Editor’s Picks 107: Bartees Strange, Willow Avalon, Sly Jr., The 7:45s, The Zew, & Thee Holy Brothers!

Atwood Magazine Editor's Picks 107
Atwood Magazine Editor's Picks 107
Atwood Magazine is excited to share our Editor’s Picks column, written and curated by Editor-in-Chief Mitch Mosk. Every week, Mitch will share a collection of songs, albums, and artists who have caught his ears, eyes, and heart. There is so much incredible music out there just waiting to be heard, and all it takes from us is an open mind and a willingness to listen. Through our Editor’s Picks, we hope to shine a light on our own music discoveries and showcase a diverse array of new and recent releases.
This week’s Editor’s Picks features Bartees Strange, Willow Avalon, Sly Jr., The 7:45s, The Zew, and Thee Holy Brothers!

Atwood Magazine Editor's Picks 2020 Mic Mitch

 follow EDITOR’S PICKS on Spotify




“Sober”

by Bartees Strange

Heartache and angst reign supreme in Bartees Strange’s “Sober” as he passionately reckons with a doomed, dying love and its effects on his mental health. Released back in October, the dramatic lead single off Strange’s upcoming third album Horror (out February 14 via 4AD) was (and remains) the perfect introduction to this latest era of his artistry – an era marked by unflinching honesty and dynamic worldbuilding, raw passion and even rawer emotions. “It’s a real pandemic love story,” Strange recently told me over Zoom. “You really can’t get out… you’re in an apartment together and you’re trying to navigate this feeling of being stuck in something you’re trying to get out of, and you’re then trying to drink through it in a way… it’s hard to be sober, it’s hard to just sit with all of that and hold it. You need to just have a drink and a cigarette and take a walk. You’re just in your own head all the time.”

The intensity and sheer urgency of that pain comes to life in Strange’s stunning vocal performance and his visceral, deeply confessional lyrics: “When a day becomes your whole life, I’m standing here, in between the lines,” he sings in the song’s pre-chorus, heart and soul mid-upheaval. “Guess I’ve never had a guiding light, that’s why it’s hard to be sober.”

The song’s heated breakdown proves an especially powerful, poetic moment of truth:

I live life on two planes, and most days,
they’re both delayed

Missing all your phone calls,
I just wanna go away

When you’re not near me,
every song’s a throwaway

Reminds me of my through lines,
some curses just generate

Our difference is astounding,
running out of things to say

I’m just tryin’ to show love,
scared of being cliché

Sometimes I miss the boat,
sometimes I make mistakes

Texting that I’m on my way,
know that you don’t wanna wait

As intimate as it is anthemic, “Sober” is a cinematic anthem for the emotionally distressed, capturing all too relatable feelings of angst and dread with incredible finesse. It’s Bartees Strange at his finest – and a highlight of what’s to come with the Valentine’s release of Horror.

“In a way I think I made this record to reach out to people who may feel afraid of things in their lives too,” Strange shares. “For me it’s love, locations, cosmic bad luck, or that feeling of doom that I’ve struggled with for as long as I can remember. I think that it’s easier to navigate the horrors and strangeness of life once you realise that everyone around you feels the same. This album is just me trying to connect. I’m trying to shrink the size of the world. I’m trying to feel close – so I’m less afraid.”

An ambitious effort that sees Strange at his most intense and his most vulnerable, Horror is simultaneously larger-than-life and unapologetically, undeniably human – and for so many of us, the gateway this whole album starts with “Sober,” a song that is hauntingly beautiful and real. Additional singles like “Too Much,” “Lie 95,” and the recently released “Wants Needs” have continued to expand the upcoming record’s breadth and depth, but for me, nothing compares to sheer heat and heartache of “Sober.”

So when you know, when you know it’s right
When a day becomes your whole life
I’m standing here, in between the lines
Guess I’ve never had a guiding light
That’s why it’s hard to be sober



“Baby Blue”

by Willow Avalon

An Atwood Magazine artist-to-watch since 2023, singer/songwriter Willow Avalon has emerged as one of the most exciting new voices in country music – a genre she grew up on, and a world she has now wholeheartedly embraced over the past year, after initially introducing herself in a more alternative/indie space. Originally from Georgia and now based in New York, the Atlantic Records-signed artist spent 2024 unleashing a swathe of twangy singles that highlight her undeniable talents as a captivating singer and vivid storyteller. Songs like “Tequila or Whiskey” and “Homewrecker” have not only amassed millions of streams, but also converted thousands of listeners into a legion of dedicated fans in the lead-up to her debut album, Southern Belle Raisin’ Hell (out today, January 17th).

