One of my series of occasional posts is the one in which I share some music that I have recently been listening to on YouTube, which runs under the header of New Music. It has been a couple of months since I last did one of these, so it feels to me that the time is right for another set. As chance would have it there are some longish songs among the six I’m playing today, so don’t ever say I don’t give you your money’s worth!

I’m starting with one of the shorter ones, as this is a joyous little song that will, I hope, brighten up your day:

I’ve played a couple of Nathan Evans’ songs before, and have told you that he is a singer from Airdrie, in Scotland, and during the 2020 lockdowns he built a huge following for himself on Tik Tok by singing a collection of shanties. His version of one of them – Wellerman –  became a viral hit on social media and was a UK #1 in January 2021 after being released as a single. He has to date released two solo albums and his brand new one, which came out last Friday, is Angels’ Share, a collaboration with a Scottish folk duo called SAINT PHNX (though lower case versions of their name are available). The PHNX boys are brothers, Alan and Stevie Jukes, and this track is actually one of their songs, originally released by them in July 2021 as a tribute to their late father. They have in their time toured in support of Imagine Dragons and Lewis Capaldi, which I think speaks to their pedigree. This new album is lovely, and this track is the one that really stood out for me to play.

One of the longer standing among my favourite covers bands hasn’t featured here much of late, so I’m redressing that balance. This video was released a couple of weeks before Christmas, and shows them at their best. You may know the band whose music they are playing:

That was the inimitable Walk Off The Earth (aka WOTE) taking you on a lightning tour through The Beatles’ catalogue. Need I say more? I think not!

Another singer that I have played before, and whose music I love, is Elles Bailey, who has also just released a new album. This is one of my favourite tracks from it:

That was Elles, with Better Days. The new album is Can’t Take My Story Away, which also came out last Friday, and was at #6 in the early midweek albums chart. I’m hoping that both she and Nathan will be in the new listings which come out tomorrow. I’ve told Elles’ backstory before, about how she was seriously ill as a small child and was left with her slightly raspy voice as a result of the treatment she went through. I think it is perfect for her bluesy style, and she herself has remarked that it was something good to come out of her illness. If you like this one, I can recommend the album.

Another outfit that I have previously featured is the Playing For Change organisation. You may recall that they exist to raise money to support education in less well off countries, and they do that by making videos including participants from around the world, cleverly edited to become seamless. They have recently released one for my favourite song by The Doors and, as always, it is beautifully done:

Riders On The Storm, of course. Playing For Change are incredibly popular on YouTube – deservedly so when they make music like this – and this one already has more than 1.4m views in just twelve days.

I have in the past been very critical of the so-called Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame for the utter stupidity of their choices for induction, both in terms of who they have included but perhaps more so for who they have omitted. I am pleased to say that they have finally corrected one of their major injustices by inducting Warren Zevon into their number last November. This was a mere twenty two years after he passed away, but better (very) late than never, I guess. Just one of his songs was played, this one:

That was, of course, The Killers with Warren’s song, Lawyers Guns And Money, the closing track on his superb Excitable Boy album. Warren’s induction began with an emotional speech by David Letterman, a long time fan and friend, who lent the band the guitar Warren gave him during his final appearance on the Letterman Show. You also saw Waddy Wachtel, best known as a session musician for many famous names, who played on the album back in the day – and on several more for Warren. The great performance of the song rounded it all off perfectly, albeit that the sound quality on the video is crap!

I played a David Bowie track last week to mark the tenth anniversary of his passing. A new mini-movie has just been published in honour of my all time favourite of his songs, Starman, and this seems a very fitting way to conclude today’s proceedings:

Jason Shulman, who made the video, gives an impassioned response to critics of ‘AI slop,’ drawing the distinction between cynical commercial use of AI and what he is doing. He describes this as fan art, which is not meant for direct commercial use as the current edit stands. “It is a mere artistic expression and for demonstration purposes, and cannot be sold or purchased. FAQ: No, that’s not me on the moon. I’ll let you have fun figuring it out.” Any ideas?

I hope you’ve enjoyed this selection of what I have been watching on YouTube – it was fun for me putting these together. And as I said, six videos with a total runtime of more than 31 minutes can’t be bad! I’ll see you again for Song Lyric Sunday, I trust… 🎶