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Spotlight Feature: Embrace the Chaos with the Visceral Visualisation of Emotional Discord in Dilly Dally Alley’s Electro Jazz Pop Attack, This Just In

Posted on 23 August 2024
Dilly Dally Alley

Fresh off the heels of their last single, Find Out, Minneapolis Indie-Pop jazz-adjacent collective, Dilly Dally Alley, led by the magnetic emissary of soul Sophia Spiegel, has unleashed their second single of the summer, This Just In.

Feeling deeply can often feel like a curse, yet, a proclivity towards heightened emotion only serves to sweeten the resonance in this incitement of an indie art pop riot, which feeds an abrasive electro pulse through John Carpenter-reminiscent synths, deliciously delirious reverb and distorted jazz-punk sax riffs capable of driving you to the brink of euphoria and beyond to experience a cathartic release from emotional turmoil.

The opening lyrics – “there was a sharpness in the land, sharpness in the beat, sharpness in your eyes, made me feel complete” – reflect the conflation of emotions and conflicts, perfectly matched by the avant-garde instrumentals that create a vivid, visceral, whirlwind of an experience which transcends sound.

You couldn’t ask for a more accurate mirror of the mental discordance that accompanies emotional dichotomies or for more blissful salvation from them.

This Just In will be available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify, from August 23rd, ahead of Dilly Dally Alley’s sophomore LP, which will permeate the airwaves in January 2025.

Stay up to date with the latest releases from Dilly Dally Alley on Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Step into a sanctuary of alt-90s nostalgia with Straw’s debut single, Apartment 3513

Posted on 22 August 2024

With all the seductive appeal of Soundgarden, the debut single, Apartment 3513, from the Panama-hailing solo artist, Straw, allows alt-90s fans to crawl through the corridor of nostalgia before unlocking the door to an affectingly warm earworm which animates through scuzzed vintage tones and deliciously hook-rife vocals.

In spite of the convivial sonic and vocal magnetism in the debut single, Apartment 3513 charts a journey on a road to nowhere, fuelled by anxiety and depression, where the only pit stops made were to score. After 14 years of mental health issues and an attempt to numb them through substance abuse, Straw has turned his life around like a velvet revolver to give sanctuary to anyone who needs to veer from the path of self-destruction.

After studying at Berklee and the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, Straw returned home to Panama where he collaborated with the Nashville-hailing songwriter, Grant van Dijk to bring his debut to life. Through the perfect equilibrium of candid soul and rock n roll swagger, Straw ensured that he wouldn’t find himself short of plaudits – especially if the singles in the pipeline match the intoxicating energy in Apartment 3513.

Apartment 3513 opened itself to the airwaves on August 9th; step in via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Barry Slorridge – Why? Avant-Garde Whovian Electronica

Posted on 21 August 2024

Any artist who uses the vocalisations of an existential Dalek in their tracks is an icon in our book, and that’s just the tip of the ingenuity iceberg in Barry Slorridge’s slice of Whovian avant-garde electronica.

With Why? the UK-based composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist didn’t use his Bachelor’s Degree in Classical Composition by any conventional means; instead, he chose to score his cultivated composition chops into an installation of delicious discordance which reminisces with nuances of The Beatles and Kraftwerk.

The synth lines carry echoes of The Phobophobes, introducing a dark, reflective undertone, interwoven with kaleidoscopic effects, allowing distorted waves of psychedelia to cascade through the music. Meanwhile, sweet psych-pop harmonies offer a stark contrast to the monotonal menace of the Dalek samples.

The track epitomises revolutionary art, achieving a rare feat—it unsettles those comfortably ensconced in their auditory preferences while providing solace to those who find beauty in the bizarre. Once Slorridge finds his niche, he will be an unreckonable force in the alt-electronica scene; his ability to orchestrate sensory experiences which bend the mind and electrify the pulses is unparalleled.

Why? was officially released on August 5th; stream the single on YouTube now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Marc Ambrosia rivalled Against Me in his queer pop-punk anthem, We Are Who We Are

Posted on 21 August 2024

For anyone whose true identities are continuously obscured by lenses of prejudice and misconception, Marc Ambrosia’s riff-raw pop-punk anthem, We Are Who We Are, is the definitive cure.

