Soulmates Never die

RELEASED? 13th February.
SOUNDS LIKE? You could imagine a Marc Almond demo sounding a little like this, but that's more of an impression than a sound because 'Soulmates...' is a kind of skiffle instrumented, but exxtremely powerful track. Lyrically, it's raw, sharp and paints wide, emotive landscapes with modest n plain words. Musically, it's equally impressive, building tension and binding power with some skilfull multi tracking and tricky timing. Soulmates Never Die are a real treat and a real find, so find and download this track, for free, from here.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Very good indeed, uplifting, heartwarming and very strong. Further proof that quality song writing beats hype.
WHERE IS IT? www.facebook.com/soulmtsnvrdie - Unpeeled

I think pancake day is actually worse for being alone than Valentines was. There’s no one to watch you perfectly flip the batter, or make you eat the extra four because you made too much. Soulmates Never Die should have waited a week to release his new track.

A singer/songwriter from Leeds, he put this out on Feb 13th, but I’ve only got around to posting it now. It’s pretty bleak, painfully honest, big-hearted boy with guitar stuff, but totally perfect for a lonely mood. - Wait for the click (Jen Long)

I have discovered a new genre. Fuzz Folk. It’s going to huge. So far I have only found 1 act that fits in this new genre. Ladies and Gentlemen I present the 1st ever Fuzz Folk act: Soulmates Never Die.

This is history.

Soulmates Never Die is one man from Leeds. According to his Facebook page his name is actually really is Soulmates Never Die and after becoming unhappy with hours and hours of playing Fifa 10 and The Legend of Zelda all day, he instead decided to write some songs about things. Things like Colonel Sanders, Meteorology and Gravy.

Anyone who writes songs about gravy wins. His ‘Honeymoon On Ice’ EP is released on 2nd April, check out the tracks below: - My Band's Better Than Your Band

Sick of the recession? Got the hump with Brighton Council for sticking it to you with a Council Tax rise this year? Had enough of the Arctic temperatures? Yearn for the days of singer-songwriting wordsmiths with a sense of humour and a cheeky way with a guitar tune? If you answered yes to any of those (but primarily the last one), then just maybe Soulmates Never Die, Leeds’ latest flame-haired good-natured troubadour-of-sorts and part-time Nietzsche follower can alleviate your winter woes when he performs at Dead Cars vs TheEvilSon at the Green Door Store later this month.

“You wouldn’t hurt a man with glasses would you?” asks our hero on his bonfire night homage(?) “Pretty Missiles (Don’t Punch Me)”. No we wouldn’t, you handsome rogue because we haven’t enjoyed a young songwriter’s witty/serious schtick this much since a young Eugene McGuinness was tearing it up back in 2007. Oh the memories. And if that’s not enough for you, then you’ll certainly smile wistfully at “Colonel’s Secret Recipe”, as Mr Joshua Lewis invokes a series of songwriting gods, including Kate Bush, and more notably Dane Bowers, whose melodic gifts were somewhat overshadowed when he turned up recently on Come Dine With Me (beef tenderloin with a redcurrant jus, since you ask).

But enough Bowers and more Josh, wethinks. These are cracking little songs, which can be found in various places, including here and his last EP “Dance Contest Winner” is here and lo! a new EP is on the way in April, by the name of “Honeymoon on Ice”. We’ll leave the last word to Josh though. As he sings on the pathos-driven “Wound On My Finger”, “there’s a wound on my finger where I’m strumming I’m strumming I’m strumming”. It’s good to see a young man tackle the big issues and you should feel the same way, so get along and give the lad a hug. (Ask first though, dangerous ground otherwise).

