Captivating alt duo Phantom Wave released the new music video for their single “Billows” today, and we’ve got the exclusive premiere for your eyes only. Drenched in vivid colors and drastic, psychedelic movement, this visual is a trippy testament to the impact of the audible art that is flooding our consciousness. There is something magical about the way the lyrics dance along the gorgeous, building instrumental composition that – coupled with the abstract visuals – makes this experience feel very personal, and yet somehow universal.
Fierce electronica artist Eivør has released “Only Love” from her new album Segl, which also happens to be accompanied by a stunning visual. Featuring vocals from Ásgeir, “Only Love” is a mystical and entrancing track about how powerful it is to be in the gravitational pull of love. The song’s illustrative lyrics paint a vivid picture of what it looks like to be so deep and in love. It is full of clarity in that the feeling of love is really the only thing that can make you feel both so fragile and so powerful at the same time. The electrifying sonics and strong melodies pull you right into the intensity of not only love, but the track itself. “Only Love” is the perfect combination of haunting production and intriguing lyrics made to enthrall every listener.
Eivør says of the process of creating the track:
I wrote the lyrics with David Hopkins and when this song was written I thought about “love” and all the things it makes us do. I will never get tired of writing about this subject. It’s the most complex and yet the most basic of all things. It has so many shapes and shades and on this life journey it takes us through the whole palette of emotions. It’s both strong and fragile at once. It breaks us and makes us whole.
A darling of charts and critics alike, Bette Smith is back with her wonderfully ferocious new album, The Good, The Bad And The Bette. Intrinsic to the wild rock and soul singer’s music is the connection that she made between the gospel she heard in church and the soul music she heard on the corner growing up in the rough Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. Throughout her childhood, Smith was steeped in gospel music. She remembers, “My father was a church choir director. I was singing since I was five years old. I take it to church. I just break out, start speaking in tongues.” She also heard gospel around the house every weekend. “My mother listened to nothing but gospel,” she recalls, citing Mahalia Jackson and Reverend James Cleveland. “Every Sunday morning, she would get up and put on these records while dressing and praising the Lord.” In The Good, The Bad And The Bette, Smith and producers Matt Patton and Bronson Tew explore the power of soul and match it with the edge of rock music, going for a Southern rock soul/Aretha Franklin/”I once was lost but now I’m found” vibe. Sure enough, this album feels very much like rock, but with a blues/gospel attitude, with tracks embodying various feelings of comfort, anger, passion, friendship and even vulnerability in the form of rock-centric bangers, powerful gospel anthems, and even a few tracks that have the taste of a ballad.
But before we can delve into the tracks, we must take a moment to praise Smith’s lustrous vocals. She is gospel, through and through, and you can hear it in the way she sings, but more than that you can feel the years of immersion in gospel and soul that she experienced growing up. Her voice is rough, raw, and absolutely delectable.
But it’s amazing to hear the ways she can apply those vocals to so many different emotions. There’s the groovy comfort in lines like “Don’t be afraid, all is well, I’m here” in “Signs and Wonders” that guides you through the classic blues-rock harmonies, which are revitalized by fresh guitar sounds and colours from the brass. But there’s also the touch of anger that emanates from “Fistful of Dollars” that then diffuses into the passion of the sparkling “Whistle Stop.” Smith sprinkles some sweetness in “Song for a Friend”, complemented by the satisfying backing harmonies in the chorus. But even in the vulnerable, stripped back state of “Don’t Skip Out On Me” she maintains the attitude that can be so central to both rock and soul music, which is quite admirable.
Even in the softer songs, The Good, The Bad And The Bette has this incredible energy to it. This is an album of dance songs, and its magnificence desperately calls out to be heard live (please, COVID…) . Smith herself values the redemptive experience that touring has given her. “It’s amazing, like a dream come true,” she says. “It’s very spiritual and I go into a trance when I’m singing. The fans are like family. I feel very loved. They are very present. I went through all of this so I could sing and now that I can sing I’m finding the love that I’ve been looking for all my life.” Some of the anthems like “Pine Belt Blues” and “Everybody Needs Love” also hold some of the greatest lines that one could belt out with Smith as you watch her on stage. The sultry gospel singing in “Everybody Needs Love”, along with its anthemic harmonies and lines like “Everybody needs love, just like they need the sun and moon and stars above” create a beautiful and totally universal sentiment that would be so powerful in a live setting.
