In the mood for a bit of soul mixed into your next favorite pop-driven track? Junior Mesa has done just that, setting a relaxing mood with his high-pitched vocals that counter the bitterness in the lyrics. The track itself speaks of putting up walls when a relationship cannot pan out the way you’d imagined and are highly relatable.
The video is highly entertaining. Basked in gorgeous colors, watch Junior dance through the pain with a masked stranger. The video itself seems to be trying to distract from the internal struggle of the protagonist, using humor and the arts to its advantage. Check it out below, and make sure to “like” it over on Youtube.
North Carolina-based musical collective The Collection really hit a beautiful stride with their latest release, a call to action called “Loud.” The indie-alt pop group has created a string of gorgeous tracks together, each with underlying tones of hope. “Loud” follows this pattern, with an expansive and freeing nature.
Lead singer Wimbish was inspired to write the track after protesting last summer following the George Floyd murder.
I watched as peaceful, angry protesters were cornered and attacked by the police. I was one of those maced in the face, alongside many. Over the next many months, I grew angrier and angrier watching white moderates and even “liberal” friends of mine argue over the validity of the protests – how they were being carried out, etc.. and it was astonishing to me – their refusal to lend their voice, to this very necessary movement.
The song serves as an anthem for protest, unity, and a sense of empathy for the times ahead. You can check out the beautiful melody and intrinsically catchy lyrics below.
July. It’s the middle of summer. Things have been terribly hot. (Thanks, global warming!) You need a music video or two (or way more) to cool down with. While we can’t promise that every video will keep you calm, cool, and collected, we can promise that they will keep you entertained and help you take your mind off the weird. Here are our favorite new releases of July 2021.
For years now, we have been bringing you the best and most invigorating new music each month in a playlist of sorts. Our soundtrack features are perfect to pull from when your friends ask you for new music suggestions, or when you want to surprise and delight guests at functions you may be hosting or planning. Though the pandemic put a lot of gathering on pause – and continues to, as new shutdowns are announced with a round of variants – we found such strength in submissions this month. These songs are perfect to make you feel more connected to the world, no matter the circumstance.
We’ve got a range of tracks this month from artists like Charlie Parr, Young Mister, Zero Trust, Santana, CHVRCHES, and more. So dive in – like you’re cannonballing with wreckless abandon into warm waters. We’ve got you.
2021 has proved to be a productive year so far for Flight Club. Following the March release of their single “Come Back”,they are ready to launch their debut album Until the Sun Drowns on July 30th, from Open Your Ears Records. The perfect introduction to this album is the single “I’ve Been Kicked Out of Better Homes Than This”.
The quartet from Richmond, VA has created a song that is tailor-made for summer – pure rock and roll energy from beginning to end. “I’ve Been Kicked Out of Better Homes Than This” gives a slight nod to the spirit of bands from 1999, like Lit and Blink-182. Intensely played instruments and forceful vocals combine to make a tune that will definitely find a place on your summer playlist. The accompanying video for “I’ve Been Kicked Out of Better Home Than This” has the same sense of humor. It happens to be built around ice cream as well, so anything that stars ice cream is practically perfect.
If you would like to catch Flight Club live, they are scheduled to play the Blue Ridge Rockfest, September 9th – 12th in Danville, VA.
Punk rock outfit Yours Truly comes at us with the energy and attitude our summer was missing with their latest track “Walk Over My Grave.” The video for the track is just as chaotic and beautiful as the song, a live performance of sorts. While the band plays, bright colors overlay and frantic frames interweave. Shots of individual band members, with art placed sporadically set the tone for a track that wreaks of heartbreak and loss.
“The Crazing of Polymers” is the newest single from twin sisters Claire and Sarah Bowman. The two recently reunited after quarantining in two different countries for the past year. The Bowmans continued to write and record from their respective homes, building an album that is due to come out this fall. In the meantime, we are fortunate to get “The Crazing of Polymers”.
The lyrics in “The Crazing of Polymers” seem to suggest the existence of an ordinary life in which we can all relate, a life that ebbs and flows through the good and bad. The two choruses, while sounding alike, follow a timeline of a life spent together:
Chorus 1: I don’t know if it matters, how we got here anyway, I don’t think it makes a difference, if the kids played well today.
Chorus 2: I don’t know if it matters, how we fought again today I don’t think it makes a difference, how many cracks are patched up through our little earthquakes.
Claire Bowman opened up about the song title:
Crazing is a process where you take something porous and delicate and make it strong and solid (and attractive), like the way we harden from the layers of pain life dishes out daily. One of my favorite lyrics is, “there’s only so many little breaks a heart can take.” This would seem to imply that these fissures would lead to heartbreak, but instead, her response to them is to accept these as part of life, staying rooted in the good that comes along with the difficult.
The Bowman’s vocals, however, are what really tell the story. Their voices harmonize, seemingly effortlessly, and run the gamut from simple to soaring in phrasing. “The Crazing of Polymers” defies genre – The Bowman’s have created a song that is both lively in its’ tempo and aching in some of the vocals.
The sisters had toured extensively throughout the United States and internationally from 2005 – 2011. By 2013, they had released four full-length albums.
Oughts influenced pop-punk outfit Young Culture has certainly stayed busy during the pandemic. Made up of childhood friends Alex Magnan (vocals), Gabe Pietrafesa (guitar), and Troy Burchett (guitar), the group spent one day a week during the lockdown portion of the pandemic writing and creating together. Their collective efforts will be shown off with the release of their record Godspeed later this month. But today, we have a taste of it with the title track.
A glittering summertime track, we will be playing this track at all of our backyard shindigs for the rest of the season.
Looking for a song that will kick you in the balls? (Think Fefe Dobson teaming up with Machine Gun Kelly.) “Bad Day” by Charlotte Sands is equal parts electro-pop and nightclub, entirely danceable and entirely too fun not to be into. A little bite, a bass drop, and an upbeat, anthemic feel help to pack a punch with some slightly depressing lyrics. But, I mean, who hasn’t had a bad day lately? What’s more? The chorus itself feels like it comes directly out of the darker, adult version of Alexander and The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.
I had a no good, really bad, messed up day And I’m stressed out, super sad, not okay I’m never getting better, no, it’s not a phase And I like it that way (Like it that way)
Admits the artist of the track:
So often in life, we’re told to be positive and get over things quickly, but I’ve always felt that we need to fully feel every emotion in order to move on. ‘Bad Day’ is about recognizing your lows so that you’re able to grow. When everything feels like it’s going wrong and the world is falling down around you, leaning into that feeling of being at rock bottom is sometimes the only thing that can make you better.
