Into the promised land of rock with Warner Music

MANILA, Philippines - Warner Music Philippines recently issued a spate of interesting releases from the label’s most compelling bands in its roster.

All Used Up

The guys from Orem, Utah’s The Used, who have been tantalizing fans by previewing new songs during the Bamboozle and Bamboozle Left Festivals and during recent headlining dates, have released their fourth studio album titled “Artwork.”

Produced by Matt Squire, “Artwork” is a raw collection of 11 songs that not so delicately teeter the line between being aggressively discordant and charmingly hooky. The first single, Blood On My Hands sold over 5,000 copies in the first day and shot to No. 9 on the iTunes Alternative Chart. Guitarist Quinn Allman describes the track as the song that “sums up everything about The Used.” 

Blood On My Hands is confined chaos, brutally thrashing one moment and proffering a pop-driven, sing-along chorus the next. Empty With You — a track frontman Bert McCracken says is “about feeling empty and lonely but as long as you have someone who can feel lonely with you then everything’s okay” — surges with passion and gripping honesty, while Kissing You Goodbye balances the album’s predilection for propulsive rage with its quieter, piano-driven exploration of what it means to have someone to lean on.

In Love With Paramore

“This record is about coming together,” McCracken adds. “Whether it’s through positivity or negativity, it’s about coming together through anything.”

“Artwork” encapsulates the past eight years of this hard-touring band, which has made the rounds of Warped Tour, Ozzfest, Projekt Revolution, Give It a Name, Reading, Leeds, and Taste of Chaos. The Used have sold more than two million albums in the US. Their previous release, 2007’s “Lies For the Liars”, debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard Top 200.

The Used brand new album “Artwork” is now available at leading record bars and music stores under Warner Music Philippines.

“Brand New Eyes” the third album from Paramore, which is produced by Grammy Award-winner Rob Cavallo (Green Day, Kid Rock, My Chemical Romance) and co-produced by the band, the album is the follow-up to 2007’s RIAA platinum certified breakthrough, “RIOT!” The first single is Ignorance.  

“Brand New Eyes” is unquestionably Paramore’s best and brightest album to date, fit to burst with all the exuberant melodies, breathless hooks, and irrepressible energy that has made the Nashville-based band one of the most popular rock outfits in recent memory.

The band’s rise has been the result of consistent hard work since Hayley first met Josh Farro (guitar, age 21) and his younger brother Zac (drums, age 19) while they were together in school four years ago. After adding Jeremy Davis (bass, age 24), Paramore was formed in 2004. They played their first show in Nashville, and were soon building a local fanbase. After just a few months of gigging, the band had their first big break in early 2005, when Fueled By Ramen founder John Janick saw them at a gig in Florida. He was instantly struck by their presence and their dedication, and he immediately signed the band to the label.

 “Brand New Eyes,” under Warner Music Philippines, is available in leading record stores nationwide. 

Carolina In His Mind

In his day-to-day dealings with members of LA’s music community, there are two things singer Chad Wolf has heard repeatedly. One involves praise for his songwriting skills, which seem to effortlessly cross between infectious pop music and a deeper, darker rock discourse. The other: disbelief. How did your classic struggling musician, who toiled away at coffeehouse gigs for most of his adult life, end up in one of Europe’s biggest hit-making studios writing a full album of songs with a major label deal at his side? The story may seem far-fetched, some might even say too good to be true, but somewhere between accolades and accusations is honesty, which, ironically, is what Carolina Liar is all about.

The 12 songs on “Coming to Terms” were all co-written by Chad, who also collaborated with proven songwriters, like The Cardigans’ Peter Svennson. “‘Coming to Terms’ came from thinking about losing my job, having a relationship go sour, and the anticipation of knowing that your life is going to change,” he says. “But it also came from the realization that the past isn’t going to change. You have no power over it, so you have to learn to just deal with it.”

A song written during this time, Show Me What I’m Looking For, spells out that same sense of longing with one simple plea — “Save me, I’m lost” — yet carries you away on a ride of swelling strings and chimes. It’s that combination of desperation and hope that’s at the core of Carolina Liar’s music.

It was Chad’s own relentless zeal and yet another chance meeting that brought him to Atlantic Records. “I honestly never thought I would get this opportunity,” he admits. “I believed in the music, and I was never going to stop playing, even if that meant just coffeehouses, but after years of trying, I thought it would always be very indie. I never saw it turning into this.”

But now that he has the platform and support, Chad is giving Carolina Liar his all. And if, by name alone, he’s mistaken for a Swede or a female, he really doesn’t mind, as long as the songs get a fair shot. “The biggest thing I learned from working with Max is to not let yourself get in the way of a song,” Chad muses. “Let it do its thing and live on its own. It can speak very loudly.”

 “Coming to Terms,” Carolina Liar’s debut album, is released by Warner Music Philippines.