as·​sem·​ble | \ ə-ˈsem-bəl : to bring together (as in a particular place or for a particular purpose)

With singers from diverse musical and cultural backgrounds, there is room for everyone to bring their individual talents to contemporary, mixed voiced choir, Assemble. The UK-based group takes acapella to a futurist level, complete with clean beatboxing, brassy bass humming, euphoric vocal melodies and charming breakdowns.

“There’s definitely an area where we all converge which meets at the crossroads of pop, soul, dance music and electronica,” vocal producer, MD and Assemble founder Juliet Russell said. “Beyond that there are so many individual influences and cultural compasses including gospel, jazz, afrobeat, country music, musical theatre, nu-soul, classical, acoustic, choral, garage, alternative. We all come from slightly different musical places, but meet in this shared creative space.”

Singing together is usually an uplifting and connected experience, but that experience soon changed due to the inability to physically get together and perform. This made recording music challenging, as each part was recorded separately yet still had to capture the vibe that they have when they’re all together.

It was a good challenge, however, to learn how to innovate and collaborate differently. It brought them their first single, “Blue Monday”, a cover of the 1983 New Order track. Despite being nearly 40 years old, “Blue Monday” still sounds futuristic and timeless. Russell was easily able to picture how it would work vocally with voices as synths, beats and electronic textures. Lead vocalist Barbara Pursey could reimagine the ambiguous lyrics by providing a female vocal instead of the original male vocal.

“The original was inspired by a Donna Summer B-side and the disco elements just seemed to emerge in our version in a very natural, subconscious way,” Russell said. “We hope that when listening people really connect with the way that Barbara sings it, maybe in a different way to how they have experienced the song previously. We also hope they feel the celebration of the human voice - the instrument we carry around with us is incredible!”

The most rewarding aspect of creating “Blue Monday” was finally being able to come together to film the music video. After not being in the same physical space for over a year, they want viewers to recall that same sense of disconnection and separation they felt while also continuing to build something better together - something more connected, inclusive and celebratory rather than fueling fear, division and suspicion.

Assemble recognizes the importance of individuality and that each soul has a unique lived experience that should be respected, honored and appreciated. While celebrating each other as individuals and as a collective through their music, they plan to raise the collective consciousness in any way they can.

“Forever, For Now” isn’t a stereotypical over-the-top love song. When Tilsen wrote it at the beginning of her current relationship, all she wanted to do was put those strong feelings into a melody.

“I wasn’t sure how long it would last or how it would go, but basically I had the concept come into my mind when I was just thinking about how when we have these strong feelings it can feel like they're going to last forever,” she said. “When you're really sad, you feel like you're going to be sad forever; like you're never going to feel good again. If you're really happy, you feel like your life is amazing. When you feel like you're falling in love with someone, it can feel like you're always going to feel this way.”

However, experiencing the feeling of falling in love can also bring the feeling of doubt. Sometimes relationships do end and moving on can be painless or painful, but that ‘for now’ feeling is what inspired Tilsen.

“It's definitely not a ‘first love’ song,” she said. “It's ‘I've been through it before’ so it has this slight cynicism to it. I hope that people can relate to that feeling of not knowing what the future holds with a new relationship, knowing that it could end but also wanting to take that risk.”

She brought the concept to a writing session and by the end of it had it completely fleshed out, minus production. The unique aspect of creating “Forever, For Now” is that she wrote it with the person the song is about. She said it was an interesting dynamic that is hard to explain, but loved the process and actually waited for months before divulging that the song was indeed about them.

Tilsen has definitely continued to finesse her writing skills as she pursues her musical journey. She always prided on being as honest as possible in her songwriting, and has become even more honest as she better understands who she is.

In addition to gearing up for an EP release in early 2022 and a to-be-determined folk pop album, she has also dove into several other projects including collaborations with Midsplit and Deep Chills.

“With the [songs] that I'm writing for other producer artists, I am maintaining my Tilsen writing style and making sure that it aligns with all my other work even if the production varies from my usual pop production,” she said. “For the pop folk album, that's going to be more divergent from the writing style that I typically have because it's going to be more storytelling. I've found it really fun to write that way, it's a new challenge.”

