OSCAR LADELL

Shares Bittersweet Blues-Soul Single
Ahead of Debut Album


Single Out October 30 | Album Out November 20

Stream 'Tell Me True'
Watch 'Tell Me True' Music Video
Download Press Images / mp3 / wav








What could have been done differently? Was there a right way to love someone? Sometimes, a relationship just wasn't meant to be. US-born, Naarm/Melbourne-based singer-songwriter Oscar LaDell sits with these familiar questions on his new single 'Tell Me True', a bittersweet reflection on love, loss and the memories that linger long after a relationship ends. Rich in soul and vulnerability, the track arrives October 30, alongside its accompanying music video, ahead of his forthcoming album 'Untouchable'.

Following a busy year of international touring in 2025, which saw him play 20 shows across the UK, Europe and United States, LaDell has recently returned from another 13-date US tour, taking him through New York, Texas, California and beyond. Alongside regular performances across Australia and New Zealand, he has shared stages with the likes of Nick Moss Band, Eric Bibb, Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram, Robben Ford and Charlie Musselwhite, and is now gearing up for an appearance at Queenscliff Music Festival.

On ‘Tell Me True’, LaDell's velvety yet gritty vocals meet soft, melancholic piano and vintage acoustic guitar, creating a slow-burning blend of blues and soul. The stripped-back arrangement gives his voice room to breathe, with powerful strain landing in just the right moments to create visceral passion. The track's warmth sits alongside its underlying sadness, with LaDell's smoky, weathered vocals carrying the weight of heartbreak, reflection, and everything left unsaid.

‘Tell Me True’ introduces the themes of nostalgia and reflection that run throughout ‘Untouchable’, looking back on a relationship that has ended and the questions left unanswered. Moving between frustration, heartbreak and acceptance, LaDell captures the feeling of holding onto something beautiful while coming to terms with its loss.


It's this kind of honest, everyday storytelling that sits at the heart of his songwriting, drawing inspiration from his own experiences as a full-time musician, the people he's met on the road and the stories they've shared along the way. As Oscar LaDell explains:

“'Tell Me True' is a travelling song. On an album full of late nights and scenes in grimy studios, 'Tell Me True' is a moment of sunshine tinged with sadness. The warmth of the music is made bittersweet by the track's journey further and further from the happy memories with which it begins. I wanted to create a breakup song that still had a summery, gentle feeling and whose sadness and heartbreak was, by the end of the song’s journey, brought home by the beauty of what was lost.”

Accompanying the single is a picturesque music video filmed, directed and edited by Matilda Macandrew in St Bathans, Aotearoa/New Zealand. Set against sweeping mountain landscapes and tranquil waters, the visuals capture the natural beauty of the region, bringing a sense of openness and stillness to the song's bittersweet reflections.

‘Tell Me True’ arrives Friday, October 30, alongside its accompanying music video, offering the first glimpse into the nostalgia, heartbreak and honest storytelling of LaDell's forthcoming debut album ‘Untouchable’. The album follows on November 20, with LaDell celebrating its release at The Gem in Collingwood, Melbourne, on Sunday, November 22.

'Untouchable' Album Launch
Sunday, November 22 - The Gem, Collingwood (Melbourne) | Tickets

Follow Oscar LaDell
Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Tiktok | Youtube

MICHAEL WARD

Navigates the Turbulence of Love and Heartbreak on
'Little Yellow Aeroplane'


Out Friday, October 30

Praise for Michael Ward


“Michael’s stage presence is unmistakable: grounded, generous, and electrifying. He doesn’t just perform to an audience — he performs with them. Every grin, every stomp, every guitar lick feels like an invitation. You’re not an observer. You’re part of the moment.”
(BTN - Gig Review)

''It's like Poison had a baby with Lynyrd Skynyrd and Keith Urban was the godfather. Scorching country rock that hits harder than a pack of Fisherman's Friend!" (Scenestr)


"Michael’s infectious energy drove the set flying on top of some damn fine country rock”
(Gidgestock Music Festival)


"Production balances the organic character of Ward’s roots influences with a contemporary polish, giving the song enough familiarity for longtime country and roots listeners while opening the door to a wider audience." (LoudHer)

Stream 'Little Yellow Aeroplane' | Download Press Images / mp3 / wav

Western Australian singer-songwriter Michael Ward returns with ‘Little Yellow Aeroplane’ (Out Friday, Oct 30), a deeply personal, emotionally charged grunge-rock track that explores the psychological turmoil of a young man trying to end a toxic relationship.