What’s more, Mr Lewis is just the prelude to a night full of musical high-grade action and so much of it that our ink will run out long before we can cover it all. Be there at 7pm and be sure to stick your name up on the Fbook event wall to get in for a Brighton Council baiting £3. Done. - Lazy Brighton

Soulmates Never Die is a some fresh talent from West Yorkshire. Generally I despise the use of ukelele in indie music. It comes across as pretentious and, frankly, lazy. Better Skin, Better Clothes, however, has a charming self-consciousness which is aided by lo-fi production and layers of vocals, guitars and ukelele. ‘My weapon is courage, my armour is honesty’. Great line. - Never Enough Notes

I've never really understood the idea of the anti-folk genre. From my extensive research on the subject (read: searched for it on Wikipedia), I have gathered that it is a post-modernist movement that seeks to challenge the accepted norms of the folk genre.

And it is under this banner that Leeds based performer Joshua Lewis, aka Soulmates Never Die finds himself under. His laptop recorded E.P, "Dance Contest Winner", is a raw, brutal, and incredibly frank set of songs that melds delicately strummed acoustic guitar with lyrics that feel as if they were ripped straight from Mr Lewis's diary.

When a singer croons that "I sometimes wish I was dead, but I think that I don't really mean it", like Joshua does over a familiar 4-chord melody on "Wound On My Fingers", you start to realise that this is a performer that wears his heart on both his sleeves. Other songs on the E.P deal with feelings of inadequacy ("S*** Hot Haircut"), and wanting to meet up with someone who you're not completely sure of ("Old Canal").

"Dance Contest Winner E.P" by Soulmates Never Die is available to download now. - The Metaphorical Boat

With the current popularity of the nu-folk scene and what seems like every man and his dog jumping on the band wagon equipped with a banjo and a ‘unique’ story to tell; it comes as a welcome change for someone to step up and challenge the singer-songwriter stereotype. Leeds’ very own answer to anti-folk is solo artist Soulmates Never Die, aka Josh Lewis. He may only have an acoustic guitar and a couple of mics in his bedroom but he’s got a voice and some stories to share that are worth stopping and listening to. If he’s not already friends with Leeds’ Louise Distras (our female answer to anti-folk) they definitely need to meet up for an alternative acoustic jam. If you can imagine a lyrical, melodic, acoustic punk you’re about half way there. You’ll like him if you liked Frank Turner before you realised he went to Eton with Prince William and suddenly his hard done by act was a little unbelievable. Josh is the real deal.

Soulmates Never Die’s current EP Dance Contest Winner has a certain charm and honesty about it. The songs are personal and help you get to know the artist but at the same time provide something you can relate to yourself. The songs are all quite similar and upbeat, perhaps with the exception of ‘My Head My Heart’ which is a bit more relaxed and perhaps my favourite. But the idea of your first EPs are to get across what you’re all about and that’s exactly what this Dance Contest Winner does. You go away feeling like you’ve learnt a little about the singer-songwriter. The songs are short and sweet but make you want more. It’ll be interesting to see how Soulmates’ sound will develop to reveal another side to the artist when this undoubtedly progresses into a debut album.

He’s like a genuine, raw, Northern Ed Sheeran before you could buy his CD in Asda and Ron Weasley wanted to be him. And before he went really pop. On second thought, maybe he’s not that like Ed Sheeran but it’s probably for the best. Either way it’s about time anti-folk made a real impact on the music scene and Soulmates Never Die could be the one to get it out there. He’s already had his first London gig and is also booked into Club Fandango and Never Enough Notes (20th Dec and 9th Feb respectively). So I’d go and see him locally before he hits the big time! - Leeds Uncut

Leeds’ Joshua Lewis, aka Soulmates Never Die, skilfully avoids the pitfalls of many a DIY, anti-folk musician. His music is knowing without being twee, passionate, not angsty. Wound on My Finger is taken from his debut EP on Cowsnail Records, Dance Contest Winner. He plays the Bull and Gate, Kentish Town tomorrow (Dec 20th). - Snipe London

