Ha! That got your attention didn't it? Well, the New Zealander is not exactly quitting but this may be the end of the Bachelorette project... the world is Annabel Alpers' oyster!
Bachelorette is Annabel Alpers, a quiet New Zealander who has made a dreamy, other-worldy, electronic record filled with clever lyrics and melodies worthy of the pop greats. Bachelorette, her third album, is out now on Souterrain Transmissions and could be the end of the solo Bachelorette project, as she says, she may just find a band and start rocking out - who knows! We chatted backstage ahead of her show at Camp Basement in east London and - you lazy journo's who name check Bjork as her main influence - the Icelandic songstress had nothing to do with this!
Often when writing this blog, TOW stops and has a meltdown about not having enough time to listen to all the great new music out there in the world. Sometimes, we just type a random country into Myspace Music and see where it leads us - away from the UK and US can more often than not be a very refreshing experience.
Hence, a New Zealand special for Tom's show this week. Bachelorette was recommended by our buddy Sean who works for Radio New Zealand and Annabel Alpers - a one-woman beats making machine - has blown us away.
Hailing from Christchurch, she's been described (by Sean) as a 'shy, bedroom electronica girl' whose first album, featuring a band, My Electric Family, is out now on cool Chicago-based indie Drag City. Bachelorette has toured recently with label mates Will Oldham and Bill Callahan, and will soon hit the road with 'her idols' Norwegian melancholy popsters and TOW faves Beach House.
The track TOW played for Tom this week is Donkey, a whirling indie-disco of a track that is bound to get stuck in your head - but the video above is for Her Rotating Head, which has some of the best feminist lyrics we've heard in a while.
The Brunettes are Heather Mansfield and Jonathan Bree and TOW feels a bit silly for only coming across them now. When Tom Ravenscroft came on the show at the end of last year he played a track for us from their new album Paper Dolls which is out now on NZ-based indie Lil' Chief Records. We had to hear more!
The album is sheer 'twee-pop' bliss. And this track Thank You is an homage to all those who have helped the band out over their career which now spans over a decade. Thanks if you put them up on your sofa, gave them a lift, came to a gig... similar in intention to Neil Young's One Of These Days, lest we forget to give thanks, we'll put them in a song now.
The band have been going for ages - their first album released in 2002 and their US records have been released on uber-trendy Sub Pop. That's led to tours supporting The Shins and other truly awesome indie-pop bands, right where they belong!
