There continues to be lots of great music being released, which means it’s time for another installment of my Fresh New Tracks series. Today I’m featuring four recently-released tracks by acts from four different countries – Spanish singer-songwriter and musician John Serrano, Norwegian psych-noir band Mayflower Madame, English folk artist Mock Deer, and American singer-songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Quizboy and Marc Schuster. I’ve recently written about John Serrano, Mock Deer and Mark Schuster, whereas this is the first time I’m featuring Mayflower Madame and Quizboy.

JOHN SERRANO – “The day I met the sun”

Hailing from Málaga, Spain is John Serrano, a prolific singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who I cannot heap enough praise upon. Not only is he a versatile and talented musician with a beautiful singing voice, he’s also thoughtful, kind, handsome and incredibly supportive of other independent artists. Drawing from a wide range of influences, including alternative and progressive rock, blues, electronica, synthwave and jazz, he’s recorded and released an extensive, colorful and eclectic catalog of music over the past 10 years, both as a solo artist and in collaboration with other musicians. In March, I reviewed his poignant singles “Oh, well” and “Better Times”, which he’d released back to back over a two-day period. He quickly followed with two more singles, then on April 24th he dropped his album Alive, dedicated to his grandmother who passed away in March at the age of 92.

A week after that album’s release, John severely injured his left arm, requiring surgery and rendering him unable to play guitar for the time being. Undefeated, he decided to make what he’s calling a “full electronoir experimental retro futuristic jazz-noise album”, recording entirely with synthesizers. Thus far, he’s released two singles for the new album, the latest of which is “The day I met the sun“, a brilliant and haunting track that’s a significant departure from the languid and pleasing songs on Alive. The song starts off with a dreamy ethereal feel, accompanied by John’s angelic falsetto vocals, then abruptly transitions into a much darker, almost frightening song with grinding fuzzy reverb, ominous drumbeats and tortured synths. His vocals also shift into a much more menacing tone, unlike anything I’ve heard from him previously. He said he’s been throat singing for a few years, and to get the desired effect, he “panned the vocals and cut the EQ Filter right when they kick in.” Along with the first track “A wee house upon the hill”, “The day I met the sun” offers a foreboding peek into what we can expect to follow. The tracks are only available on Bandcamp at this time.

John’s socials:  Facebook / X (Twitter) / Instagram

MAYFLOWER MADAME – “A Foretold Ecstasy”

Mayflower Madame (what a great band name!) is a psych-noir/post-punk band from Oslo, Norway, comprised of Trond Fagernes (vocals, guitar, bass) and Ola J. Kyrkjeeide (drums). For studio recordings they are joined by Kenneth Eknes (synth), and for live performances, additional musicians are brought in to form a full band. They’ve released a fair amount of music since 2015, including two albums – Observed in a Dream in 2016 and Prepared for a Nightmare in 2020, as well as an EP Premonition in 2018 and numerous singles. Ironically, Prepared for a Nightmare now seems to have indeed been a “premonition” to the Covid-19 pandemic that followed the album’s release.

I just learned about Mayflower Madame yesterday when their PR rep reached out to me about their new single “A Foretold Ecstasy“, which I loved the moment I heard it. As I do for all artists and bands I write about for the first time, I listened to as much of their music catalog as time permitted so I could get a good feel for their sound. And I can emphatically state that I really like this band’s music, which has been compared to that of Sisters of Mercy, Jesus and Mary Chain and The Cure. Their compelling sound, which they describe as “the perfect soundtrack for the nightly walks of restless city dwellers“, is a masterful blend of post-punk, darkwave, psychedelia and shoegaze, featuring pulsating rhythms, lush atmospheric synths and reverb-drenched guitars.