With an augmented-with-frenetic-exhilaration chorus and endless mantras to adopt for authentic empowerment, it is impossible to resist the intoxicating energy in the release which proves that Marc Ambrosia is just as adept at producing high-octane rock hits as he is when it comes to producing perennial pop earworms. And yet, his versatility is only the start of his expansive cross-over appeal which can easily establish the New Jersey singer-songwriter as one of the most essential queer artists of his generation.

Ambrosia’s forthcoming album, Gay & Proud, is shaping up to be as iconic as Against Me!’s Transgender Dysphoria Blues LP. The same visceral punk as fuck energy runs within the liberatingly protestive anthem which attests to how embracing your autonomy and flying your own flag is one of the most revolutionary acts a human is capable of.

In his own words, Marc Ambrosia iterated “It’s a song about individuality and nonconformity. People like to make assumptions about other people’s identities and they’re usually wrong.”

We Are Who We Are was officially released on August 16; stream the single on SoundCloud and visit Marc Ambrosia’s official website for more information on his upcoming album which is due to drop on August 30.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Goldfish24 pioneered a new wave of hyper-popped punk with ‘The Pit of My Life’

Posted on 20 August 2024

Goldfish24’s sonic riot of innovative expression, The Pit of My Life, starts with a raw, rugged, and intimate folk-punk overture before the melodicism sinks into a genre-fluid production that toys with the aesthetics of trap and hyperpop to animate an infectious earworm which sets the stage for the artist to emerge as one of the fiercest punk pioneers of his generation.

While the emotions in the single may weigh heavy, there isn’t an inch of space in the evocative riptide of a release for self-pity. Instead, the track is the epitome of running with your idiosyncrasies, embracing the chaos of the world, and finding resilience through irreverently witty tongue-in-cheek humour.

The Pit of My Life is the second chapter in the story Goldfish24 is narrating with his upcoming project, ERRORS IN COMMUNICATION. The single takes the first step in picking yourself up and coming to terms with the fact that life will always suck sometimes, and that’s okay. The mantra reverberates through the motifs as much as the lyricality, attesting to Goldfish24’s ability to fully visualise his psyche through sound. Brace yourself for the visceral vindication.

The Pit of My Life was officially released on August 16; stream the single on SoundCloud now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

EGO DEF struck only the rawest chords with the alt-indie trap hit, wings

Posted on 19 August 2024

Fans of Fijmar, Alixx, and LIL NYX won’t want to miss EGO DEF’s single, wings, which transports through the darker recesses of indie-licked electronic alchemy, merging emo’s raw emotional intensity with the rhythmic pulse of trap.

The track’s plaintively striking beats lock you in as you sink into the razor-sharp tendrils of melancholy, making it a deeply resonant experience that echoes the all-too-relatable growing pains of youth.

wings laments over feelings of inadequacy, the overwhelming uncertainties of life, and the reckless desires that often accompany them. With every beat and lyric, EGO DEF’s polished and magnetic melodicism pulls you deeper into his world, where vulnerability meets the danger of desire.

As EGO DEF inches closer to the coveted 1 million streams mark, it’s clear that his achingly resonant productions are striking a chord with listeners. His ability to channel raw emotion into agonised earworms suggests he’s destined for top chart positions.

wings is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Descend into the sonic shadows with Voidform’s seminal score, Wonder

Posted on 19 August 2024

Voidform’s single, Wonder, from the debut album Void Incarnate, is a haunting foray into an innovator’s mind. As the dark, reverberant, industrial techno-adjacent bass rolls through your speakers, they’re met with luminous synths that shimmer through striking juxtaposition, creating an avant-garde production that ensnares from the very first beat.

With the Eastern-esque synthetic rhythms weaving a thread of mysticism through the track, Voidform adds an unpredictably addictive twist to the mix which transcends unsettling sound with its cinematic scope, which lends enough eerie tension to rival a John Carpenter horror soundtrack. Prepare to be propelled into a hypnotic stupor when you hit play; the pulse of the beat becomes inescapable in the immersive soundscape of sonic shadow.