To finish things off, Smith offers “Don’t Skip Out On Me.” The track slows things right down, beginning with just Smith and some acoustic guitar. As more instruments are threaded in, touches of effects create this resonance that makes the space she’s singing in feel so much bigger. Midway through the song, there’s an echoing trumpet solo, which takes individual segments, offsets them and then weaves them together to make beautiful patterns of sound that ring out in their own world before joining the rest of the music once again. It’s this gorgeous interlude that comes as a surprise yet fits in perfectly with the album as a whole that makes the final track on this album the standout. At first the choice to end off with a slow song was surprising, but after listening through, the majesty of this track proved to make perfect sense as an ending.
The Good, The Bad And The Bette is a vivid marriage of rock and soul music that displays Smith’s rich background in the genres and envelopes the listener in a variety of emotions by means of colourful bops and sentimental ballads that are united in their unrelenting attitude and firepower. One can’t help but yearn for the day that these tracks can be heard in their full glory, on stage.
Much like a heart broken in two halves, Norwegian singer Dagny is gearing up to release the second half of her debut album Strangers / Lovers by releasing the first single, “It’s Only A Heartbreak.” Since the A side of the album dropped earlier this May, its two lead singles have received an impressive response; “Come Over” spent 3 weeks at the top of the Norwegian radio-airplay charts, while “Somebody” made its way the top 5, amassing over 14 million streams along the way. The album as a whole tracks the journey of a relationship. The half that has already been released traces the dizzying, butterfly-inducing blooming of a new love, but now it’s time for things to fall apart. Side B of Strangers / Lovers is out on October 2nd via Little Daggers Records, and it examines the fall out of the relationship that blossomed on side A.
Like the whole album, “It’s Only A Heartbreak” is personal, so Dagny uses conversational lyrics to reflect on her post-breakup emotions and to give herself a sort of pep talk in the aftermath. The song was partially inspired by Humphery Bogart’s famous quote from the 1942 classic Casablanca: “Here’s looking at you, kid.” Dagny explains, “Like the movie, the song is about knowing that you will never get someone back, but you can secretly still look at, and admire, that certain someone. The song carries a nonchalant expression, but the undertone makes it pretty obvious that you’re not over that person yet.”
And indeed, from all sonic appearances, “It’s Only A Heartbreak” is an energetic, striking bop. Its infectious melody lines and vibrant array of jittering electronic sounds create a vivid soundscape that could be mistaken for a dance track– unless you listen to the lyrics. Dagny sings “Most days I wake up I’m okay / I’m doing my own thing, I don’t have a moment to think about you / Most days I’m up on a high wave, And I’m just like urgh, It’s only a heartbreak, I got to get through you,” and suddenly the brilliance and complexity of the sounds surrounding her seem to reflect the intense and complicated emotions that come with heartbreak. So whether you’re feeling heavy-hearted yourself and just want to feel seen, you just want to dance, or you’re a fan of intriguing musical settings and skilled production, “It’s Only A Heartbreak” is definitely for you.
Welcome to Nevada City. The small town is infused with musical talent across several genres, and it’s all showcased on The Nevada City Album, a compilation put out by Dowd Records in celebration of the Nevada City Film Festival. As we come across each artist featured on the album, we can trace a progression of genre from mood music to courageous hard rock.
Our first stop is Brett Shady, a folk singer who describes his music on twitter as easy listening. His track “Dear Life” is a swaying waltz that endears all who it flutters by with Shady’s uncomplicated voice and some whimsical sax playing. Things get a little psychedelic with Aaron Ross farther along the album, with his own personal brand of freak folk in his song “Painted Sky.” Its endless and dreamy guitar riff, bejeweled synth melodies and odd backing vocals certainly paint an interesting sky– one that Lucy and Sgt. Pepper could gaze upon together. These indie tracks are echoed by “Peaks and Passes”, a fleeting gem on the album gifted to us by The Moore Brothers. A blues guitar riff and harmonies reminiscent of doo-wop or even gospel music make for an eclectic sound that shows how extensive the influences are around Nevada City. But we have only scratched the surface of the cavernous pool of genres on this compilation.
“Coming Down” by Jessica Lynn and Broken Spoke and “Heart on Fire” by Farrow and the Peach Leaves both rock a country/americana sound, with classic country vocals and roots-oriented guitar. “Heart on Fire” has a hint of happy-go-lucky energy to it, while “Coming Down” layers in some twangy guitar for a more western sound. Soon enough, however, the clouds roll in and that western sound darkens for Tiera May’s “Ballad of the Damned.” Her moody psych rock comes from rumbling guitars, atmospheric cymbal rolls and May’s apparition-like vocals that writhe through the air like the wails of a ghost. Less spectral but just as moody, the alt-rock track “400 Degrees” by Casual Fog uses slow, gloomy guitars and a rising bassline to create a perpetual, inevitable demeanour that carries you along with it.
