Stereo Embers: The Podcast

"Don't You Push"

If Coleridge was right and friendship is a sheltering tree, then Julie Christensen lives in a very big forest. It's true. She knows a lot of people and she has a lot of friends. When you listen to us chat you'll hear organically how this Iowa native has moved through the world making friends everywhere she goes. Let's back up. Julie first landed on my radar when I was a high school DJ and SST Records sent our thrash metal radio station records by her band Divine Horsemen. The fiery post-punk outfit who even now bring to mind The Gun Club, are only part of the story, so I'll do what I can to fill in the gaps. After a stint in college and playing with the band Longshot who opened for John Prine and Asleep At The Wheel, Christensen left Iowa for Texas where she played with Passenger and did some more studying at the University of Austin. But it was her move west where things really picked up speed. She fell in with the rockabilly punk scene, joined Divine Horsemen with her husband Chris D of the Flesheaters, got divorced, found sobriety and then? You can tell I'm speeding along here because Julie tells her story far better than I can, but long story short, her old pal Roscoe Beck from Passenger became Leonard Cohen's Musial Director and he suggested Christensen sing with the legendary bard. And that's exactly what she did for nearly twenty years. Julie has a series of powerful solo albums like Love Is Driving and Where The Fireworks Are and her new single "Don't You Push" is a reaction to the darkness and frustration of what's currently happening in our country. As for her voice, well, putting it simply, Julie Christensen's delivery is as towering as it is graceful. Filled with equal parts muscle and finesse, her phrasing is poetic, precise and riveting. And she's a lovely person and just wonderful to speak to.

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Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"Draw The Outline"

The Irish-born singer/songwriter Sorcha Richardson keeps moving from strength to strength. Her debut First Prize Bravery was nominated for the Choice Music Prize, her second album Smiling Like An Idiot went top five in Ireland and her new one Draw The Outline is already being touted as one of 2026's very best. And for good reason. From Fake Venice to Illinois Again, Draw The Outline is a stirring, sonorous and lyrically impressionistic song-cycle about finding a stable place in a turbulent world. Effortlessly exploring connection and isolation the album is a moving blend of folk, pop and indie rock that's brave and bold, yet vulnerable and wistful. Over the course of her career Richardson has lived in Brooklyn, supported everyone from Villagers to Snow Patrol and had a number one album on the Irish indie charts. She's deeply gifted and with this new album asserting herself as one of the great songwriters on the planet.

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Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com

"Lift Me Up"
Over the course of a series of critically-acclaimed and best-selling albums like I Bificus, Superbeautifulmonster and 2024's Champion, Bif Naked has established herself as one of the most dynamic and arresting artists you're likely to run into. The Canadian singer/songwriter's refusal to be categorized has been the secret to her being able to move through genres like EDM and Pop-Punk and with artistic ease. Her I Bifficus memoir is an essential read and it details a life that found her moving from New Delhi to Kentucky to Manitoba. Bif Naked has played with everyone from Green Day to Sarah McLachlan to The Cult, she's released a spoken word record, voiced video games, appeared in videos by Moist and A Simple Plan, and acted in everything from Buffy The Vampire Slayer to The L Word. To get an idea of how fearless, bold and groundbreaking she is, the documentary One Of A Kind will give you a generous glimpse of the power and grace of Bif Naked. The pleading ache of her new single "Lift Me Up" finds Bif Naked sounding better than ever. Yes, she's busy, but we fit in a little chat.

"Pathways"

Filled with glimmering synths, jangling acoustic guitars and swirling psychedelia, Meltt's new album Pathways is one of the year's great pleasures. The Vancouver outfit's fourth effort is a sonorous and ethereal blend of catchy hooks, dreamy melodies and percussive invention. Comprised of childhood chums singer/guitarist Chris Smith, drummer Jamie Turner, guitarist James Porter and bassist Ian Winkler, Meltt's sound brings to mind everyone from The Stone Roses to the Crystal Fighters. The band is on the road as we speak and that's where I caught them. So let's meet Meltt.

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Stereo Embers:

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"Welcome Back Love"

The San Francisco-born Martin Luther McCoy is a straight up quadruple threat. An actor, guitarist, singer/songwriter, and producer, McCoy is one of those guys who does a lot of things really well. He's released a handful of brilliant solo albums like The Calling, Rebel Soul Music and his brand new one, Welcome Back Love, which we'll get to in a minute, he's collaborated with the Roots, the SF Jazz Collective and Lady Bug Mecca from Diggable Planets, appeared in films like Julie Taymor's Across The Universe, appeared in Yale Repertory Theater's Father Comes Home From The Wars (Parts, 1, 2 & 3) and played live with everyone from Jill Scott to the Red Hot Chili Peppers. A smoldering platter of Neo soul, funk, pop, Afrobeat, gospel, hip-hop and R&B, Welcome Back Love is one of the most transformative musical experiences of the year. From "Reimagine The World" to "Warmth Of Other Suns," Welcome Back Love is deeply satisfying and soulfully precise. And Martin is not only a gifted artist, he's a really cool guy.

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"Automated Paradise"

The Bristol-born Jon Klein got his start with the late-seventies post-punk outfit Europeans. After their break-up he formed the porto-goth band Specimen, who put out a handful of winning singles, but splintered before an album could be released. In 1987 Klein joined Siouxsie and the Banshees and went on to record three records with them: Peepshow, Superstition and The Rapture. Although Klein left the band in 1994, from there he moved from strength to strength, playing and recording with Shriekbak, Thomas Dolby, Talvin Singh and Space Tribe. He toured with Sinead O'Connor as her lead guitarist in 1995 and he played everywhere from Pinkpop to Glastonbury to Lollapalooza. Klein is one of those guys who has always stayed busy: he played in the band SNAIL, toured Southeast Asia as the musical director for Dr. Penguin's Magic Circus, went to art school and knocked out a degree in Fine Art and Critical Theory, has his own production company called Ground Control, co- produced an album for Fangoria, which hit Number One in Spain, composed soundtracks for film and theatre companies and played in the supergroup, Spammed with Horace Panter, Rat Scabies and Terry Edwards. He's also a filmmaker, an international fine artist and he is a member of the Tuned In Community Music Project with Jah Wobble. Klein and Jah Wobble have put out several fabulous albums, including A Brief History of Now and their latest effort, Automated Paradise. A jittery blast of searing post-punk and cultural dread, Automated Paradise finds Klein in fine form, slashing brilliantly away through each composition with fiery resolve.

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Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com