Between exploring new avenues and honing in on how honest her songwriting can be, Tilsen continues to bring her authentic self to each of her songs. Each one gives a new look into her mind and her heart, and brings the listener one step closer to sharing an emotional connection with the songwriter.

What if Rapunzel’s mother drank a potion from the wrong flower?

In the latest from the Twisted Tales series, author Liz Braswell returns to share a new version of the Tangled storyline in What Once Was Mine. This is her sixth novel of the series, having previously shared twisted versions of Aladdin, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid and Peter Pan.

Desperate to save the life of their queen and her unborn child, the good citizens of the kingdom comb the land for the all-healing Sundrop flower to cure her... but someone mistakenly picks the blossom of the Moondrop instead. This shimmering flower heals the queen and she delivers a healthy baby girl - with hair as silver and gray as the moon. But with her mysterious hair comes dangerous magical powers: the power to hurt, not heal. For the safety of the kingdom, Rapunzel is locked away in a tower and put under the care of the powerful goodwife, Mother Gothel.

“I was really intrigued by Rapunzel's inner life,” Braswell said. “What kind of person lives mostly alone and imprisoned for almost 20 years… and comes out not only sane, but optimistic about the world? Exploring her psyche, going more deeply into the way her mind worked was a fascinating journey.”

Trying to figure out how a believable character could go through what Rapunzel did and conveying that realistically to the reader was both rewarding and challenging. Braswell also had difficulty in describing the movement of Rapunzel’s hair. What works in an animated movie doesn’t always work in a YA novel, she said. One of her favorite aspects, however, was twisting the story of Maximus, Flynn Rider’s horse.

Readers are also introduced to a new character: a would-be outlaw named Gina.

“While fans (myself included) would probably be happy with 500 pages of Flynn and Raps, the story really needed a third character for them to shine off of, to share secrets with, to grow along with,” Braswell said. “Flynn and Rapunzel are Heroes with capital H; Gina is one of the heroes who is quietly instrumental in the happily ever afters arriving safe and sound.”

Before she can reach her happy ending, Rapunzel learns that there is far more to her story, and her magical hair, and her future than she ever knew. Her mental discipline is one of Braswell’s favorite characteristics of Rapunzel, and is something she wishes she had in her own life.

Her other favorite characteristic? Her feet!

“Think about it: she's a person who has spent her whole life without actually touching the ground - yet she is more grounded in who she is and what she wants than Flynn. It's a nice metaphor for being enthusiastically head-in-the-clouds while staying in touch with who you are.”

Take a decade-long career of writing and playing rock music for mostly major labels, mix in the isolation of a global pandemic and with a pinch of fatherhood comes brand new music from David Boyd.

It’s difficult to articulate the excitement of a new project without sounding like your past experiences weren’t enough. How do you explain that you’ve loved your journey so far, but that it had its ups and downs?

“There's no right way to do it,” Boyd said. “You just have to have a vision, you have to love what you do, and do it wholeheartedly and take that first step. I think as you take steps you start to get answers as you go.”

Personally and professionally, Boyd is in an entirely different headspace than even a few years ago. Long gone are the days of living in Brooklyn with New Politics bandmates Søren Hensen and Louis Vecchio, and instead are days shared with his wife and daughter in Atlanta or Los Angeles. That doesn't mean that this is the end of an old project; this is another outlet to let creativity shine.

This project may seem brand new, and that is because technically it is. Boyd released his first single, “Stay or Walk Away”, this past June. His second and third singles, “Ambush” and “Waste Away”, were released in August but have origin stories that go back a handful of years.

Like many touring artists, there are just some nights where sleeping on a tour bus doesn’t come naturally. One night, Boyd found himself in the back lounge quietly strumming a chord progression he couldn’t get out of his head and whispering lyrics into the Voice Memos app on his iPhone. He titled that demo “Roses Are Not Red” and honestly never went back to it. It’s a perfectly normal occurrence as a songwriter, but stumbling across that phone a few years later proved to be yet another sign that it was time for Boyd to release music.

