Every Wednesday, the ugly hug shares a playlist personally curated by an artist/band that we have been enjoying. This week we have a collection of songs put together by Chicago-based artist Morgan Powers.
Amongst natural progressions, Morgan’s music stirs ever so lightly, pumping blood from the heart to the limbs that have been still for so long. It’s in that grace period, the tingling rush of nerves and the movement still too numb to locate, where Morgan’s words become the most reflective, the most fulfilling in these stories of growing older. Leaning into light patterns, rich guitars and melodic intuition, sonically these tunes are gentle, yet still unpredictable, like watching a bug crawl across your arm. As its little legs barley tickle, it’s a moment that feels stuck in time, one of intimacy, curiosity and newfound discovery as you examine the bug’s very nature, cherishing this rare time together and honored that it chose you at all in this big old world. Morgan’s songwriter preserves this feeling of content, the candidness in admiring the simple and reflecting on what makes life so beautiful amongst all the mess.
About the playlist, Morgan shares;
i was thinking about when you’re at a party and it’s getting late in the night and things have sort of settled down, or settled in rather, no one is going anywhere soon. The lights are low, you’re having a wine probably. People have sort of spread out, clustered around the room, into the next, many conversations being held. the music ties everyone together though and even from the other room you know all these people you love are enjoying it in their own way too. There’s a warmth to all these songs, something optimistic. Many romantic, if only for it being nighttime.
Today, Big Hug is sharing the third edition to their completion series, Big Hug Volume Three. This compilation series was started by Sam Wiesenthal back in 2023 as a way to bring friends and the music community closer together for an important cause. In a recent interview we did with Sam, they said, “I often feel really hopeless with the state of the world and am not sure where to put my efforts. Organizing and releasing albums is what I know how to do and so creating a comp series where I could use that skill for better was the driving concept behind the series.”
Volume Three consists of 16 tracks from artists such as villagerrr, sister., Aunt Katrina, Asher White, Dan English, Scarlet Rae, Michael Cormier-O’Leary, Robber Robber and many more.
All proceeds from Big Hug Records Volume Three go towards New Alternatives – a space based in NYC that helps transgender homeless youth and young adults transition out of the shelter system. They set people up with weekly case management, education services, life skills training, community-building recreational activities, opportunities for self-expression, and offer programs for HIV+ youth as well.
Big Hug will only be released on Bandcamp and comes alongside a limited run of CDs.
The setlist for this comp features;
“Keep It” – Asher White
“Save the Beat” – Aunt Katrina
“Petty Crimes” – D.A. Crimson
“Lullaby” – Dan English
“Look in 2 my face” – Dirt Buyer
“Wait Up” – find my friends
“Arriving Into (Demo)” – Margaux
“Staring (Demo)” – Michael Cormier-O’Leary
“Bar Italia (cover)” – My Wonderful Boyfriend
“Said and Gone (demo)” – Robber Robber
“Grip on a Thought (demo)” – Scarlet Rae
“Hummer” – Seylu
“Spies” – sister.
“10¢ for a Ticket” – Starcleaner Reunion
“Go Go Gangster” – Userband
“Weight of the World” – villagerrr
You can purchase Big Hug Volume Three on Bandcamp now both digitally or on a limited-edition CD, with all proceeds going towards New Alternatives.
I’m sitting here, writing this review after running into an old friend at the Logan Square train stop, remembering and examining the guilt and embarrassment I feel for what happened to this friendship I stopped cultivating. We planned to meet up over coffee this coming weekend: there is hope. Clover, an album that explores the experience of being an exactly real person, a “three-leaf clover,” and all the remorse, regret, and quiet weight of simply existing, taps directly into those same gnawing emotions. It reminded me of what it means to acknowledge your simpleness, to be human, and to sit in it — the good and the bad soup of it all.
Released this past February, Clover, the debut album from Chicago’s beloved Sleeper’s Bell, feels like a diary being read aloud. But done in such a way that you start to wonder if it’s your own, the one you keep in your sock drawer. With poetically simple and realistic lyrics like “I exist” (“Bored”) and “We watched the Triple A guy take his cables and jump the engine” (“Phone Call”), Blaine Teppema sounds like she’s speaking directly to you.
The songs pull you into a world that just makes sense. Clover doesn’t draw a line between the band’s world and yours. Instead, the artistry anchors both in something more collective: the beautiful ordinariness of real life. Listening to Clover doesn’t feel like stepping into someone else’s story. Instead, it feels like being gently reminded of the unified human landscape in which we are all growing.