Speaking of rock music, this compilation is an ecosystem of the genre, with diverse species that work together to cultivate an interesting and fruitful environment. First we travel back in time to the 80’s with “Hungry for the Dark,” by TLA, another alternative rock tune with lots of influence from punk and new wave. Its drum machine, prominent synth bassline and embellishments and the robotic lead vocals make you nostalgic for the post-punk era, no matter what year you were born in. Dipping into some electronica, “Lrn2love” by The Fit transports us to another planet entirely, with its glitching, cybernetic music and computerized vocals. The celestial rock bop “In Gratitude” by Shapes Freely, on the other hand, exists suspended in space. Its gentle vocals, orbiting synths and strings paint a vivid soundscape from outer space complete with stars, planets, rocket ships, and even extraterrestrial beings. On our way back down again, we meet “The Bad One” by Mount Whateverest, or, ‘the highest band on earth.’ This track is a product of what the band calls “solar powered fuzz and roll,” complete with slow, disjunct, infectious beats and a variety of vocals with different effects. Mount Whateverest utilizes whatever they can from saccharine pop melodies to big classic rock riffs to reach new heights with their music.
Finally, we reach the antipode of the easy, calm sound of “Dear Life” with the hard rock tracks “Killed Alive” by Cherry Rats and “Beverly Hills” by Beautiful Dudes. The former’s crashing drums and vigorous distorted guitar provide you with a taste of 2020 style classic rock. The Dudes are known for their cathartic hard rock sound and catchy hooks, and “Beverly Hills” certainly delivers, sounding grungy but upbeat in a vaguely Weezer-like way.
The Nevada City Album sought a varied and gifted assortment of artists in the area, scooped them up and unified them in a multifaceted compilation that has something for everyone. It’s well worth listening to, for when you find yourself drawn to some of the musicians, you know exactly where to look for live shows!
The LA indie-rock duo Mating Ritual has released The Bungalow, a quirky album made for the summer of 2020 that we never got. Finished on the day before mandatory quarantine hit, the album plays like an ironic look at a world that at one time, we thought was for certain. Vaguely inspired by the duo’s east-LA home, The Bungalow deepens Mating Rituals’ already cavernous pool of influences by incorporating elements of Bossa Nova and Disco. Previously known as Pacific Air, brothers Ryan Marshall Lawhon and Taylor Lawhon have already released three albums in three years, as per their ambitious and assured commitment to releasing five albums in five years. These released albums, How You Gonna Stop It? (2017), Light Myself On Fire (2018) and Hot Content (2019) have amassed much praise from The Consequence of Sound, Billboard, and the like, and The Bungalow is sure to follow in these footsteps.
“We wanted this one to be almost entirely light-hearted,” Ryan said about the album. To inaugurate this sentiment, The Bungalow offers the opening track, “Welcome To The Bungalow”, in which a jazzy backdrop radiates from your speakers, reminding one of easy-listening lounge music. Then, a slightly distorted voice begins to speak to you, to welcome you to “the bungalow.” He tells you that you’re “free to dance, if you’d like, or take a seat if that’s more your style.” His words are so specific, so vivid, and so personal. “There’s terry cloth robes in the bathroom if you need to wash the day off you.” It feels oddly unsettling… but certainly intriguing.
“Welcome To The Bungalow” functions as a swanky interlude that introduces the next three songs on The Bungalow. As we move through the album, we see two more of these interludes and two more sets of songs. The first trio is a dance group full of funky basslines and groovy melodies that entreat the dancers visiting the bungalow to get on their feet. The next track, simply called “The Bungalow”, furthers the all-embracing mood of the previous track, the words “come over to the bungalow, I’d like to show you around,” sung by a chorus of voices that conjure up images of a man leading a happy group of followers to the fabled bungalow, with people joining as they move along. Infused with arcade-style electronic sounds and vivacious energy, “The Bungalow” leads right into the next groove-filled song: “Voodoo.” This track begins with some Mother Mother-like vocals followed by a grand string flourish that could be taken right out of a song from the 70’s, but simultaneously manifests the present with alt-rock guitars in the chorus. “Elastic Summer” adopts a reggae beat and a retro melody that sounds like synthetic stars, but still sounds undeniably modern, straddling the line between past and present.
