance of recognising the hidden negative effects depression and mental health problems can have upon sufferers and the huge difference you can make by just lending an ear and being there as a support.
Songs That Saved My Life raises money for various charities and organisations which act as vital lifelines to help improve mental health and prevent suicide, including Crisis Text Line providing 24/7 support, Hope For The Day providing education on mental health issues, The Trevor Project providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) young people ages 13–24 and To Write Love On Her Arms which is a non-profit movement dedicated to finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury, and suicide.
Trash Boat tickets are currently available.
Albums
ALASKALASKA – ‘The Dots’
Formed in 2016 by Lucinda Duarte-Holman (vocals/guitar) and Fraser Riley (bass), ALASKALASKA are the playful alt-pop group from South London who are as addictive as they are original. Drawing on elements of jazz, disco and post punk their band members also include drummer Gethin Jones, saxophonist Fraser Smith and guitarist Calum Duncan.
Setting themselves the aim to “start a project where we could write and play music that we found fun… without having a boundary”, ALASKALASKA were free from the confines of genre and expectation allowing themselves to pursue whichever musical avenues interested them. While this exploration may have drawn them close to the realms of jazz revival, their urge to innovate means they never neatly settle within anyone parameter and they expertly drift through hypnotic Arabic rhythms to glossy neo soul and quirky new wave.
ALASKALASKA have signed to Marathon Artists for the release of their debut album ‘The Dots’. A superb showcase of their considerable talents, ‘The Dots’ feels more like the confident third or fourth offering from an already well-established act rather than the first foray of a new band looking to make their name.
ALASKALASKA tickets are currently available.
MAC DEMARCO – ‘Here Comes The Cowboy’
Ready for a huge slice of indie folk rock? Well saddle up partners, because Mac DeMarco has just arrived with his fourth studio album ‘Here Comes The Cowboy’ released by his very own Mac’s Record Label.
While DeMarco is well known for his slacker style, both in terms of sound and appearance, the Canadian musician certainly hasn’t slouched with his song writing as ‘Here Comes The Cowboy’ is a gently pleasant listen which is so effortless in its delivery it threatens to hide the skill it takes to pen thirteen flawless tracks. All the more impressive given the massive rise in his popularity, a pressure which could have easily derailed any other the 29-year-old outsider who now finds themselves under so much glare. However, nothing seems to threaten DeMarco’s constant state of chill as he tosses aside any such pressure with a casual shrug; “I’m in a place right now where I just don’t care. I assumed this record would pop up, fly under the radar, maybe some people listen to it. I’m totally fine with that.”
It is hard to see his apparent ambivalence as anything other than for show as ‘Here Comes The Cowboy’ is clearly the work of someone dedicated to their craft of creating perfect stoner soundtracks and is yet another welcome addition to his excellent canon. Grab a copy on CD, MP3 plus limited copies on both green and turquoise vinyl.
Mac DeMarco tickets are currently available.
JAMILA WOODS – ‘LEGACY! LEGACY!’
Poet, author and songwriter Jamila Woods releases ‘LEGACY! LEGACY!’, following her formidable first record ‘Heavn’. Her work as a black feminist centres around themes of ancestry, identity, and ideology as she rallies opposition against division and inequality.
‘LEGACY! LEGACY!’ is almost a concept album with Woods choosing a path of optimism at a time which is marked by regression and despair by writing thirteen tracks inspired by her heroes, the great work they have done and the effect they have had upon her. Inspirational figures listed on the LP include activist and poet Nikki Giovanni, blues singer-songwriter Muddy Waters, Afro Futurist science fiction writer Octavia Butler, writer and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston plus many more progressives you need to know.
“I thought of it not so much as writing songs about these people, but thinking of the songs as self-portraits I was looking through the lenses of these different people, their work, things they said.”
Woods has created a record that demands your attention from start to finish. Drawing on her impressive command of language to thread powerful words through silky neo soul and R&B, go out and get ‘LEGACY! LEGACY!’ right now.
Make sure you see polymath Jamila Woods when she shows off her latest LP at her newly announced gigs for November taking place at Bristol Exchange, Patterns at Brighton and Heaven in London. Tickets on sale with Gigantic right now!
Jamila Woods tickets are currently available.
CHARLY BLISS – ‘Young Enough’
Power-pop fourpiece Charly Bliss are back with second album Young Enough’ which is a huge satisfying burst of electronica infused bubblegum rock. The Brooklyn based fourpiece first impressed with the release of their debut album ‘Guppy’ just two years ago which caused a real stir amongst online music communities and critics alike. With their latest record, they look ready to break into the big time.
High school friends Eva Hendricks (vocals) and Spencer Fox (guitarist) had been writing music together as kids before recruiting bassist Dan Shure and the singer’s brother Sam on drums in 2014. Their passion for cutesy side of 90’s alt-rock mixed with their adolescent exuberance quickly made them a cult band across the New York area with fans attracted to their energetic live performances. So, when their first full length record ‘Guppy’ was released in 2017, it was met with eager approval.
‘Young Enough’ shows considerable development, both musically and in terms of lyrical content, as Hendricks now feels confident enough to truly reveal her inner pain and anger to truly express her real self. Tracks like ‘Chatroom’ detail her experiences of a sexual assault by a former boyfriend, ‘Capacity’ is a rejection of the demands of perfection on women and ‘Hurt Me’ tells the story of a failing relationship.
Though ‘Young Enough’ may contain moments of darkness that need addressing, Charly Bliss are able to find the strength to not be utterly consumed by the times of agony and still retaining that wide-eyed optimism in their music that makes them so appealing.