English trio Muncie Girls are cooler than ever in their new video for “Picture of Health,” the lead single from their second album Fixed Ideals, which is set to come out on August 31. Lead vocalist/guitarist Lande Hekt, along with guitarist Dean McMullen and drummer Luke Ellis, create an anthem for friendship with a sound that is reminiscent of the early days of Paramore and 90s pop-punk. The video captures the song’s theme in a real and organic way, right down to the silver fidget spinner. This is a modern-day representation of what it’s like to maintain a friendship and how we tend to get in our own heads, worrying about problems that don’t even exist. “Picture of Health” is a song that everyone can relate to, with a poignant video that emphasizes the importance of platonic love that is very refreshing to see.
Keep up with the band here, and don’t forget to preorder their upcoming album.
Electro/hip hop act mokroïé – created by Francesco Virgilio in collaboration with singer Carol Aplogan – is at it again with the music video for their track “Put Your Hands in The Dirt”. We’ve got the exclusive premiere of said video, and we’re pretty excited about it.
In case you’re wondering, yes, the video is centered around visuals of hands. As intricate social commentary plays over a nostalgic, 80s, synth-tinged track, we see hands doing an array of different things, the video bringing to the forefront how important our hands are for every day actions.
Observe the glory of human hands – and the silly things we do with them every day – in this new video, and vibe out to a really fun song that just might make its way onto your next playlist!
Indie pop/punk music project Holy Pinto is bringing a bevy of fun, beautiful music our way this summer, but first we’ve got the music video for their track “Gold Leaf” here for you to enjoy. Comprised entirely of video clips from tour, a really fun narration brings you along for a more intricate and specific ride in the form of subtitles, so there’s no guessing what is happening. It’s the perfect depiction of an imperfect journey, and we’re all for it.
Self-proclaimed “electroexotica” duo Stronger Sex – comprised of Johnny Fantastic and Leah Gage – is bringing their vivid personalities to the world in an exciting new visual for single “Dead Women”, Directed and Edited by Mark Williams Hoelscher. At the center of the experience is a stuffed monkey, and other versions of what look to be childhood toys. But it’s what happens with those toys that will really put you into a tailspin. (Could they come alive, a la Toy Story? Is it OK to think they’re still cute and not creepy?) The main focus, however, is the protagonist, who is depicted experiencing the emotional turmoil that aligns with the lyrics in the song. Confirms Leah Gage of the track:
“Dead Women” is a song about feeling the weight of a legacy of important matriarchs, and the pressure to live up to their expectations. My mom and my grandmother were both extremely smart (and troubled) women who placed a lot of emphasis on prestige and renown, and expected me to achieve both, almost on their behalf. Since they’ve both died, I struggle a lot with knowing whether I’ll ever live up to their expectations. I used to keep their photos all over my room, as a kind of inspiration, but after a while I realized it was just making me anxious and sad, and I needed to figure things out for myself. So, this video is inspired by that idea. There’s a girl, who lives in a fantasy world with her “friends” who are clearly all toys, and she lives with an overbearing woman who wants her to get rid of her friends and join reality. Eventually, the woman goes behind the girl’s back, throws the friends in the trash, and goes back to her life. The girl is utterly distraught, but eventually uses her anger and frustration to channel herself out of the house, and she runs away, with her friends. Both the woman and the girl are flawed – these aren’t of course her friends, they’re toys. And the woman, well, she probably has her reasons for wanting the girl to join reality, even if she’s going about it in a mean way.
This video brings light to a struggle many women face, and we are pleased to host the exclusive premiere.
Portland-based alt/pop My Brothers and I might be busy prepping for the release of their EP material, but the next piece in that EP puzzle belongs to “When You’re Ready”, for which the music video has been taking center stage since its release in late May.
We’re absolutely smitten with this quintet, so we decided to do a quick interview to celebrate all their (amazing!) release news as of late. Check it out below!
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How did you all meet?
Scott, Erik, and I (David) are really brothers, so we met because we had to. Then Jordan and Scott have been besties since 2nd Grade and Jordan held me when I was a baby. So he is basically our brother.
Your song “When You’re Ready” has a very unique sound, what inspired that?
For the entire EP coming soon, we wanted to write pop music and have it feel like it could be on Top 40 radio, while also staying true to what makes us different. In most of our new songs, we have a mixture of real instruments and samples. We wanted to create a hybrid that competes with a lot of the digitally created pop music you hear, without going full-blown digital. We have a lot of real piano, real guitar, real drums, and real bass, while also throwing in some synths and 808 drum beats. This is especially shown off in When You’re Ready. The vibe may feel familiar, but the execution is what we feel sets it apart. It’s organic pop!
The video for “When You’re Ready” has an interesting story that revolves around a dissatisfied model. How did you come up with the concept for the video?
The “When You’re Ready” music video idea was actually brought to us by the producer of the video. He reached out and pitched his idea and we really liked it right away. We knew we didn’t want the video to just be a direct narrative of the lyrical content and his idea felt like a pretty cool metaphor that makes sense with the lyrics without being a direct representation. We had a blast working on it and are super happy with how it turned out.