Dance Contest Winner is the debut EP from Soulmates Never Die which is the solo project of Leeds based singer songwriter Josh Lewis. The five tracks are rife with a brand of anti-folk which seems to be a response to the recent influx of folk music into the mainstream. As a completely DIY project, Josh records and produces everything himself, bringing folk music to where it came from. All five of the songs are short and sweet, whilst containing both honest and humorous lyrics. Although there is open bitterness towards the change in folk music the songs still speak for themselves and come across really well. It could be interesting if Soulmates Never Die start receiving some attention whether the whole anti-establishment attitude can last, but hopefully he can do it on his own terms as this is a highly enjoyable EP in which the home made feel adds to it rather than taking any quality away. - Rhubarb Bomb

“Omnipotent anger, lo-fi fuzziness and an endearingly honest rawness; bridging the gap between Bright Eyes and Frank Turner.” A Negative Narrative

“Skilfully avoids the pitfalls of many a DIY, anti-folk musician. His music is knowing without being twee, passionate, not angsty.” Snipe London

“A raw, brutal, and incredibly frank set of songs that meld delicately strummed acoustic guitar with lyrics that feel as if they were ripped straight from Mr Lewis’s diary.” Metaphorical Boat

Soulmates Never Die is an alternative acoustic singer songwriter based in Leeds. According to A Negative Narrative his music sounds somewhere between Bright Eyes and Frank Turner, which is a good void to claim. His rough voice is somewhere near a whisper, and his clever lyrics really are reminiscent of Frank Turner’s heart-warming and softly humorous tracks.

The first single from his upcoming EP Honeymoon On Ice (due on 4th February so be ready!) is ‘Pretty Missiled(Don’t Punch Me)’ has been released as a free download which you can access below. - Leeds Student

Melodic poetry delivered at pace with a jaunty guitar and had a go attitude, Soulmates Never Die is an alternative acoustic singer songwriter of sorts. Think Frank Turner crossed with The Streets in their story telling sensibilities and raw execution. There’s an endearing honesty which makes it feel as though all of the wounds and grazes are being exposed, but through a tongue in cheek slightly impish grin. Reflective and resonant this is urban folk,tales of real life open wounds told with British understated humour. Sign up to the mailing list to get Pretty Missiles (Don’t Punch Me), the first track from his next EP Honeymoon On Ice (released on 2nd April) as a free download from Monday 16th. From Leeds (Leedsleeedsleeds!) his next London show is Saturday 18th at 93 Feet East on Brick Lane. - It's All Happening

Soulmates Never Die is the adopted musical moniker of Joshua Lewis who is a singer-songwriter of sorts, but one who ticks very few of the mundane boxes expected of an artist of such description. Hailing from Leeds (via Aberdeen and Congleton), he writes brutally honest and heart-warmingly humorous songs which he records, produces and – for the time being at least – performs entirely by himself. His DIY approach to recording brings a certain lo-fi charm to his tracks and, though partly due to the ease and practicality of bedroom studio work, this is by no means an apologetic term to gloss over poor quality recordings, as can sometimes be the case. He has certainly developed his art.

On Cowsnail Records’ first release from Soulmates Never Die – a five-track EP named Dance Contest Winner - the music is stitched together with roguish harmonies weaving between percussive snippets and intimate clips of conversation. A soft fuzz is omnipresent but never overbearing; instead adding an organic warmth to proceedings. At times Josh’s honesty catalyses a skinful of aggression, standing in stark contrast to the feebleness of t’other sappy, solo acousticians of today. Summed up himself in the lyric “my weapon is courage, my armour is honesty” Josh’s refreshingly raw and deviant anti-folk has been surprising audiences and winning admirers across the North in recent months. Soon Soulmates Never Die will be exploring the rest of the country leaving a personalised mixtape hidden in each venue he visits.

If you are lucky enough to live in Leeds and you have read this in time you can catch him tonight (and search for said tape) at Oporto where he will be supporting Thomas Truax (on his last tour before deportation). If you are unlucky enough to live in London then you can instead see him at the Lock Tavern on 3 November thanks to our good friends at Young & Lost Club. Regardless of your latitude, you can download Old Canal here for free and you can see the video for Wound On My Finger below. - A Negative Narrative