Released on January 14th, the spellbinding “Baby Blue” offered one last tease ahead of the full-length record. A song of pure heartache that manages to offer an undeniably fun, catchy, and irresistibly singable chorus, the track finds Avalon picking at love’s bruises and scars while acknowledging her part in a relationship’s demise:

You’re riding through the country
on your baby blue bike
Holding your heart ’cause I broke it last night
Didn’t mean to bring you trouble,
didn’t mean to cause you pain
You just knew what you wanted
and I couldn’t say the same

While each of the song’s three verses helps to push the story forward (and lyrics like ‘I wish I wasn’t broken and I wish I wasn’t cold, I wish this heart of mine could handle your heart of gold’ strike a profound nerve), it’s the song’s simple, stunning refrain that is sure to light up the airwaves all over the country this spring and summer:

Blue baby blue
That’s all I ever seem
To make you baby you
But there ain’t a damn thing
I can do baby do
Hate to say but it’s the truth
All I ever do
Is make you blue baby blue
Blue baby blue

It’s gentle, it’s dreamy, and despite all her emotional turmoil, Willow Avalon creates a space full of light and warmth.

Such is the case not just with this one song, but with the entire Southern Belle Raisin’ Hell – an album that fulfills on all the promise and potential of Avalon’s earlier singles, offering its listeners a world of seductive and soul-stirring wonders into which they can dive headfirst.

Avalon recently summarized her story, and the journey it took her to get to this album, in a post on social media: “Picture this, I came from a small town in my home state of Georgia,” she writes. “I grew up listening to the best country music and all types of music. My mama knows every song ever made and my granny and papa sing like songbirds. I was surrounded by talent and charm. I was raised by some of the strongest, sassiest and incredible women you could ever think of. The intro to the record is my granny talking about how much music means to us. I walk onstage every show to her voice.”

“I left home as a teenager, I had a string of bad years where I wasn’t sure I was going to make it out of my teens. I couldn’t see myself getting older, I could never picture a life outside of the dark life I was living. I moved to Los Angeles and found a way out, I signed my first record deal at 19 and then was shortly dropped after I didn’t fit their pop mold. I ended up self-releasing a GarageBand unmixed, unmastered mp3 to DistroKid. The label came back after I self-released and told me they still owned it, even after they said they didn’t, and I ended up paying them 3x what they ever paid me to buy myself out of that deal. Luckily, I was able to pay them what they wanted since I had just gotten a big sync from a tv show, so I just handed them the whole check even though I had less than $100 to my name.”

“Thank god I did, because just a few months later the internet happened. I woke up to millions of people interested in what I was doing. In me and my art and life. That was the start of everything, I signed to Atlantic Records. For once, I wasn’t putting things at the end of the grocery checkout. I then made my first EP, Atlantic gave me full creative power and they let me make the songs I had been trying to make for years. The first song we ever had go viral was “Gettin’ Rich, Goin’ Broke,” then “Tequila or Whiskey,” then “Yodelayheewho,” then “Homewrecker,” and now “Baby Blue.” Y’all have been consistent with making my dreams come true and everyone who has helped make this records dreams come true. We had our first big tour this year where we learned how hard this job is and how much we wanted it.”

Willow Avalon’s story is one of perseverance and determination in the face of insurmountable odds, and of steadfast belief in oneself and one’s music. It shows us that passion, hard work, hope, and faith in one’s art can win out, and it’s a reminder to never give up on one’s dreams. She herself is an inspiration, and her debut album stands as a testament to the long, long road she took to eventually get to where she is today. All I can say is, go listen to Southern Belle Raisin’ Hell and get ahead of the curve before Willow Avalon becomes a truly household name.



“Fever Dream”

by Sly Jr.

One of my personal “Top Artist Discoveries of 2024,” Landon Jacobs’ Sly Jr. project has been a consistent source of aching, evocative alternative music ever since he debuted exactly one year ago. The past twelve months have seen the Sir Sly frontman deliver a nearly unbroken, continuous stream of vulnerable, visceral, and emotionally charged music under the clever new moniker – a loving nod to his band – while wearing his bleeding heart and soul unapologetically one his sleeve. Released in December, “Fever Dream” is no exception; heavy, overdriven guitars and drums create a palpable weight as Jacobs attempts to soothe a restless mind:

you smell chlorine
there’s a fire in the distance
like tangerine
glowing way too bright to miss it
I run ‘til my heels are blistered
and my mouth is dry
it’s all okay, it’s all okay
it’s nothing more than
a fever dream
it’s all okay, it’s all okay
it’s nothing more than
a fever dream

Sly Jr.’s music is almost inherently full of angst, yet in “Fever Dream,” that angst is accompanied by an attempt to find calm and make peace with one’s demons. It’s a tender tempest – a song with just the right amount of heat to accompany these cold, wintry months.