Voidform may be a fresh name on the scene, but this project is clearly one to watch. There’s a calculated precision in the chaos, a deliberate artistry in the dissonance that suggests this is just the beginning of what Voidform has to offer. Immerse yourself in the Void—if you dare.

Wonder is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Mt Bonnell – Mistake: A Little Bit of Country, An Unholy Load of Rock n Roll

Posted on 17 August 2024

It’s almost worth enduring agonising lapses in romantic judgement to prise maximum resonance from Mt Bonnell’s latest lyrically bitter, sonically euphoric alt-rock single, Mistake.

The revelation in genre fusion fuses the twangy, intimate and narratively expansive warmth of upbeat country folk with all the fire and furore of a grungy rock anthem and the stylistic edge of indie to establish the artist as one of the most veritable outfits pouring sound out of Austin.

There’s clearly something in the Texan water which breeds peerless talent, but the flavour of Mt Bonnell is something no other outfit is capable of making you savour. Intensity and authenticity run in the veins of the infectiously zealous melodies ensuring you feel every ounce of the affecting weight in this anthem which epitomises what it means to wear your heart on your guitar strings.

As much as the emotively seismic vocals make you feel, that’s nothing compared to the compulsion to succumb to the rhythmic pulse which speaks volumes of how Mt Bonnell has honed their eclectic sound since forming in 2002, with each member bringing their own sonic proclivities to the table.

Mistake was officially released on August 8th; stream the single on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Lie awake in a psych-pop fever dream with Mope.’s seminal single, Wanderer:

Posted on 17 August 2024
Mope.

Despite the somewhat paradoxical pairing of an artist with the moniker Mope. with a track titled Wanderer, the dissonance fades swiftly, swallowed by the entrancing psychotropic waves of the production.

Wanderer traverses through the sonic landscape with a fluidity that justifies its title, enveloping listeners in a deliciously distorted Shoegaze embrace. The track’s structure is a hypnotic hybrid, part leftfield electronica with its syncopated rhythms and part psych pop fever dream, observed through a kaleidoscopic lens. You don’t just listen to Wanderer—you sink, letting the warm, luminous tides of sound wash over you. The commanding, semi-lucid vocals flow like an undercurrent, pulling you deeper into the aural odyssey few can rival.

The genesis of Mope.’s journey is profoundly personal. Following the loss of his father and the bleak dawn of the COVID-19 pandemic, Brad Steed transformed his grief into art, resulting in the creation of his debut album, An Optimist’s Guide to Self-Destruction.

The album, replete with reflections on his journey from sorrow to fleeting moments of peace, offers a psychotropic escape into love, loss, and electric currents. Created in the quiet corners of Raleigh, North Carolina, each song bears Steed’s intimate touch—written, recorded, mixed, and mastered by the artist himself.

Wanderer will be available to stream on all major platforms, including YouTube, from August 16th.

Follow Mope. on Instagram to stay up to date with their latest releases.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Ditch the Demon is out for blood in their sonic screening of garage goth glamour, Fright Night

Posted on 16 August 2024

Fans of Zombina and the Skeletones, Lesbian Bed Death and the Creepshow won’t want to miss the installation of horror and garage goth glamour, Fright Night, prised from the crypt of Ditch the Demon’s LP, Ain’t Dead Yet.

With the percussive pulse of punk and the phantasmic reanimations of new wave indie conjured by the guitars filtered through a psychedelic prog rock lens and the livewire energy rippling through the production as a courtesy of Amanda Brooks-Byron’s histrionically haunted vocals, Fright Night hits with an exhilarating horror punk intensity.

After forming in 2018, the Hastings-hailing powerhouse has made chilling waves with their scintillatingly dark sonic signature; the launch of their debut album in 2023 marked the zenith of the band’s career so far but with their infamous live shows, Ditch the Demon isn’t a band to underestimate.

Stream the official music video for Fright Night on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast