NYC Scene Report – Sammy Rae & The Friends, Elliot Lee, & Coyle Girelli

This week’s NYC Scene Report features Sammy Rae & The Friends developing a following, Elliot Lee going international by teaming up with GIRLI, and Coyle Girelli preparing to open Funland.

* Brooklyn-based collective Sammy Rae & The Friends just finished up a run of West Coast shows – the first on that side of the country for the group – and they’ll be back on the road for a string of North American dates from late February through the end of March.

The band recently released a big, boisterous, brassy new single titled “Follow Me Like the Moon” (out now via Nettwerk), and if their live shows are anything like this song I’m gonna have to be in the crowd the next time they’re performing at a venue near me, because this sounds like a damned good time.

Describing the song in a statement, Sammy Rae said, “‘Follow Me Like The Moon’ is a dancey, laugh-at-itself song about the thoughts that linger on us all through life. Romantic feelings, fear, addiction … it examines how we are shaped and changed by the things we can’t seem to ‘shake off’ or ‘sleep off.’ It features celestial keyboards and raw hand percussion, a dexterous tenor saxophone solo doubled by synthesizer, and a lush grand piano outro.”

Like I said, a damned good time!

* When I heard NYC indie alt-pop artist Elliot Lee had teamed up with British alt-pop artist GIRLI my first reaction was – THIS IS SO COOL!

I’ve been writing about Elliot Lee in this column for a while now, and back in 2019 I featured GIRLI’s Odd One Out as one of my must-hear albums of the year.

Their teaming took me by surprise, but what came as no surprise is that the resulting single turned out completely awesome. A new version of Elliot Lee’s 2020 song “Pink (Freak),” the intense, in your face original was already dope on its own. The addition of a verse from GIRLI acts as an extra power-packed punch.

This one isn’t just a banger, it’s an anthem.

* NYC-based, English songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Coyle Girelli will be releasing his sophomore solo album, titled Funland, on February 25th via Honey Lemon Records. Before Funland’s doors open, however, “Here Comes My Baby” is here to give us a taste of what’s to come.

The latest single off the album, Girelli described “Here Comes My Baby” in a statement, saying it’s “a turquoise-sea-green-colored-washed-out-shoegazer feeling ode to a lover, celebrating being able to get lost in her, and how she anchors you, even in the midst of the craziness all around, to make it alright.”

Give the video for “Here Comes My Baby” a play. If you’re anything like me, it will have you eagerly awaiting the opening of Funland.

For more of the best of NYC’s indie music scene, come back next Wednesday, and check out the archives for previous columns.