We Speak Music

Cliffs + Caves Release Thought-Provoking Single “Mint Gum” Which Grounds Listeners in Reality

Published

3 years ago

April 3, 2023

The Alt-Americana Track Delivers a Powerful Message to Find Solace in Tangible Relationships in a World of Misinformation and Doubt

Cliffs + Caves transports listeners to a spacious soundscape in their newest single “Mint Gum,” featuring David Ramirez. With an alt-Americana sound that is uniquely their own yet reminiscent of Lake Street Dive and Phoebe Bridgers, the duo’s new single is an emotional track with a powerful message. Amidst a vast expanse of misinformation and conspiracy theories, listeners can ground themselves in a tangible reality with “Mint Gum.”

At the core of the song is a profound message that expresses deep concern about the oversaturation of misinformation in our time. In “Mint Gum,” Cliffs + Caves explores the impact of conspiracy theories in today’s society and offers a heartfelt solution. It can be challenging to distinguish fabrication from fact. As doubt persists, it becomes even more difficult to discern what to build our personal beliefs around. However, the riveting track encourages listeners to find solace in the tangible relationships they have with their loved ones. The song serves as a powerful reminder that the love, care, heartbreak, sympathy, sadness, and joy we have for each other is what bond us together and creates concrete connections.

“Mint Gum” showcases the seamless vocal interplay of Cliffs + Caves and David Ramirez, whose distinct styles blend effortlessly to deliver the song’s thought-provoking lyrics. A mesmerizing fusion of retro keyboards, punchy drums, atmospheric leads, and expressive guitars gives the song a cinematic quality that is both captivating and evocative. The production quality of “Mint Gum” is an indication of the band’s commitment to creating an engaging listening experience, with every instrument and melody manufactured to enhance the overall sound of the track.

ABOUT

Cliffs + Caves, the mother-daughter duo of Lindsey and Claire Justice, unabashedly share their deeply personal and relatable stories through songs that resonate with listeners of all generations. Best known in their home state of Texas for their unique blend of Contemporary Americana music, the pair showcases the musical ingenuity that is created when artistry runs in the family with intimate lyrics lilting intrinsically over smooth musical progressions. Their previous discography includes their 2017 debut EP, Hold On (recorded with Grammy-nominated producer Jamie Candiloro (Ryan Adams, R.E.M., The Eagles) and featuring performances by legendary Willie Nelson’s harmonica player, Mickey Raphael) and sophomore EP Capsize (produced by Chris Jacobie (Penny and Sparrow, Jarrod Dickenson, Duncan Fellows). The original songs are a team effort with the duo individually contributing to the mastery of their lyrics and melodies. Moreover, twenty-year-old Claire being a multi-instrumentalist, not only composes the music for the tracks but also bestows a knack for songwriting. Their newer music further explores the duo’s ability to portray life through lyrics as they evolve into a more alternative Maggie-Rogers-esque sound while still maintaining their Americana roots and drawing inspiration from benchmark artists like Phoebe Bridgers, Lake Street Dive, and Patty Griffin. With a love for writing songs and performing them live, Cliffs + Caves is thrilled to be releasing new music which they will be playing at a variety of upcoming shows in 2023!

We Speak Music

Michele Ducci teases new album with uplifting indie single ‘Woman Like You’

Published

24 hours ago

April 17, 2026

Don Reed

Michele Ducci has unveiled the second single, ‘Woman Like You’, from his forthcoming album and animated film ‘Snail in the Clouds’.

‘Woman Like You’ pairs bright distorted electric guitar with an electronic drumbeat, adding in Ducci’s soulful vocals and a catchy uplifting chorus with Letizia Mandoleisi’s sweet vocal harmonies. A vintage organ pedalboard operated by Ducci simultaneously generates chords, bass and rhythm, like a one-man band. Shane Kennedy (Girl in the Year Above) joins in on guitar. Simon Milner (Is Tropical, Ysing) recorded and produced the track at his 4am Studios in London.

The album and film tell the story of a planet called ‘Snail’, inhabited by hybrids – primarily a mixture between scorpions, snails and humans – who lead a life according to the style of Pythagoras, devoted to music. There is also a cloud man named Agostos, a writer of musical operettas, who together with a talking smoke machine called Doctor Subtilis, begins to kill all hybrids, targeting in particular the hybrid musician Diodoros and his band, in an effort to steal the ark of melodies, an ancient ship that allows the whole planet to survive with music and joy.

The video for the single, created and animated by Ducci and Mandoleisi, delves further into the realm of planet ‘Snail’:

Says Ducci, “The ark of melodies, after various attempts, finally starts to work and fly in the planet Snail, while the shady Doc. Sub. and Agostos, with their platoon of soldiers made of foggy smoke, spy the miracle, planning to steal the ark for their evil and tyrannical purposes.”

About the track, Michele says, “I wrote this song for my love Letizia. Love seen from the mind is the sound we make. Sound is the love of matter.

We used a Technics synthesizer organ from a flea market. I tried to find a mood that was right for the song and I started using the bass of the pedal board together with the synth and the drums, and it was magical to hear the song reveal itself all coming from a single instrument. Leti was singing with me and we recorded everything live in one shot. Then we made Shane do the guitar flight, as if he came out of the window. The idea was to maintain disproportions, guitar thrust and synth drum thinness a la Haroumi Hosono, so as to create an estrangement, but naturally: it’s about how I listen, with close up something that captures me in its nuance as element of a larger orchestra somewhere. I’m glad we decided in the studio with Simon to use the layers of arrangement as the close-ups in the cinema; they look like strange enlargements that perch on parts of a mutated orchestra. I’m happy to come back with this love song at a time when everything seems to opt, even my labor in managing the flows of selfishness that have poured out on me while doing this album, for the sound of war. I’m here happy to be able to say that the sound of love always wins as did for me. Snail in the clouds is one of the most important works in my life and I am glad to start from pure love for this album that is my son.”

The album and full-length film will be released on the 5^th of June on Monotreme Records.

Michele and Letizia’s previous musical short film, ‘The Great Book of Nature’, is an official selection for the 2026 Venice Shorts Film Festival.