Musically, the addition of saxophone to the usual trio of guitar, piano, and drums adds a deeper, more complex mood. Tempos and temperament change throughout the album, and Teppema’s sharp, clear vocals cut through the instrumentation with a directness that makes you pay attention. The “jam” bridges create atmospheric space that’s almost like the author is thinking about what to tell next, as if it’s happening in real time.
Played by Teppema, Evan Green, and other bandmates Leo Paterniti, Jack Henery, Gabe Bostick, and Max Subar, playing together feels spontaneous, carefree, while maintaining clear, intentional musicianship. Sleeper’s Bell plays with arpeggios, ambient noise, bass-heavy build-ups, cheerful melodies, distortion, and even touches of jazz, like a child building with Legos, unafraid to mix pieces that don’t traditionally fit. Clover leans folk at its core, but it’s this sense of curiosity and craft that sets the band apart in a saturated musical landscape.
Clover feels youthful, not in a naive way, but in a way that feels familiar and lived-in. It’s introspective and honest, filled with the kind of self-awareness that only comes with personal growth. The track “Over” captures the feeling of moving through an emotional numbness; its steady, chugging guitar strumming mirrors that sense of pushing forward despite emptiness. The lyric “but I’m just a three-leaf clover” carries a quiet resignation, a sense of being let down by the ordinary, yet learning to accept it.
In contrast, “Road Song” uses dissonant chords and a faster, skippy rhythm to convey a different kind of motion: one that feels restless and searching. It’s about trying to reach a place that may not exist, but holding on to the idea that it could.
Clover doesn’t beg to be heard. It just kind of sits with you, like a quiet thought you didn’t realize you needed to say out loud. It’s not trying to solve anything, but it does make you feel a little less alone in the figuring-it-out part.
Sleeper’s Bell has made their debut album, something that feels deeply personal but not isolating — a moment shared, like running into someone you thought was long gone and realizing you’ve changed and so have they.
Clover is for the in-between weird times, like growing up while staying the same, feeling anger with embarrassment, having regrets while fostering renewal. It reminded me that even in the human mess, there’s value in just existing through it.
Maybe that’s what being a three-leaf clover is about.
You can listen to Clover anywhere you find your music as well as purchase it on vinyl and cassette.
Chicago’s own, Josephine, the project of Josephine Luhman, has always been one to cherish reflection and growth. Making bedroom pop under the name Joz in the late 2010s, Josephine has since taken to the Chicago circuit as a full band, bringing a large established sound to the sincerity and grit of Luhman’s songwriting. Today, Josephine returns with “Does It Pay”, a lush track of eagerness and discouragement caught in the mess of financial stability.
“Does It Pay” takes quick control with a head turning drum fill, soon becoming a slow burn of indi-pop romanticism and disparagement in late stage capitalism. As rearing guitars melt away, Luhman doesn’t hold her breath as she sings, “Did you get the job you wanted, do you love it, does it pay,” blasting through corporate wishy-washyness with intuitive dynamics and sincere deliverance. Is it a song of sympathy towards that world? Kind of. But “Does It Pay” also leans on this feeling of relief that Luhman feels in the face of expectations. The line “who am I to say?”, with time and repetition becomes less of a question, and rather a statement of deliberation, what is to be desired in a world caught in the defeating presence of financial strains. And in the noise, crafting dynamic shifts amongst swooning guitar lines and an invigorating rhythm, Josephine’s vocals become a point of reflection, wielding both strength and tenderness as the melody leads with its whole chest, breathing the slightest sigh of relief, as she sings, “I do not envy you”.
Listen to ” Does it Pay” now!
You can listen to Josephine where you find your music.
I used to avoid employing “lived in” as a descriptor for anything music related. Partially because I deemed it a bit overdone, partially because I worried it was too synonymous with “flawed”. However, the most prominent reason I had expelled “lived in” from my vernacular was because I found it reductive, and felt that it inhibited a need to expand upon what is ultimately so compelling about music that resembles the sensation of wearing that “well-loved” utility jacket that never leaves the front of your closet. The reality is, there is no impression quite like the fingerprints left by “lived in” music, and yesterday, as I meandered through an MTA tunnel plastered with advertisements for AI companionship, I realized “lived in” might be the highest form of praise art can receive today. “Lived in” dwells amongst the positive descriptors that swarm my brain when I listen to Guitar, as amidst moments of rich shredding and unforgettable hooks, the Portland project is teeming with pockets that touch on what it feels to be human – in both a complex and fundamentally simple sense.
