Few artists are able to bundle together multiple artistic approaches to their music. Sure, music videos are their own sort of beast but Teenear’s video for Dolla Signs goes that extra step to include some impressive steps by Aliya Janell and Tallie. Together, the visual, emotive, and music elements of this package are enough to glue viewers to the screen. Various highs and lows of the synths and percussion, to…
On Love Don’t Cut Me Down, Napoleon Gold creates a laid-back effort that infuses pop music with as bit of synth-funk. The rising action of Gold’s vocals here ensure that fans are firmly focused on what is to follow. The dynamism of NG here bodes well for the track. The chill groove of Love Don’t Cut Me Down could easily slot into a DJ’s downtempo set, while there’s enough in…
Ashford’s take on I Could Have Danced All Night does more than add her own flair to the composition; it completely disassembles the single into a stripped-down, stark track. With the vocals placed to the fore, listeners will keenly devour anything that Brittain lays down here. With touches of early Pet Shop Boys and Rufus Wainwright present here, Ashford is able to moor this performance to a wider set of…
With Liar, Hooked Like Helen take listeners on a journey that traverses numerous styles and approaches. Touching piano and vocals straddling pop and rock styles unite to make a timeless sound. Touching upon the ballad style of the 1980s and 1990s, Hooked Like Helen refresh the approach with a snappy chorus as warm dynamic between the drums, piano and vocals. Liar’;s chorus will bounce around fans’ minds long after the…
On Sugar High, Lovers & Poets are able to link pop, 1990s alternative, and slinky pre-millennium dance music to make something special. Building off of the style initially laid down by The Cardigans and Republica, the act is able to immediately impress with vocals that simultaneously weave a narrative and add mightily to the single’s harmony. The taut instrumentation that the band includes on Sugar High will resound loudly with…
Mimosa Hygiene is the first collection from Nashville based duo The Criticals. The talents of Cole Shugart and Parker Forbes are formidable even after a single listen; this is a band who have their songwriting wrapped up far tighter than your average emerging act and I can’t point to a single track among the six included as an obvious example of filler. The Criticals, instead, come out of their corner swinging…
During Joey, The Bobbleheads are able to craft a taut collection of guitars, drums, and soulful vocals in a package that will have fans fondly remembering the college / alternative rock of the mid-1990s. The guitar / vocal dynamic established during Joey calls back a bit further to the pop-rock of the mid-1960s. Taken together, these unique elements bode well for The Bobbleheads. Joey shines because the band is able…
During Long Game, Gavin Haley is able to create some of the most honest and touching pop music we’ve ever heard. Putting his own unique spin on the style of Bruno Mars and Mike Posner,Gavin’s vocal abilities are provided further fuel through swelling drums, ethereal synths, and careful curating of the song’s overall momentum. The effort concludes with a robust boost to the instrumentation’s momentum, ensuring that Haley’s inimitable vocals…
Nobody Knew is a tremendous rock track that shines brilliantly. From the robust bass lines to the dynamic established between the guitars and drums, Appice’s rock truly is timeless. There is a bit of grit presented alongside the supremely epic sound of this cut. Charisma and passion are dripping off this composition. True music aficionados will drool over the extended instrumental interlude that joins together the two halves of Nobody…
On Trill Cosby, Wettworker is able to link together a brooding, industrial-infused backing beat with coy, punchline bars. The intricate wordplay presented on Trill Cosby further boosts the overall replay value of the track. Rather than merely laying on the backing beat, Wettworker is able to imbue additional harmony to the composition through his vocal cadence. The clap track that is included during the last minute of Trill Cosby refreshes…
On Worse or for Better, The Sarandons are able to create an easy-going sort of rock that touches upon the work of America and John Denver as well as 1990s-alternative acts liker Jellyfish and the Counting Crows. Booming instrumentation, fuzzy guitars, and splashy guitars unite to make for a dense, thrushy backing upon which the vocals can shines. With just a hint of grit present, these vocals are able to…
Canadian indie-rockers Wolf Parade have been around the scene for a while, yet their five-year hiatus in 2011 gave fans pause and wondered if the magic would come back. Following Cry Cry Cry in 2017, the band seems to be back on steady ground and are back with their latest full-length Thin Mind. Granted, Wolf Parade hadn’t popped up on my radar, I took a dive into their back catalog…
The Lily Vakili Band has just released their new cut, She Wants What. The effort is a stripped-down, dirty rock effort that links together The Velvet Underground with The Breeders. With multiple vocals contributing to the top of this cut, fans could easily hear hints of the Sisters of Mercy or the B-52s. At no point during She Wants Want will fans be wanting; the Lily Vakili Band keep the…
Juliana Hatfield’s 2018 tribute to Olivia Newton-John, Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton-John (naturally), was as satisfying as it was unexpected. One of the most underrated singers of the ‘90s, Hatfield, turned her distinctively impassioned vocals on songs that for decades had become shorthand for ‘80s bubble gum pop for many cynical listeners and in doing so, was able to get across her genuine appreciation for songs that shaped her as…
Ah, the covers album. Once seen as little more than a stop gap until the band could pull together enough new material for a new album, lately, thanks to folks like Corb Lund and Ben Lee’s soon-to-be released record, cover albums seem to be moving towards a much more satisfying experimental phase (Americana Lund covering AC/DC, Indie stalwart Lee covering Fugazi, for example). And while The Mavericks don’t venture too…
Somewhat somber and yet capable of encapsulating the honest optimism of the lyrics in the foreground, the piano plays with a tortured resilience at the start of “Don’t Stand a Chance,” the new single by Mattia Pironti, and its opulence will only grow more noticeable as we press on. Its keys frame a poetic window into the soul of Mattia Pironti that had only been teased in his first two…
Scizzorman crafts a track that links together Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, and Primus into a bass-heavy composition. With quirky (but positive) lyrics, Scizzorman is able to generate an effort that will bury its infectious melodies deep into listeners’ brains. Taut instrumentation and a lush production ensures that the resulting track could easily slot into rock and alternative music playlists. For fans of psychedelic, funk, and 1990s college rock (e.g. Porno…
On Walking On Stars, Sarah J’Vine is able to make an ethereal, haunting melody balance between pop and electronic genres. Vocals pull double duty here in that they contribute mightily to the overall arrangements while imbuing the resulting effort with a humanity heard in performers like Vanessa Williams and Mariah Carey. With instrumentation that draws upon the tradition of Massive Attack and Bjork, Walking On Stars is a cut that…
With an opening stanza that starts off with the lines “Undercover operations takes / A lotta discipline and patient waitin’ / Gotta secretly manipulate / To speed fate up,” MkX is getting real with us in his new song “right place, at the right time” and causing a stir among critics and fans for the third time in 2019. MkX is no loose cannon in “right place, at the right…
Tummyache’s Humpday opens with “Machine”, an often raucous cry from the heart looking to wrest meaning and purpose from a world often seeming to lack both. The five songs included on this EP release embrace that as theme. Songwriter Soren Bryce, through her inter and intra personal relationships, is an artistic voice chronicling how to hang onto your emotions in the general miasma of modern life. The roughhewn musical feel of “Machine”…