Who inspires you as artists?
We are all a bunch of music sponges. We love to listen to music and are constantly listening to the New Music Friday playlist on Spotify. So more recently we have been vibing on that new Shawn Mendes album (no shame). In general we have always been inspired by bands and artists like John Mayer, OneRepublic, Justin Timberlake, Michael Jackson, Coldplay, The Roots, and so many others.
Where to you hope to see yourself musically in the next five years?
I think we would love to be settling into a nice career and a nice rhythm of being full time musicians. This journey has been so much fun and taken a ton of work and will continue to take a ton of work, but I think if we could be releasing a 3rd or 4th album by then and have a solid foundation and fan base, that would be a huge blessing. For us, we just want to change lives. It sounds cliché but we aren’t just doing music because it’s fun. We want to make a difference in people’s lives and touch people’s souls with our music. Make them feel something deeper than just surface level. If we get to a place where we can be playing and releasing music and use our platform to be a light in this world, that would be reaching our ultimate goal.
If you could describe your sound, what would it be?
I think organic pop is probably the best way to describe our sound. We love all types of music. We grew up on jazz and rock and hip hop and blues. We try to just be ourselves when we write and not stray away from that jazzy guitar lick, or that fat hip hop drum beat. We find ways to implement the past in a pop way with real instruments.
What is your favorite part about working together as a band?
Collaborating in everything we do is so much fun. Whether its ideas for live shows, writing songs, or what to do for an Instagram story, we all just love being around each other and goofing off. We try not to take things too seriously and just stay true to who we are. If you ever get a chance to see us live, we think this shines through. We just have a blast and I basically view every transition as a chance to make the crowd laugh or smile… and occasionally cry (in a good way).
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Keep up with My Brothers & I here, and preorder their EP here.
Nashville-based songwriter Ellen Starski delivers a beautiful folk-rock ode to the ups and downs of a relationship with her new video for “Missing You” from her debut solo album The Days When Peonies Prayed for the Ants. The combination of the black-and-white tone of the video with the title of the song sets up the expectation of heartbreak, but the video does more than that. It shows its viewers the stages of this couple’s relationship, allowing for a somber narrative that emphasizes the importance of emotion rather than what you see happening in front of you. Starski explains the ambiguity of the video, saying “there’s truly no message attached to the song, it’s there for an audience to take from it what they will.”
Starski’s thoughtful lyrics shine through the gloominess of the video, showing her ability to create something personal that truly expresses how she feels, and the viewer can feel that as well. It’s more than your typical sad music video, and Starski wanted to show “the rise and fall of [this] relationship that was more than just the traditional flashback scenes and performances that seem to be the trend.”As a result,“Missing You” is a sad yet powerful song with a video that depicts the reality of many people’s lives and relationships.
Check out the video here and keep up with Ellen Starski on her website.
Chicago-based rock/lo-fi band Clearance recently released their brand new music video for new track “Had a Fantastic”, and we’re totally digging it. This is the first video released from their upcoming full-length release At Your Leisure. Visually pleasing – with a bit of that vintage feel to the muted colors -, the video displays the band playing in a largely empty room. Greenery appeals to the plant lady demographic of today, with the band singing matter of fact lyrics and drawing you into their esthetic little by little.
“Had a Fantastic” does not disappoint. So grab your disposable camera and let’s get going!
At Your Leisure is out July 27th and is available for preorder now.
Pop-punk quartet Punchline just released a video for their latest single “Friend From The Future.” The single is off of their eighth and latest album Lion. As you may have guessed, the video is as quirky as the singles title. Starting off the video opens to a slide captioned “When you’re 87 years old, you won’t be able to watch this for the first time.” Yes my mind had to re-read that. It then follows, “In case you’re 87 now, in which case, that’s rad you’re watching our video!” I finally started to grasp the video’s “into the future” theme. Aside from the creative intro, the video keeps you interested with bright flashing lights, slideshow inspired here and their captions, colorful outfits and highlights on each band member. The songwriting is equally amazing with one liners like “The clock starts ticking but never stops,” and “God I wonder why the past tense comes last.” My favorite lyric is “It’s not your age that’s bringing down.” A line that could not be more true, is one of many on “Friend From The Future,” an anthem for the “here and now.”
Boca Raton, Florida native Brandyn Burnette, just released his latest single “Run”, inspired by Burnette’s journey as an artist and a person. The song is melodic, funky and jazzy. “Drinking too much coffee- didn’t get my education, but no that didn’t stop me,” sings Brandyn on his road to success. “Run” was inspired by Burnette’s decision to leave a full ride scholarship to pursue his dream of creating music. The song is very inspirational and has a great message for ambitious youth. My favorite line is “When that moment comes, will you grab it by the horns and run?” While Brandyn knew that he may not “get his education,” that did not stop him from following his passion. This is why “Run” is so powerful and uplifting.
On his journey, Burnette says,
Each chapter has helped me reach the next level of my emotional and artistic development. I would take the qualities and experiences I loved about a certain place or time with me, leave others behind that didn’t fit, and start over as a newer, better version of myself, finding my own lane among those influences.