About “A Foretold Ecstasy”, band songwriter and vocalist Fagernes said the lyrics speak about “constantly chasing some sort of elation or intoxicating sensation to relieve one’s inner turmoil, while still being aware that it’s just a passing state followed by an inevitable downfall”. The song is a gorgeous darkwave gem in the vein of The Cure or Depeche Mode, two of my favorite bands from that genre. Fagernes’ vocals are intoxicating as he breathily croons “Well, I’m just glad you made me feel something. But it won’t last, I still believe it’s all or nothing.“

Mayflower Madame’s socials:  Facebook / Instagram

MOCK DEER – “Smudge”

Mock Deer is the music project of London-based singer-songwriter and musician Ricky Damiani, whose sound can generally be described as indie folk/singer-songwriter with elements of alternative rock. He’s released a fair amount of music over the past 12 years, including his debut album The Art of Loneliness in 2020, several EPs and numerous singles, as well as composing original music for TV programs and theatre. Last month, I featured his haunting and powerful single “Harbinger” on a Fresh New Tracks post. Now he returns, with “Smudge”, a wonderful song and the second track from his forthcoming EP Pilgrims. 

As with “Harbinger”, for “Smudge” Damiani sang vocals, Mat Martin played lead guitar, Jayden Pegler played bass, Will Inscoe played keyboards, Aaron Carpenter played drums, Matthew Herd played saxophone, and Lola Hepper sang backing vocals. The track was produced by Scott Fitzgerald and mastered by John Nicholls. Written during the first Covid lockdown, the song touches on themes of mental illness, alcoholism and friendship. The song has a darkly beautiful, meandering melody, with a melancholy feel reminiscent of some of Radiohead’s songs of the 90s, featuring gorgeous shimmery guitars, warm saxophone, spacey synths and soaring choruses. Damiani’s vibrant, emotive vocals run the gamut from quiet introspection to impassioned lamentation as he addresses a troubled friend: “You play that part of tough guy so well, but we all know it’s just a show. So lets be random, let’s be odd. Let’s turn this normal on its head. Let’s go there, for one last jolly. You’re well aware it’s all just folly. Just one more, for the road I swear.”  

Mock Deer’s Socials:  Facebook / X (Twitter) / Instagram

QUIZBOY & MARC SCHUSTER – “All the Same to You”

Quizboy is an enigmatic yet highly sociable artist who, in his own words, creates “dirt-made rock and roll from the Pacific Northwest“. Based in Portland, Oregon, the insanely busy guy also occasionally records music under his dark and sludgy post-hardcore project Never Say Never (NsN), as well as runs an online radio station Audio Mirage Studios, where he hosts Marc Schuster’s Tweetcore Radio Hour. As if all that’s not enough, he also has his own music blog, also titled Audio Mirage Studios.

Marc Schuster is an even busier guy with his hands in so many projects it literally makes my head spin! It’s all I can do to write 2-4 posts per week for this blog, and I’m now mostly retired. At any rate, I’ve written about him and his music many times, most recently when I featured his song “Paul Giamatti (Is Everywhere Tonight)” on a Fresh New Tracks post, but to summarize, he’s a creative and multi-talented Renaissance man from the Philadelphia area who’s an educator, author, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and visual artist. Over the past decade, he’s recorded quite a bit of music, both as a solo artist and in collaboration with too many other artists and bands to mention here. In addition to hosting the aforementioned weekly Tweetcore Radio Hour program, where he features songs by talented indie artists he’s met through Twitter (now X), he also has a terrific blog called Abominations, where he writes about music and interviews indie artists. He also broke his right shoulder a few months ago, but still managed to put out his latest album Arguably.

The two recently collaborated on their first song together, “All the Same to You“. Released May 3rd on Bandcamp, (and most other streaming services except Spotify on May 17) the song was co-written, recorded and produced by them both, with Quizboy playing acoustic and electric guitar and singing vocals, and Schuster playing drums, bass, electric piano, synths, acoustic guitar and singing backing vocals. The release also includes a master by fellow musician Brian Lambert. Over a mellow groove, the guys layer crisp, reverb-drenched jangly guitars and sharp, colorful synths to create a jarring, yet somehow pleasing backdrop for Quizboy’s raw, melancholy vocals. Lyrically, the song is a bit of a downer, and seems to speak to the futility of life: “Miss me when I’m gone. Suffer me while I’m here. Pain has led me home. Whatcha say won’t do. They place these chains on me and you to break. Honestly, I can’t wait. If it’s all the same to you, I forsake.” Good job guys!

Quizboy’s Socials: Facebook / X (Twitter) / Instagram / Threads

Marc Schuster’s Socials: X (Twitter) / Instagram / Threads