Vern Matz, Cathedral Bells, Kevin Morby, Orchid Mantis

News updates: Vern Matz has a new album, Cathedral Bells is releasing a new single, Kevin Morby just released a music video, and Orchid Mantis has a full-length coming on Friday. New albums, singles, and a music video.
Share this:

Puddlegum is introducing a News format, beginning with this post. We will be gathering updates from a variety of artists, labels, music industry, and music technology, and providing links to learning more. We will post these as frequently as possible, in addition to the current articles/reviews we write. This harkens back to a format that Puddlegum developed in 1997.

Send us updates or music (Contact Us)! You can also add #Puddlegum on your social media posts to get our attention.


Vern Matz has released their first LP, titled Minnesota Dancing. This album is self-released, and its fourteen tracks are quite impressive. Several of them have been released as singles or appeared on EPs, but the majority are new. TOLEDO produced the album, a band Vern Matz has worked quite a bit with before. Expect a review soon.

Vern Matz: Minnesota Dancing (SoundCloud)

Cathedral Bells has a new single coming out Friday, November 20th. Invisible is the first single from their forthcoming album, Ether, coming out in January, 2021 via Spirit Goth. Stream their single early at The Alternative. Our review of the single is coming Friday.

Kevin Morby has released a new video for Don’t Underestimate Midwest American Sun, from his album Sundowner (Dead Oceans). The video is features Morby’s girlfriend Katie Crutchfield of Waxahatchee.

Kevin Morby – Don’t Underestimate Midwestern American Sun (YouTube)

Orchid Mantis has a full-length coming out on Friday, titled Far From This World. Four singles have been released thus far. Thomas Howard described the backdrop of this album:

“This is the first thing I’ve recorded that doesn’t feel retrospective or past-oriented. The oldest songs on this album fill out the first half, written in the summer and winter of 2019, when things still felt normal. The latter half, however, was born from the strenuous circumstances of this year as I adjusted to a startlingly different world, both personally and at large. This feels like a transitional time, and in the face of such uncertainty we often look for an escape.”

Orchid Mantis (BandCamp)

Far From This World can be pre-ordered on Bandcamp, on vinyl and cassette.

Note: The image from this post is borrowed with permission from a Vern Matz Instagram post.

Share this:
Kevin Flick
Kevin Flick

Kevin Flick founded Puddlegum in 1997 and has been engaging in music journalism off and on since. He's also a recording/mixing engineer and loves to help bands work through the creative process. He has coproduced and mixed for artists such as Saeyers, Midi Memory, and Cathedral Bells.

Rumors are that he's a Brighton Hove & Albion FC fan. He's also obsessed with coffee. Kevin resides in the college community of Bloomington, Indiana, where he studied at Indiana University.

Articles: 310

Leave a Reply!