He played the demo for producer Cobe Jones who immediately felt goosebumps form. Boyd hadn’t even planned on playing the demo for him because of its overall quiet and incomplete manner, but that is exactly what Jones loved about it. Before they knew it, it became “Waste Away”.

“Ambush” was first demoed right before the pandemic and initially shown to his bandmates before deciding that it wasn’t a fit for the three of them. Vecchio, however, felt the same type of goosebumps that Jones felt on “Waste Away” and demanded that he play drums on the final track. It’s the perfect example of how the brotherhood is still as strong as ever, but a different type of strong than before.

Releasing music as a solo artist also gives Boyd the opportunity to dive into any genre. If we, as music lovers, can listen to playlists that span pop, rock, country, R&B, jazz and more, why can’t artists have that same luxury? Boyd sees this as his moment to reflect on who he is as a human being and all the experiences that have made him who he is today while also experimenting with all forms of music.

“Even though I'm two months into the project it's like I've got my work cut out for me,” Boyd said. “I've got this fire back... it's not like I lost it, it just got a little blurry. New Politics became overwhelming in a sense - not that it wasn't fun and that I don't love it and will want to do it forever - but I think this is the universe trying to put things in perspective for us to figure out in the future when the timing’s right. Right now it works; it's just working so easy for me to do my solo project. It's just naturally happening, there’s no effort.”

The pace and lifestyle of being a solo artist is what currently works best for Boyd. He is enjoying life as a husband, as a first time father, and can’t commit to the same grueling schedule of touring 360 days out of the year or having an open availability to be in the studio. It wouldn’t be fair to anyone involved to have to work around his schedule, so for the time being his schedule is his and his alone.

“I don't think I would have been able to figure it out without [the repercussions of the global pandemic] to be honest because the shutdown really gave me the space, isolation and time to put my thoughts down and figure everything out and come to these conclusions that I also feared to accept,” he said. “I'm starting to see this new light on everything. There’s challenges like I never expected would have come doing it independently but also I love that as well.”

In terms of being a solo artist releasing songs independently, challenge accepted. David Boyd has spent the last decade learning the ways of the music industry through the eyes of a major label, and in hindsight is using those experiences to try things his way. Sometimes it feels like juggling with one hand, but he wouldn’t change anything. This new creative outlet is exactly what he needed, and the journey ahead is just as bright as ever.

Photo courtesy of Mia Naome

The local music scene of Charleston, SC is incredibly tight knit, so much so that the members of Cry Baby had all unknowingly met at the same local music festival performing as openers for Briston Maroney.

They had all spent time around each other throughout college, playing together or separately in different bands. When Josh Kozic and Joey Haines made a transition into more pop music, they knew the local scene wouldn’t let them down.

DIY spaces were the perfect opportunity for them to tour and meet people in a casual setting. Basements, living rooms; anywhere that was genuinely invested in supporting local musicians became a special place to them.

“It's super special to see so many people come out and make not only these bands feel like someone actually cares, but also more of a communal and shared experience at shows,” Haines said. “You actually get to hang out with the band you are seeing. This translates into the whole online experience too because the people who hear of you at a show or word of mouth end up being the ones that engage with your music on Instagram or Spotify. The community helps sustain itself, which we owe everything to.”

From the start of Cry Baby, they knew their sound was channeling older music and eventually settled on the late 90s/Y2K era.

“[We wanted to] try to bring in some influences we heard growing up on the radio that hadn't really been re-explored in a modern way fully,” Haines said. “Groups like Backstreet Boys or Britney Spears hadn't really been taken seriously musically in a minute, but now it seems like this era is coming back around a little. Once we started experimenting with this and going back and forth, we realized some really different pop music was coming out of our studio that didn't sound exactly like what everyone else was making.”

Their latest EP, Everything I Didn’t Say, took a full DIY approach as they created it in their bedroom studio. The beginning of the band focused on traveling and playing shows, but with the restrictions of the last year and a half they finally had the time to chip away at the collection of songs they had been working on for two years.