Winner of the Homegrown Hundred National Countdown and an established touring artist, Ward has built a strong presence across Western Australia through songs grounded in real-life experiences. While his recent single ‘How Good Can This Get?’ reflected on slowing down and appreciating the present, ‘Little Yellow Aeroplane’ explores the conflict between loving someone and knowing that leaving may be the only way to reclaim your own life.


More than 20 years in the making, ‘Little Yellow Aeroplane’ was first written on Ward’s front porch overlooking Bunbury's southwest landscape, sitting alongside his younger brother. Drawing on the dynamic intensity of early 2000s alternative rock, the track channels heavier influences through raw vocals, driving bass and explosive guitar.


The track contrasts an idyllic sunset with the chaos unfolding in his mind, giving ‘Little Yellow Aeroplane’ a cinematic sense of emotional disconnection. At the heart of the track is a painful choice. Staying means continuing to lose himself, while leaving means hurting someone who does not yet understand why he has to go. Ward explains:


“He feels like he’s drowning, and either path he takes involves pain, either his own or that of his partner. He hates himself for being unable to find a way for both of them to be happy.”


Musically, ‘Little Yellow Aeroplane’ turns that conflict into sound, shifting between intense, full-bodied sections and quieter moments of vulnerability. A relentless bass line and wailing guitar drive the track toward its final eruption.


‘Little Yellow Aeroplane’ arrives on Friday, October 30. Catch Michael Ward on tour with Morgan Joanel following the release, with full dates below.


Tour Details
Fri, Nov 13 - 459 Bar, Perth
Sat, Nov 14 - King River Tavern, Albany
Sun, Nov 15 - Indian Ocean Hotel, Scarborough
Sun, Nov 29 - Launceston Country Music Festival, Launceston
Fri, Dec 18 - Nickel Bar, Kambalda
Sat, Dec 19 - 33 Degrees, Esperance
Sun, Dec 20 - Lucky Bay Brewery, Esperance

Follow Michael Ward
Spotify | Apple Music | SoundCloud | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok

Kingdom Poetry Volume 1 - Taking the World by Storm is now available including more than 50% content not available on the kingdom poetry blog

 Now available on Kindle and in printed versions

Kingdom Poetry Volume 1: taking the world by storm

This volume collects the best of the blog plus more than 50% of the content you won't find online: wisdom,  power,  lover,  two Peace poems,  the enemy,  transformers,  faithful,  waves,  eternity,  come close,  the enemy within, my soul.

Find out more here

taking a break from music making a ciabatta

Some days the studio needs to be the kitchen.

I've been staring at screens and waveforms, so today I switched to flour and water. Two loaves, both far too wet to begin with — the kind of dough you think you've ruined.
One was an experiment: 1 large salad tomato, a dollop of ketchup, and half a jar of sun-dried tomatoes in oil, with water. The other was milk with cheddar.
The trick with ciabatta isn't kneading; it's leaving it alone. Mix, rest 30 mins, stretch and fold, repeat. Four times. That wet batter turns glossy and strong, almost alive.
Photos below are the real process — from slop to loaf. No mixer, just hands and time.
If you're taking a break from making too, try this one. The house smells better than any plugin.

Initial mix: "Very wet — more like cake batter than bread at this point"

After 30 minutes, ready for the first fold

After 30 mins: "Starting to relax, bubbles forming"

After the first fold, the dough shows as strong

After first fold: "See how smooth and glossy it got after the fold? Added sun-dried here"

Resting on the rack

Resting on rack: "Shaped as a whole loaf — 220C for 28- 32 min"

Bread 2: cheese and milk ciabatta 

initial stage 

30 minutes in, fold in cheese

Tomato ciabatta showing open crumb

Cut into sandwich squares

Milk and cheese ciabatta sliced

The taste test 

Decided to taste dry 

I must say they were very good 

Studio Diary: Em soprano — 4 Sources, 1 Take Native Music

 

I've been wanting to document how I actually recorded this one, because what you hear is not just one microphone — it's four.

For Em soprano I wanted to capture not just the note, but the air around it. The wooden Native American flute in Em soprano has this breathy, vocal quality, and one mic never quite gets it.

