MP3 MUSIC

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4 May 2019

I have heard Be My Hands and her 2019 single, The Weakness in Me, both of which I like, especially the latter.

She still has a tiny following on Spotify but another artist on To Emmylou, Phoebe Bridgers, who sang Prayer in Open D, is now very big with 2.5 million monthly listeners on Spotify and appearing in London next week. Her voice has rounded out and is very distinctive.

These metrics can be unfair - both are fine singers - but streaming can zero in on what it sees as professional with unerring focus and, for now, it is the future. What it takes to cross the threshold from one place to another can be quite small but requires a lot of work.




FERONIA


Reviewed by ANDRE BEAUMONT


I first heard Feronia, aka Jessica Gerhardt, a few months ago on an independent 2016 tribute album, To Emmylou, which showcases young Los Angeles musicians, performing Little Bird, following on from her 2014 debut EP, Words Like Rainfall.


She has a tiny following of 80 on Spotify, on which Morning Moon is another track worth listening to, and herewith she is discovered in Britain.

There is nothing much wrong with her voice at all and it has lots of potential. The rest of the package needs work to come up to a professional standard and for us to know who the backing musicians in Feronia are if they remain the same. Presumably Jessica Gerhardt is doing all the songwriting when the songs are not covers but we would need to know.

Two weeks ago in January 2018 Feronia's second EP, Aquarius, was released together with accompanying lyrics video on YouTube and a third EP, Be My Hands, is promised for early 2018. There is a gentleness to the lyrics of the recordings that give some indication of what Feronia might become as an act or group.

All tracks mentioned are worth a listen. I am looking forward to the EP.