This past summer, Guitar announced forthcoming record, We’re Headed To The Lake – sharing lead single “Pizza For Everyone” and eliciting hunger cues from anyone nurturing an appetite for power pop spreads and finger-licking riffs. “Every Day Without Fail” followed last month, and as Saia Kuli’s gravely vocals reach an intensity that rivals the face-melting soundscapes it co-exists with, the flammable second single proved that the Portland based project is beyond worthy of its name. Today, Guitar is back with the third and final single off We’re Headed To The Lake, offering a more tender side of the project as Kuli’s signature earnest vocals are replaced with his wife’s singing.
While “Chance to Win” enters with less immediacy than the singles it succeeds, the track parallels their intensities (and windswept feels) through other means. Controlled chord progressions trickle in and escalate gradually, as Jontajshae Smith’s honeyed vocals unfold a poetically disheveled stream of thought. Frenzied feelings of exhilaration, sometimes referred to as “butterflies”, are kindled through lines of “Sit still / First place / Record pace / Long game / Okay” and “Just wait / On the / Count of three / Breath in / One two”. The track is stunning and tousled – much like the adrenaline rush of possibility, and the lingering anxieties that anticipation fosters.
“This song is about the excitement of an opportunity, feeling electricity in the air and trying to stay cool and not fumble,” Kuli says.
We’re Headed To The Lake will be out October 10th via Julia’s War. You can listen to “Chance to Win” below.
In the latest case for East Coast country music, Chico States shares “A Dozen Beers”, the first single from their upcoming album I Saw A Galloping Horse Cover No Ground out October 23rd via Anything Bagel Records. With two albums already tucked in his pockets, songwriter Joseph Barresi continues his hunt for new uses of language, mopping up his daily affirmations and one liners off the dirty floor and draining out what’s left into a pail. Accompanied by Hannah Barrett (vocals), Alex Silver (bass), Garrett Linck (drums) and Ben Rodgers (pedal steel), “A Dozen Beers” spills over the edge with boozy hooks, dry wit, and a whole lot of toe-tappin’, to the point where he should have brought a second pail.
“A Dozen Beers” revels in a sweaty bit of twang, a cowboy’s holy prayer, one to be saved for when the liquor is flowing and spirits are high. “Me & you, we’re just blundering on through, a dozen beers ahead of most of the rest of the world,” Barresi drawls out amongst rusty guitar licks, both keen to weigh the empathetic with the obscure from the day-to-day’s friendly stakeholders. Stumbling to the motion of the pedal steel and swaying to the nifty hooks, “A Dozen Beers” becomes a celebration of the little things we remember. “Rip off some dumb country star / just the harmonies, straight from the heart / as I’m walking out the door”, is just as anthemic as any ol arena-mantra, yet gets us closer to who really ripped off who. This track embraces the bare bones, finding grace in the comradery, its loose melodies linger into the nightlife, a collective harmony you sing to the moon hoping it joins in for one last tune before you close out the tab.
You can listen to “A Dozen Beers” premiering here!
Every Wednesday, the ugly hug shares a playlist personally curated by an artist/band that we have been enjoying. This week we have a collection of songs put together by New Orleans-based artist Adam Richard.
With a handful of albums buried in the soil; to grow, to bloom, to die and to cycle over time, these stories stroll with a caution, careful not to step on the crumbling cracks of the sidewalk that have eroded over time. Not out of any superstition of breaking a back, but of the precedence it sets for an empathetic heart. Adam’s voice is haunting, yet undoubtedly sincere, bringing a perseverance to these corroded love songs and tall tales of remorse and pity that he performs so well. But even in these weighted moments, where Adam’s acoustic guitar begins to rust over and his stories have searched for their peace, the sonic shadows that once covered these tracks begin to chip away like old paint, as feelings of loss and longing become intertwined by faith and love; a comfort in the damage as we finally get to see what’s been underneath this whole time.
About the playlist, Adam shares;
Hugging big and ugly. Light-birds over the trees, flying through my window. Music beyond elusive language, sounds that feel true. This playlist is full of songs that feel delicate at the heart of things to me. Grateful to ugly hug, music is people.
