It’s the most wonderful time of the yeeeeeeear! Yes, the Joyzine Advent Calendar is back once again to bring you 24 days of fantastic free music downloads from a amazing array of our favourite artists. This year marks the 21st edition of our online calendar making it (as far as we’re aware) the longest running on the net (though we’re always happy to be corrected). As always, every track is completely free to download and we don’t require you to sign up for a mailing list (though you can if you want to) or hand over your personal data – it’s our way of saying thank you to everyone who’s visited the site during 2024 and to hopefully bring a few more listeners to some very deserving artists.
However, if you do enjoy the tracks we would love you to consider making a donation to our chosen cause, which this year is the wonderful First Timers Fest, a brilliant grassroots DIY organisation helping people take the first step into making music. Alumni include Joyzine faves Big Joanie, Panic Pocket, Charmpit and Breakup Haircut, with many more great bands coming through every year. We asked First Timers for a few words about what they do:
First Timers Fest is all about supporting new people into music! Yes that’s right, we mean you! We demystify the music making process through a series of beginners workshops that encourage people to try something new, no pressure to start a band after. The festival is open to everyone, but we particularly want to encourage people from marginalised groups to apply.
Next year we will be hosting our workshops at the Cavendish in Stockwell but following a sell out festival at the Victoria in Dalston we have decided to host the festival at a much bigger venue: The Oslo Hackney! This will take place on 4th May 2025. See you there!!!
Make a donation to First Timers
We’ve got a sleigh-full of fantastic tracks for you again this year, including some festive tunes, plenty of exclusives and some of our favourite songs of 2024. Let’s get crack(er)ing!
We’ve been reunited with plenty of old friends so far on this year’s Advent Calendar, but today it’s time for a new acquaintance. Every year we send an invitation to get involved out to anyone who cares to read it, and one band to respond and catch our ear were Manchester-based dream pop quintet Umarells.
The band take their name from an Italian word for retired men who watch construction sites and released their debut EP One More Day via Fear of Missing Out Records last month. The record fuses elements of post-hardcore, shoegaze, Midwest emo, and ‘00s indie-psych into autobiographical tales inspired in part by a group outing to Blackpool. Today’s track, ‘Closer’ is the opening track of the EP and a perfect introduction to their sound.
We caught up with Umarells to find out more.
Tell us a little about your track ‘Closer’ please?
This was the first song we recorded together back in 2022. We recorded it round Josh’s flat and the drums in our practice space so the whole sound of the track has a very personal feel to it. The lyrics paint imagery of vivid nature and it feels like the music backs up that vibe. Nice little fact for the single cover of ‘Closer’ is that the picture we used of the guy in the sea with a metal detector was taken by Josh in Blackpool. On another trip to Blackpool we decided to start the band! So this song cements the band’s little connection to that town.
What have you been up to in 2024?
We put out debut EP out in November which is great to have out there – we’ve been sitting on these songs for a while. The start of the year we played a lot of gigs around Manchester, London and Scotland, in the summer we had a bit of break and went into the studio with Alex Greaves at The Nave in Leeds and recorded a couple of new songs which was really good experience. We’ve also been writing loads. We’ve got so many new songs put together throughout the year that we’re debuting live at the gigs we’re playing at the moment.
And what do you have planned for the next 12 months?
More shows coming up! We love playing live so looking forward to more of that. We’re going to get those new songs we’ve recorded at The Nave out there in 2025, really excited for people to hear those.
Christmas songs – love them or hate them?
Love them. I mean Paul McCartney’s ‘Wonderful Christmastime’ is just a banger isn’t it. Gets you in the sprit. ‘Driving Home for Christmas’ too, what a tune.
Download ‘Closer‘
Make a donation to First Timers
Umarells: Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp
Catch up on all of this year’s Advent Calendar Tracks so far:
1: Piney Gir – Reindeer
2: Gabriel Minnikin – Said Information
3: LOUD WOMEN ft. Smallways, Butterknife, Daddy Issues, Witch Spit, R.U.B, Vipersnatch, Worm Girlz, Lady Lazarus and Stabbitha & The Knifey Wifeys
4: First Timers Fest ft. Gay Skeleton Club and Skutterfly
5: Goo Records ft. Jopy, The Stanford Family Band, Owners Club and The Roebucks
6: Dead Horse – Historic
7: Gemma Rogers – Never Have I Ever
Check back tomorrow for another free festive download!
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