In another interlude we visit the street that the bungalow resides on– “The Third Steepest Street In America.” The jazzy drums and sax return, and the distorted voice continues to reveal odd and intimate details. It ends with an unresolved harmony and an upward moving melody to incite tension that diffuses into the next trio. “Unusual” initiates the three-track era of sweeping synths. It uses a drum machine and a thick atmosphere that surrounds a playfully disjunct chorus melody. The bridge is a colourful landscape with glittering synths and guitar. “King Of The Doves” may start with a clean drum beat, but soon enough some 80’s synth melodies enter the mix. The edge of the leading voice is coated with background vocals which are robotic, clear, and distorted at different times, creating a unique effect. After a guitar solo, a DEVO-esque bass pulses along, leading the track to its end. “Heart Don’t Work” is a slow tune with the disposition of a ballad, but it’s thickly layered with synths and Peter Gabriel-style drums that deviate from the classic piano ballad. As the lyrics say “I don’t know why my heart don’t work like it should,” it comes to attention that while this album may sound light-hearted, there are some deeper themes that are embedded in the lyrics to look out for.
We return once again to the lively bungalow scene in “My Postmate Is Here.” We hear the same eerily familiar voice talk, but there is also a second voice warbling in the background. It’s words are hard to make out, and they distract from what the first voice is saying, making for the perfect transition into the final trio of songs. These songs are harder to categorize, on one hand they share a sound with the album as a whole and elements of the other two trios, but on the other hand they are unique. “Ok” has the least amount of synths. For a moment it feels like it has an attitude with the edgy, swaggering guitar and bass, but when you listen to the words– “we’re all just trying to survive” and “I’m asking why,” it frames things in a more humbled light. The line “I wanna know the way I used to feel the sunlight on my face” is amusingly relevant; while it’s not about quarantine, those who have been isolated in their homes these past months can certainly identify with it. This track is sweeping in the sense that the nature of the vocals make one imagine him on his knees in an open field, pleading to the skies, but it’s missing the heavy synth component of the second trio. “Raining In Paradise” is similar to “King Of The Doves” with its cool synth melody, but it’s less atmospheric. This track features my favourite vocal performance– the melody plays with a higher range and has challenging leaps that are navigated expertly. Finally, “Moon Dust” is slow, soft, and more tender than any of the previous tracks. It feels familiar almost immediately with its soothing piano part and recognizable melody. A lunar synth interlude makes this track true to its name.
Although “Moon Dust” fits with the album overall, it shows how far the album moved from the opening track. It’s as though after your long day at the bungalow you’re beginning to grow tired and decide it’s time to go home. And of course, this cues a final interlude, titled “So Long, Los Guapos.” This interlude isn’t like the others. The distorted voice says “thanks for stopping by… until next time,” periodically throughout the minute and a half long track, but instead of the clear jazz sound, we get an atmospheric soundscape with guitar and some synth melodies. In some way, it feels like the perfect summation of all of the different tracks that are heard in The Bungalow.
The Bungalow embodies the carefree nature and gaiety of the summer we might have had if Covid hadn’t hit. But with its heavy use of nostalgic synths and hints at retro styles, perhaps it also functions as a projection of how society’s tendency to yearn for the past in the face of tension in the present. When you hear Peter Gabriel-esque drums or funky bass lines from the ’70s, you’re transported back to a time when the most recent worldwide pandemic was the Spanish Flu. No matter how you feel about the past or present, however, The Bungalow is a party where the hosts seem to know you better than you know yourself.
Make your way over to the third steepest street in America and stream Mating Ritual’s fourth album in four years. “We are proud to present our new album 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐰 out now! Make yourself a daiquiri, light some incense, and enjoy the ride” — I like how quirky these guys are.
When Waldo Przekop first picked up a guitar, he really only intended to write comedic music. After discovering several famous folk artists, however, he realized that he actually liked music, and quickly began to write serious songs under the name Cigarettes and Milk. His single “July” (to be released on Friday) is an ode to Przekop’s foregone days of travelling. He used to traverse all over the United States, but eventually settled so he would have enough money to focus on writing and playing music.
“July” depicts a time when Przekop was on the road with a friend, aimless and content to be so. It was the first rainy day in months in Santa Barbara on the Fourth of July, a scene which paved the way for a song to emerge with vivid imagery. Przekop makes good use of this imagery in the single, singing about the “stench of wet leaves” and the fireworks of the holiday. But like a true wordsmith, he also weaves in emotive and abstract details, hinting at poignant themes that go deeper than the landscape he’s driving through. The guitar picking at the beginning of the song is intriguing, the deliberately clumsy strings that he plucks are unusual, quirky even. But as you listen to the song, the context transforms the sound. Przekop’s voice is well suited to folk music. He sings with an urgency, his voice is lovely and piercingly emotional; the almost bleating vibrato going directly for your heart. On the lines “no one will miss me” and “no one will notice”, the way he sings is so compelling, and by the time the words drop out at the end and you’re left alone with the guitar, it sounds darker, even ominous.