Truly an “if you know, you know” kind of artist, Sly Jr. has proved an invaluable creative (and cathartic) vessel for Landon Jacobs to unpack his life’s current chapter. He’s explored themes like marriage, fatherhood, sobriety, and faith with a fine-toothed lyrical comb and soul-stirring, emotionally charged melodies, and he’s wasting no time in getting his songs out there. After releasing the ten-track debut album procreation this July, he put out the single “Bloodletter” in October, followed by “Fever Dream” in December and “Bright Red” on January 3rd. If history tells us anything, it’s that 2025 is sure to give us many more Sly Jr. songs – and I, for one, am here for all the songs and the raw emotions they’ll bring with them.



“The Way That I Love You”

by The 7:45s ft. Martin Connor

I rekindled a decades-long love affair with classic soul music this December, connecting with old favorites like Gladys Knight and Sam Cooke while getting to know some newer names on a deeper level as well. I’m no stranger to phrases like “they don’t make it like this anymore,” and yet they do – and Manchester’s The 7:45s, who are as “new” as new can get, are the prime example of this truth. The name ‘The 7:45s’ is itself an homage to 7-inch 45-rpm vinyl – or singles records; 7-inch 45s were the primary format for releasing hit singles during soul’s golden era, as they were cheaper to produce, generally had a better sound quality than album-length 33-inch records, and they could fit in a jukebox.

Songwriter and bassist Sam Flynn formed his group with the house bands of soul labels like Motown and Big Crown in mind, and he’s pulled together some of his city’s best and brightest musicians to give that classic, vintage soul sound a fresh ‘revival’ – making “short and snappy soul singles” that stir the ears and the heart.

Released January 10th via LRK Records, The 7:45s’ debut single feels like it could have come straight out of the 1960s: Featuring Manchester vocalist Martin Connor, “The Way That I Love You” is a bold, beautifully bittersweet lament over unrequited love.

You never kiss me anymore,
But I still dream of what we had before,
I fell like a sycamore for you,
What else could I do?
Though I could never be the one,
You’re the person I depend upon,
You were a friend and now you’re gone,
And then I see…

You don’t love me (the way that I love you),” Connor sings in a call-and-response with female vocalists (their lines in parenthesis). “Oh no you’ll never love me (the way that I love you), why won’t you love me (the way that I love you), oh no you don’t love me.” His voice aches as he channels the weight of these raw emotions – and that all-too painful, cruel realization – into a truly stunning musical moment,replete with slick guitars, warm pianos, and smoldering, seductive horns.

You don’t love me
(the way that I love you),

Oh no you’ll never love me
(the way that I love you),

Why won’t you love me
(the way that I love you),

Oh no you don’t love me.

“Musically, ‘The Way That I Love You’ is inspired by the hip-hop grooves, impassioned vocals, and horn instrumentals of Charles Bradley and Menahan Street Band,” The 7:45s’ Sam Flynn tells Atwood Magazine. “It’s a song of contrasts. In the intro, the piano chimes and horns respond. In the chorus, a man calls and a woman answers. The verses are laidback and crooning then the chorus is intense, at a fever-pitch. I wrote it a few months after being dumped, when I was still in love with my ex. So it also has that ‘happy music but sad lyrics’ melancholy feeling to it. That’s why the lyrics flit between nostalgic and heartbroken.”

“I’m a perfectionist about arrangements. So I tried to make the third chorus – when the band plays ‘stops’ – as climactic as possible. When we played it live, Martin started adding vocal ad libs here, which took it to another level. We recorded the rhythm section and the lead vocal live at the same time at vintage studio EVE in Stockport. Before we did a take, I jokingly asked Martin to give us some ‘down on my knees, beggin’ you please’ stuff in the ad lbs – a line from Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘Cecilia’, which my dad always sings because Cecilia was his mum’s name. When it got the stops, I heard Martin actually singing that line at the top of his voice as this amazing ad lib. It still makes my spine tingle every time I hear it. The fact that Martin can take a lyrical cliché and turn it into the most moving part of the recording shows you how his vocal performance makes the track.”