The Instruments

The flute itself is a soprano in Em — light wood, red and turquoise bands, leather ties. In the cover photo you can see it lying on the piano keys next to my small hand drum. That's how it lives in the studio — always within reach of the keyboard when I'm sketching pads.

The Setup — How I Recorded It This Time

This time I did it differently. Instead of one mic straight into Logic, I set up four simultaneous sources for the same performance:

1. Dynamic Mic — Close
The black mic on the boom you see in the studio photos. Tight, punchy, catches the breath and finger movement.

2. Condenser Mic — Room
More air, more of the room tone. This is what gives it that sense of space without adding reverb.

3. Video 1 Audio — Close Angle

I filmed the performance close up, playing directly into the mic. The camera audio became source #3.

4. Video 2 Audio — Wide Angle
Second take — same performance, different angle — the wide shot with the monitor and keyboard in frame. That camera's audio was source #4.\

Plus the direct recording in the DAW itself — Logic Pro session "em sop movie.2" which you can see on the monitor.

The Logic session on the monitor is the actual composite. You can see the tracks — em sop movie.2 on top, with Digital Box Hall #02.1, Dance Vocal Reverb #02.1, Shifting Panels and Deluxe Classic underneath.

In Logic — The Amalgamation
All four sources went into Logic and were phase-aligned and gain-staged. No trick — I lined up the waveforms, checked for any phase cancellation between the dynamic and condenser, and blended until it felt like one instrument in one space.
Session view:

4 sources → Logic Pro → Final Amalgamated Mix. Consistent audio across cuts.

The blue tracks are the flute takes and reverbs — Digital Box Hall #02.1 and Dance Vocal Reverb #02.1 — subtle, just enough to sit the flute in a space. The green tracks — Shifting Panels and Deluxe Classic — are the soft pad bed that drifts behind it.
The final bounce is what you hear in the video from start to finish. Even when the picture cuts between close-up and wide, the audio never cuts. It's one continuous composite.

The Final Video Edit
I edited the video to the final mix, not the other way around. So the movie cuts:
Close mic angle → Wide studio angle → DAW screen
...but your ears stay in the same place. That consistency is the whole point.

Listen / Watch
The track is called Em soprano. It's up as the third track from my 5-track album, with the cover made from the studio — flute, drum, keyboard and the tracking shot combined.

Musical Artizan · Em Soprano

If you're recording flute at home and only have one mic, try adding your camera audio as a second source. Even a phone in the room adds dimension when blended quietly underneath.
More studio diaries coming — next up, how I set the two reverbs to avoid washing out the high E.
— David

Tags: #Native American Flute, #Em Soprano, #Logic Pro, #Field Recording, #4 Sources 1 Take, #Studio Diary, #Ambient Folk

Dance Century out on distrokid support original music

 

Composed in Sibelius for piano and electric guitar, mixed in Logic Pro using electronic sounds

Instrumental dance track 

Original music composed by a human, mixed by a human 

Here's a little info if you're interested in mixing 

Preorder on spotify here

rebranded playlist on Youtube a mix of classical orchestra and native flute videos no AI support original artists and composers

 

The first in the list, called The Good Man, is a piece for a small orchestra  

Another feature in the playlist is a piece for solo piano, which explores harmony and discord, written initially as a response to a university composition question while I was at Huddersfield University

The last example from this extensive playlist is a piece called Spirit of the Wind, a relaxing melodic piece played on an Am Native American flute 

Listen to the entire playlist here 

Made a ceramic plate at a workshop now its youtube visualiser for classical music

I created this plate using acrylic paint at a workshop I go to 

I used an app on my phone and iMovie to create the YouTube video below

Also find vinyls and CDs: click here 

 

Listen to the classical brass trio and buy merch here: click here

New store open on distrokid

Click on the item to purchase 

poster

ceramic mug 

Unisex T-shirt.

Unisex Hoodie

Other items available: click here

or scan the QR code

Vinyls and CDs

Welcome to Musical Artizan

I'm David — composer, writer, and pursuer of excellence behind Kingdom Poetry and Musical Artizan.

This shop is different. Nothing here is mass-produced.

Every CD and Vinyl is made to order through ElasticStage. That means your copy is created only when you order it — a first-generation master on eco-friendly material, not a factory repress. No bargain bins, no unsold stock.

Each cover features exclusive, original handmade artwork — no two releases are quite the same.