Carry Ripple is the Memphis-based project of artist, video creator and music producer, Carter Earheart-Brown, who has been releasing music under the project for a few years now. Today, carry ripple returns with, “Ailanthus Altissima”, the first single off of his upcoming record carry ripple 2, the sequel that has been in the making since the debut carry ripple was released back in 2024. Now accompanied by Kaleb Collins (The Louisville Orchestra), Sofie Pedersen (candynavia) and Heaven Schmit (Grumpy), Earheart-Brown continues to experiment with songwriting and new sonic flavors as “Ailanthus Altissima” becomes a song reeling through obsession and ecological and personal disparages.
With a dribble of acoustic guitar, “Ailanthus Altissima” seeps into the soil, steady and patient as a harmony of strings begin to nourish the dense roots that will soon make up some heavy ground. Referring to Ailanthus Altissima, or commonly known as the tree of heaven, a native plant in China that has become an invasive species here in North America, Earheart-Brown laments in its ecological havoc, singing “you’re more like a tree of hell”. The track waivers between natural whimsy and eager chaos as warming runs of woodwinds sprout underneath Earheart-Brown’s vocals that begin to grow erratically amongst the track’s flourishing melodies. At the same time, these natural elements begin to be overrun by alien-like effects and electronic fixations, wrapping around his words as Earheart-Brown sings, “Now every time I see a tree, I’m bound to think of you,” where these intrusive plants begin to be a disruption in not just space, but in thought as well.
Listen to “Ailanthus Altissima” here:
About the song, Earheart-Brown shares;
“The song idea started when I learned some people call it the tree of hell because of how annoying they are! It is an invasive plant that is often a host for the spotted lanternfly! While some of the lyrics are metaphorical, it really is about the actual plant.
I wrote it last summer when Kaleb and I were practicing for two acoustic shows opening for villagerrr and Tombstone Poetry. Tracked my vocals and the guitar with my friend Spence Bailey. Heaven, Kaleb, and Sofie recorded their parts remotely. We reamped some of the clarinets through guitar pedals for a glitchy sound. I attempted to write most of these songs without drums, so I wanted the sound to lean into that.”
You can listen to “Ailanthus Altissima” anywhere you find your music.
Written by Shea Roney | Featured Photo Courtesy of carry ripple
Today, Dear Life Records and Pretty Purgatory share Songs of Hope for Gaza, a collection of songs by 33 artists written in solidarity with Palestine. The comp consists of artists such as Little Mazarn, Thanya Iyer, Tashi Dorji, Ava Mirzadegan, Lady Queen Paradise, Ther, Adeline Hotel, and many more. In his essay titled “Notes on Craft: Writing in the Hour of Genocide”, Fargo Tbakhi says, “creative work readies us for material work, by offering a space to try out strategies, think through contradictions, remind us of our own agency.” That agency becomes the benchmark of our community, to be able to gather in shared space, utilize our tools, to connect, to listen, to lift voices, to create and to call for collective action.
You can pre-order the full album on bandcamp now for any amount you can give. The full compilation will be released on October 28th. All proceeds from this compilation will go to ANERA to support humanitarian aid and emergency relief in Gaza and beyond.
In a mission statement by the compilation’s curator, Liza Victoria, she says;
“Songs of Hope For Gaza is a compilation organized as an effort to join together as a music community to write music in solidarity for Palestine. Each musician was given a call to action to write a protest song of their own interpretation, in solidarity with Palestine. The cover painting & title is a nod to Bottles of Hope For Gaza, where in Egypt, bottles containing rice, flour, and beans were thrown into sea in hopes that they would reach the shores of Gaza. In organizing this project, I hope to offer encouragement to anyone in the music community, to speak up in song and to utilize our collective power. I believe it is vital to our own hearts, and our lives as artists, to empathize and show empathy to this cause.”
The track list of Songs of Hope for Gaza is a collection of 33 original songs written in solidarity with Palestine. The collection was mastered by Hamilton Belk.