The way the light catches your eye,
It hurts to picture you with other guys,
You opened my eyes and made me blind,
But now I see
You don’t love me
(the way that I love you),

Oh no you’ll never love me
(the way that I love you),

Why won’t you love me
(the way that I love you),

Oh no you don’t love me.

The kind of song that lights a fire deep down inside, “The Way That I Love You” is a moving and masterful introduction. The 7:45s are doing soul right, and I can’t wait to hear what they dish up next – and there’s a lot more to come, with their debut album set to drop this summer!



“Black Feather”

by The Zew

I’ve seen Austria’s The Zew described as “cyborg folk,” as “celestial alternative,” and even as grunge; apt as they may be (grunge aside), what makes this Viennese band so special isn’t so much how they sound, as it is how they make us feel inside. And for me, that can be summed up in a single word: Free.

Released late last year as the lead single off their December EP, Zazel Wants to Fly, “Black Feather” is a majestic, inspirational song of self-discovering and inner strength; of confidence, trust, and faith in oneself; and of finding – and harnessing – that light that lies within us all. The trio – comprised of Leonie Schlager, Daniela Czurda, and Matthias Frey – call it “a song about finding resilience in company” and “taking a leap,” and it’s ultimately these themes that shine brightest through their warm melodies and lush, harmony-rich arrangement.

bold as always
your black feather
wing it all the time
taking it all as it comes
blind at the parade
climbing the top to see
we’ll be trying then
bringing it home one more time
Z: climbing high up on a tree
Choir: is that so?
Z: still I’m unable to see
Choir: so then go!
Z: off to the edge of the sea
Choir: up and at’em
Z: so close we’re coming undone



“The Holy in Everything”

by Thee Holy Brothers

I don’t consider myself to be very religious, but I feel the spiritual release of this song on a deep, visceral level. Released late last year in time for the holidays, “The Holy in Everything (Holy Day Mix)” is replete with sleigh bells and marching drums (that’s what makes it Christmassy, of course) – but it’s ultimately Thee Holy Brothers’ stunning, rich harmonies that make this song an instant hit in my book. Stacked vocals (a la The Beach Boys) add dramatic depth, texture, and color to a track about feeling dejected and disconnected from the world on some days, while feeling profoundly inspired by it on others.

Some days I wake up
And I don’t want to hear the bluebird sing
Some days I wake up
And I don’t want to know
what the day will bring

Some days I wake up
And I don’t see the good in anything
Some days I wake up
And I see the holy in everything

“‘The Holy In Everything’ was inspired by a conversation I had with multi- instrumentalist John Kruth while recording in the studio,’ Thee Holy Brothers’ Marvin Etzioni (who leads the band, together with Willie Aron) tells Atwood Magazine. “We started talking about poet Alan Ginsberg writing ‘Everything Is Holy.’ When I got home, I was buzzing with inspiration, and wrote the song ‘The Holy In Everything.’ The following day, I recorded a stripped-down version with a single voice and guitar. Willie arranged and performed the harmony vocals (Brian Wilson’s ‘Til I Die’ comes to mind.)”

“It was Jonathan Lea’s idea to add sleigh bells and release the song for the holidays. I then added drums to lift the chorus sections with Hal Blaine’s iconic ‘Be My Baby’ drum pattern. Between the addition of the sleigh bells and drums, the Holy Day Mix of ‘The Holy In Everything’ nods to Phil Spector’s Christmas album and John and Yoko’s ‘Happy Xmas (War is Over)’ single. We didn’t plan it that way, it’s just what happened. Happy Holy Days to one and all!”

Some days I wake up
And I watch the war on TV
Some days I wake up
And I just want to go back to sleep
Some days I wake up
And I don’t believe in you and me
Some days I wake up
And I see the holy in everything

My inner ‘60s child naturally comes out when listening to this song, thanks in large part to those breathtakingly beautiful harmonies and the glistening guitar chords and arpeggios that surround them. “The Holy in Everything” is a sweet and tender song that embraces the full spectrum of feeling, ultimately landing in an emotional, spiritual, and musical high. It’s a three-minute celebration – and while the ‘holy day mix’ is out now, the ‘original’ version will feature on Thee Holy Brothers’ upcoming sophomore album High in My Balloon, set to release March 21st.

Some days I wake up
And I want to run far away
Some days I wake up

And I wish you’d find someone
To take my place

Some days I wake up
And I just want to erase my face
Some days I wake up

And I see the holy in everything



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Editor’s Picks

Atwood Magazine Editor's Picks 2020 Mic Mitch

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