You'll find two worlds here:

Classical Piano 2025 Album — reflective, cinematic piano pieces

Native Flute White Wolf -- calming, meditative, relaxing 

I wrote, recorded, and created the artwork for all tracks in West Yorkshire, UK.

Thank you for supporting independent music in physical form. It still matters.

Order direct: elasticstage.com/musicalartizan

Click on the picture to visit the store

behind the scenes at the studio/kitchen

The ingredients  

turkey mince 

mushrooms 

leek

red pepper

yellow pepper

courgette 

aubergene 

The spices and herbs 

light soy sauce 

lemon juice

thyme

oregano

parsley 

garlic granules 

salt

All in the pan

Add chicken gravy granules to thicken.

Make pastry 

2:1 flour and butter 

Pinch of salt

Homemade butter 

Whizz up double cream till it separates. 

Strain with cheesecloth

Rinse with water till the water runs clear

Don't forget to clean down

Roll out pastry 

line bottom 

Fill with mix

Roll out cover 

Place over top 

Egg wash to bind and glaze

Bake at 200 celsius for 20 minutes 

or until golden brown 

Leave to cool

Serve 

 JAMES KEITH

Turns Up The Country-Rock On New Album
'I Call It Magic When I'm With You'


Album Out Friday, October 9

Stream 'I Call It Magic When I'm With You' | Download Press Images/ .mp3 / .wav








Big country-rock riffs, bright hooks and an irrepressible feel-good streak run through James Keith's new album ‘I Call It Magic When I'm With You’, out Friday, October 9. Bringing the scale of rock and the immediacy of country-pop together, Keith delivers fourteen tracks of soaring choruses, twangy guitars and husky vocals, capturing the rush, uncertainty and sheer joy of finding a love worth holding onto.


Following the release of his ARIA Country Albums Chart-topping debut single ‘Life Is Good Today’ in 2024, Australian country singer Keith continues to build momentum with ‘I Call It Magic When I’m With You’. This year Keith has continued the good run with a number of singles leading up to this album release, seeing him secure plays on ABC Country, land on the AMRAP Charts (Metro and Country), and see support from the likes of AU Review, Scenestr, AAA Backstage, CMAA, and more.


'I Call It Magic When I’m With You’, details the feelings that come with navigating a relationship and celebrating love for what it is. Keith explores the happiness love brings, the distance it creates and the doubts you can experience, while capturing the real energy of a love that lasts. As the album unfolds, Keith appreciates all the pieces of a love story and celebrates the life you can build with someone, all while embracing the happy spirit of everyday life.


Driven by bright, twangy guitars and big rock riffs, Keith delivers a high-energy and heartfelt country sound. His warm, rootsy and distinctive vocals carry the emotional weight, intertwining with the album’s country-rock drive.


The album opens with ‘Life Is (Still) Good Today’, leading the way with its bouncy country guitars and optimistic, feel-good energy. The power builds through tracks such as ‘Alive’, pushing Keith’s sound bigger and more anthemic through layered instrumentation and synth effects before exploding into high-energy choruses. Focus track ‘Don’t Wanna Stop’ keeps that energy high, celebrating the little things a partner does that make life better and the feeling of finding something too good to let go.


Turning that celebration inward, ‘Man I Wanna Be’ brings a stronger rock influence through electric guitar textures and driving rhythms as he reflects on the person he wants to become. Bringing the album closer to Keith’s own relationship, ‘Sixteen Thousand’ features a duet with his girlfriend, blending their two musical worlds through acoustic country textures and Afrobeat-inspired rhythms to form one of the record’s most intimate and personal moments.


Keith has shaped the album as one seamless story, with romance and emotional moments unfolding across its fourteen tracks. Together, the songs gradually reveal the different stages and layers of a relationship, from its earliest sparks through distance, doubt and lasting love. As Keith shares:


“It’s about love, distance, doubt, people telling you something won’t work, optimism, positivity, good times and finding someone who changes your life. There are songs about meeting her, songs about missing her, songs about fighting for it and songs that simply celebrate how bloody good it feels when you find someone you genuinely love."


Big-hearted, hook-heavy and unashamedly optimistic, ‘I Call It Magic When I'm With You’ sees James Keith turn the story of a relationship into fourteen tracks of contemporary country-rock, arriving Friday, October 9.






Follow James Keith
https://www.jameskeith.au/
Spotify | Apple Music | Amazon Music | YouTube
Facebook | Instagram | TikTok