Episode 6 is a big one…our first special guest! Songwriter/musician/producer Noëlle Hampton joins us from Austin to talk about Metric, Lucy Dacus, and Suki Waterhouse. Check out Noëlle’s work with The Belle Sounds and XANIMAL to get you started (we included some on our weekly playlist!)

Listen along: https://www.tunemymusic.com/share/Cnjrx0WyUf

Jana monologues about the bittersweetness of being back in a place that played a big part in her young singer-songwriter days. Austin is an amazing town, and now she cruises through a few times a year with out of state plates. Metric and Lucy address these moments in our past and how we work with them in the present.

But first, Alex walks us through his creative play on a Ranch Water, with strawberry infused mezcal and a tajín rim.

This week's drink:

Crush Forever

2oz mezcal joven (Del Maguey good, or even something less smoky like a salmiana)

1oz ruby grapefruit juice

Twist of Grapefruit Topo Chico or other grapefruit sparkling water (to top)

Rim collins glass with tajín. Add ingredients over ice, stir hard.

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Metric starts us off with “Crush Forever,” a disco infused track off their new project Romanticize the Dive. We love Emily Haines’ sweet, monotone vocals that tell the story so well in the track. Writing to your younger self is a challenging feat, we all agree, but this track tells a story in small moments like “I've spilled outside the cup, mania is only grief spеd up.” Hits us in the feels...and with Metric's long-storied top notch production, this is a clear winner off a great album.

Lucy Dacus brings us “Planting Tomatoes,” a sweet but grungy indie folk track about living in the present moment while remembering someone who has passed and now Lucy is older than they were when they left this plane. We loved the details in the lyrics, which Lucy excels at, like the saxophone down the street and the tomatoes not being good yet. (Jana loves a nerd writer, we all know that). We hear strains of The Weepies and Deb Talan in Lucy’s melody lines.

Suki Waterhouse brings us home with a total banger of a track in “Tiny Raisin.” As everyone refrained upon listening…”it’s a JAM.” Suki takes us on a dangerous and edgy romp with this one…we hear tinges of The Pixies, Sheryl Crow, and some 60’s French pop with a retro vibe but modernized. “That’s my kid in his arms,” was not our favorite lyric juxtaposed with this sexy song, but hey. Suki can do what she wants.

We all agree, all of the tracks this week involve some brilliantly executed mixing to make them come together, so take a listen with those ears on!

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Noëlle’s links:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebellesounds

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thebellesounds

Website: https://www.thebellesounds.com

Alex's links:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flowerboying

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@flowerboying

Alex's Substack: https://alexanderdaoust.substack.com

Jana's links:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janapochop

Website: http://www.janapochop.com

Jana's Substack: https://janapochop.substack.com