“I think as a band we all come from such different musical backgrounds that it's easy to have varying different envisions for songs, which leads to a give and take until the final version of something pops out,” Haines said. “When we finished the record it felt really right, like these songs were exactly what they needed to be.”

Everything I Didn’t Say was their attempt at creating the perfect Cry Baby mixtape. They wanted to harness the energy of that first time a mix is handed to a crush: the nerves, the meticulous placing of the track list, the anxiety slipping away as the urge to get up and move triumphs. These songs are a temporary escape from the world, complete with that nostalgic feeling of coming of age.

For Amanda Frances, storytelling was less of a conscious decision and more of a concept that was ingrained in her since day one.

Her obsession with words came in any form - novels, poetry, journaling - and so did her obsession with music. She tried singing, piano and guitar as well as anything incorporated with music such as dancing and figure skating.

She went into her college years with the intention of majoring in English and came out on the other side determined to make it as an artist and songwriter. She spent the majority of her time in Nashville, writing as much as she could and shaping her writing style.

“I’m obsessed with songs that describe a moment in such specific detail that you can’t help but see it all play out in your head,” she said.

Frances has learned to trust that there is no right or wrong when it comes to making art, and that has rung true as she gears up to release her debut EP. She has already released two singles, including the recently released “say that” with fellow Canadian artist A-SHO, that are honest depictions of moments she has experienced.

“I hate writing songs and waiting for years to release them,” she said. “I wrote these songs and had them out into the world in a matter of a couple months, and it’s a special little feeling to still have butterflies about a new song when everyone else is hearing it for the first time.”

With these incredibly detailed lyrics and genuine love for music, these songs not only give the listener an opportunity to see into her world but to relate it back to theirs. Her honest storytelling is her strong suit, and she knows how to use it.

“Someone very important to me told me recently that of all the songs they’ve heard me write in my life, these ones just sound entirely like me,” she said. “That meant everything to hear. As an artist trying to learn and grow in this industry, you so often get told how you should sound, and it’s often hard to distinguish between what criticism you should take and grow with, and what you should just have a good laugh at and brush off. It’s really important to me that the music and art that I make really reflects who I am, and I think I’ve found that magic little spot now.”

Staying true to her obsessions, Frances has continued diving into various forms of music, this time with videography. She has always been the type of artist who wanted to be part of all aspects of her music, from its conception to its execution. The tedious yet satisfying work of music videos has been an exciting challenge for her and has opened up a whole new world of creative possibilities.

For Amanda Frances, storytelling is her way of life. Whether her storytelling is musical, visual or an entirely new medium that she decides to delve into, one thing is certain: these stories are timeless.

Photo courtesy of Taylor Nicolle Photo

In the last year and a half, Camille Peruto has learned the importance of perseverance and not giving up on her dreams.

She went from working as a full-time singer-songwriter to absolutely nothing in a matter of days. No live shows, no recording sessions at the studio. Suddenly the job-that-doesn’t-feel-like-a-job was the hardest one to rely on.

Despite those obstacles, Peruto continued writing music. She adapted to the new normal of live streaming performances, and counted down the days until cancelled events could be rescheduled.

“It was 100% worth the hard work and resilience,” she said. “Now I am releasing new music, playing shows again, and I definitely don’t take it for granted anymore.”

Her latest single, “Pretty on the Outside”, is her first since 2019. It is a song that she had held on to for quite some time and finally felt like it was ready to be shared with the world.

“It’s about seeing life [as] it really is underneath its outer layer, which may appear perfect to someone’s outside perspective,” she said. “Nothing is really how it seems.”

The lyrics to “Pretty on the Outside” are fairly open-ended, giving the listener a chance to relate in their own way. It is a gentle reminder to never judge a book by its cover. A seemingly perfect person can be hiding trauma beneath that smile. An intimidating exterior can be a shield to an ongoing personal crisis. Whatever the truth may be, it is all about giving someone a chance.