Katie-Krysta
In The Olive Tree- Thanya Iyer
In Palestine- Christy Armstrong
Worse Than Bombs- Matt Bachmann
Sunbirds- Will Stratton
Carolina Wren- Ava Mirzadegan ft. Jason Calhoun
It Is Within You Where The Falcon Sang/ May All The Ancient Olive Trees Return Tashi Dorji
Epitaph- שאַנדע (Shande)
Nana’s Story- Guy Capecelatro III
This Very Hour- Little Mazarn
Sunbird- Stephen Kerr
The Economics Of Despair Pt. 1- Ther
The Economics Of Despair Pt.2- Lady Queen Paradise
Twila Ping- Blood Things
Sand Castles- Lisa/Liza
Precious Memory- Liam Grant
Bound To Live-Adeline Hotel
Enduring Silence – Peter McLaughlin
How Do We, Country – Ava Brennan
Nothing Fire in the Sky part II- Dee Dee and the Weeds
Two Parts-Tremolo Fields
BREAD- Young Moon
Setting Ourselves on Fire- Sam Pawlowski
All On The Lake- Amelia Riggs
Humanity- Good Good Blood
A Balm For Those Hearts Burnt and Burning Still- Mellifer
Ice Fall- Florida Ghost
The Birds Never Ask if They Deserve to Exist – Slow Hymn
Live Triptych for Gaza- Haven’s Den
Weird Dream- Glass Machine
Sending Heart- Josh Burkette
Arena- Jacob Augustine
War Cry– Asher Platts
Listen to Songs of Hope for Gaza now premiering here!
There are also statements from the artists that are featured in this collection about their own interpretations of a protest song and what it means to be in solidarity.
“This song is actually bits and pieces of conversations had about the flood in Central Texas a few weeks ago in which many children perished. One of my friends offered a prayer to the grieving parents, that children’s spirits fly to the afterworld faster than most. This conversation has been deeply intertwined with many conversations here about climate change and the need to grieve the natural world we once knew in order to adapt and live into the future. When asked if I would write a song in solidarity with Palestine, these conversations glowed bright in my mind as we here in Texas grieve the catastrophic loss of life from the flood. We are all connected in our joys and sorrows, the marrow of our days. May we walk together towards peace. This very hour.”
– Lindsey Verrill of Little Mazarn
“and the lens is a gun
hope like the sun
resistance in the make up
of water and love
water and love”
– Lyrics from “Blood Things”, Twila Ping
“This song is about the lengths that people/news media/the US and other countries countries will go to avoid witnessing genocide. But also, the ways I too unsee Palestinian death; how reading about starvation is now part of my morning routine, but my days go largely unchanged. I appreciate being a part of this compilation and other actions in solidarity with Palestinians as a way to feel less alone in my witnessing and hopefully bring some mobilization, no matter how small, towards change/relief/ending genocide and occupation.”
– Matt Bachmann
“Anas Al-Sharif was assassinated by Israel. In his last will, he said, “If I die, I die steadfast upon my principles.” We can decide to always be this clear about what we stand for.”
– Lady Queen Paradise
“songs, like history, often rhyme. when we bring struggle home and in our hearts, we create echoes of dreams that predate us, we carry them best when we do it together“
– Ther
“When care and safety is an innate human right of all people, it is such a moral imperative to speak up when that is actively being taken away and deprived of through the use of violence, starvation and murder. At this stage, the accounts of injustices enacted by Israel onto the Palestinian people are near innumerable. All people deserve safety, and all children deserve a childhood. Hearing the suffering cries of a baby which cannot be soothed due to severe burns and shrapnel wounds should be enough to mobilize anyone to act and to use their voice. This sound alone I know I will carry for the rest of my life. This is not a war, this is a genocide, and it must end.”
– Christy Armstrong
“The song is a repeated mantra peeking out from the corners of a meditative but jagged soundscape—to kill the body, but not the idea, which is bound to live. I took the words from an old labor poster that sits beside my desk and contains the quote: “it is true, indeed, that they can execute the body, but they cannot execute the idea which is bound to live.” No violence, no war, no terror inflicted by the oppressor upon the oppressed can ever truly destroy the bonds of solidarity or extinguish the flame of liberation.”
– Adeline Hotel
Victoria continues about the comp, sharing, “it was a privilege to work with each of these artists and hear their perspectives and heart show through. I am so grateful for the dedication and time they each put into this. Free Palestine. Thanks to Dear Life Records, Frank Meadows, Peter McLaughlin, Chel Painting, Hamilton Belk, Pretty Purgatory, Ava Mirzadegan, & to all the musicians involved.”
You can preorder Songs of Hope for Gaza via Dear Life Records and Pretty Purgatory now with all proceeds going to ANERA.
the ugly hug 