“July” is a well-executed piece of art that paints not with words or sounds but with the emotions and complexity that they exhibit. Przekop shows just how much meaning can be achieved with a simple pairing of guitar and voice.
London-based, female-fronted trio Dance Lessons released their single “New Job” today. The track comes on the heels of their successful “domineering debut” single “SMABTO.” “New Job” is what Dance Lessons defines as “serrated pop,” and shows off jagged, zany harmonies. It shines a light on the shared experience that two people may have after a breakup as they both distract themselves from their sadness. Though, the song was conceived before a breakup had happened, and ended up becoming a sort of “self-fulfilling prophecy.” This electric dance-pop hit is accompanied by a vivid music video that was filmed during the COVID-19 lockdown in LA. The dancers had no crew and minimal gear but managed to film a hauntingly beautiful interpretive dance in the deserted streets.
Parallels between the music and dance are found throughout the entire video. There is a nice give and take between the two vocalists in the track, and there’s also a strong interplay between the dance and the song. The moves echo the rhythm of the words, every step is in tandem with the music. Just as the video progresses through different scenes in the area, the music explores different sonic features, such as the wispy background vocals, plucky guitar, and the electronic wind-like blur that drifts in the background. Color plays a prominent visual role in the music video, just as the groovy harmonies in the bridge add color to the music. These parallels are captivating, so when the music fades out, you’re confronted with the eerie silence of the once-bustling LA street, save for a faint siren in the background.
Keep up with the snazzy trio on twitter and instagram, and check out their groundbreaking debut single here.
Alt-R&B artist ROSA displays courage in his painfully raw single “BLOW” and accompanying music video. The track unearths and sets free some deeply buried demons surrounding ROSA’s personal battle with depression and drug abuse. Living with depression from an early age, ROSA quickly learned to adapt, to suppress his emotions, and instead forced himself to think clinically. While clever, this approach only prevented him from actually confronting his issues. It was his crafty thinking that allowed his severe cocaine addiction to fly under the radar for years without his friends or family noticing. Written, composed, produced, and arranged by ROSA alongside Joveek Murphy and Axe Hessel, the title “BLOW” refers both to cocaine, but also to what happens when you fail to deal with your emotions. The track is not only about someone coming to terms with their drug problem, but also with the root of the problem: depression. It is the second of a trio of singles that will be released before ROSA’s anticipated debut EP FEMALE. This EP will deal with female empowerment but also tackles issues of male emotional vulnerability. ROSA aims to challenge the stereotypes that surround masculinity by exposing some dark parts of himself. In the interest of honesty, “BLOW” speaks frankly, eschewing metaphors and symbolism to avoid romanticizing the matters of drug use in the track. By doing so, ROSA hopes to offer an alternative to the glamourized portrayal of drug use in pop culture.
The music video was directed by ROSA himself and illustrates his experience, from the initial ecstasy of cocaine to the inevitable deterioration as the high wears off. To show this, we first see shots of pleasant images: green trees and manicured bushes, women in dresses, bright blue lipstick, and deep red and white cloths. But each of these images are a double-edged sword. The groomed shrubbery and vivid colours seem out of context against muted colours and barren landscapes in the background. The faces of the women are void of expression. As the video progresses, we start to notice certain unsettling subtleties in the initial shots– the expression of pain on someone’s face with their mouth duct-taped shut, the fact that the fabrics are stretched over the people’s face. Eventually, you see that these people are struggling, even screaming through their restraints. Towards the end, fuzzy, black and white shots are interspersed among the others, before the harrowing final ten seconds arrive.
While ROSA’s alternative R&B and pop sound fits in somewhere near Frank Ocean, Kid Cudi, and Dev Hynes, his sound also has distinct touches that make his music his own. In “BLOW”, the music follows the same path of decay as the video, beginning with a smooth bassline and vocals, but finishing with stuttering words and haphazardous pauses before stopping suddenly, holding its breath for the final shot in the video. When the grainy black and white shots appear, some grungy guitar fills out the music, and shortly after ghostly harmonies chill you to the bone. The most impact, however, comes from the inserted spoken lines. Used sparingly, these lines directly get the message across, and uphold ROSA’s goal to show authentic emotions in a straightforward way.
Watch the striking video here, and look out for the third FEMALE single and the EP itself in the future.