“Pretty on the Outside” will be one of the songs on her upcoming album, Perfect Vision. The album itself gives a peek into Peruto’s life through her eyes, with this first single being one of the darker songs on the album.

“It is very real and honest, and it is a great preview to the rest of the album, both production wise and theme wise,” she said.

Photo courtesy of Chance Edwards

Writing a sad song always seems to come so naturally. For Jeffrey James, he felt like sad songs were the only ones he had written for an entire week in late 2019, so he was determined one day to write something uplifting instead. The production team he regularly works with, LÒNIS, were also on board for a lighthearted track. From that session came “We Can Be Heroes”.

The song was one of several that he pitched to NBC’s groundbreaking songwriting series, Songland, and chosen to be featured on the show’s second season. Within a few days, he was in Los Angeles working alongside songwriter, producer and OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder.

“He gave me a MasterClass on songwriting,” James said. “He took the song and turned it from what I thought was a good song into a much better song.”

The experience on Songland was a positive one, from a production standpoint down to the level of professionalism in the studio. James appreciated that each songwriter’s backstory was not about overcoming obstacles or falling down on hard times - it was about the song itself and the songwriter’s journey. He also appreciated that it wasn’t a talent show, it was about making the best version of a song and pitching it to an artist.

For James, “We Can Be Heroes” was pitched to country singer, songwriter and producer Martina McBride. McBride chose the song to move to the second round, where James worked with Tedder on the lyrics. Although the core of the song stayed true to the original, Tedder brought ideas to the verses to make the message of the song more relatable.

“I want to feel more emotion but I want to feel authentic,” Tedder said during the episode.

By adding the extra chorus sections and tightening the verses, the second performance of “We Can Be Heroes” gave McBride and the panelists goosebumps. Ultimately the song was not chosen for McBride to record, but it received overwhelming online support.

“You never know how you're going to come across on TV so I was happy with [the final performance], which meant the support other people had felt even better,” James said. “The fact that people are seeing what I'm seeing and they're connecting to the song in their own way is the dream for a songwriter. I make music for myself but I hope that other people connect with what I'm making, and it's nice to see when other people are feeling the same things you are.”

Despite originally writing the song in late 2019, “We Can Be Heroes” took on a whole new meaning as 2020 transitioned into global devastation. To Jeffrey James, the song is saying that waiting for someone else to stand up and take charge isn’t going to help anyone, so being that person can instead bring people together. Whether people take away that message or something else entirely is up to them, and that’s the beauty of songwriting.

Photo courtesy of Ian Bell

When alt-pop artist Violette released her first EP, When I Lose My Head, in 2020, that experience helped her lay the groundwork for her latest EP, In her beauty lies my death and my life.

As the global pandemic brought countries to a complete standstill, Violette found herself watching period films to escape the current reality. What she found during these marathons was the depth of their themes, and from that drew inspiration for her next EP. She wanted to create an experience that these films created for her - an escape from reality with deep and personal content.

During the creation of When I Lose My Head, Violette had the opportunity to step away from her previous role as a front woman of a band to forge her own path as a solo artist. It was a challenge to learn how to operate without her bandmates, but she found a peace that she didn’t have before.

She also learned about unneeded pressure and how to have fun while creating music, which is what she embodied during the creation of In her beauty lies my death and my life.

“I have never had as much fun writing or recording music as I did when making this EP,” she said. “There was one night where I was working on vocals and it was just a little bit of an off night, so I wasn’t getting much done. I was drinking wine and my rings were tapping on the wine glass before a take, so instead of tracking vocals we just experimented with those little sounds and [placed] them in the song. Those little moments are what make this EP so special to me - it feels like my DNA is in the songs.”

The title itself comes from her favorite French quote - “En sa beauté gît ma mort et ma vie”. It kept popping up as she recorded the five tracks, and she felt like a recurring theme had emerged. She even used the French translation as one of the song titles.

The song she is most proud of is “Fall Apart”. She released it as the second single and describes the track as being there for someone despite all the hurt they might have caused.

“It took a few tries to get it right, but it’s an example of everything I’ve been wanting to do musically for a while,” she said.