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We’re On Our Own: Persona 749 looks for the path home again on the highly promising electronic/rock two part debut ‘Live Order’

With an impressive multitude of action-packed styles that catches you off guard at first, Persona 749 shows us his brilliance on the smashing debut rebel anthem that is called ‘Live Order‘.

Che Landikusic aka Persona 749, is a solo underground indie singer-songwriter, music producer, and Championship winning ice-hockey player who is twenty years young.

His thought-provoking music is a combination of electronic and punk rock – his style is a wondrous display of passion and rare gifts to capture the worlds attention – in a sensational song that breathes new life into the world as we know it.

The start has you feeling a bit nervous as the energy is dark and rather mysterious. We are soon lulled into another world before suddenly. all changes and we are entered into a story where you feel safe again. This year has been so stressful and things need to be put back into place again.

His vigorous vocals are refreshing and you just want to jump up and down in a club listening to him live – the misfit mantra is held aloft proudly – and this feels so good to the fragile soul to replenish again.

Live Order‘ from the mysterious Persona 749, is a true story into the confusion that has swarmed around us like a devastating tornado, our hopes and dreams went flying out into the dusty-lit sky. The only way to survive in 2021 is to re-invent, re-imagine, and to do something different than before. This is the type of song that fully encapsulates that, as his hunger and desire bites the flesh off this wonderfully creative track. A true underground gem.

Stream this debut single with two parts on his Spotify and see more of his life via IG.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

Matt Jacob has made his spacey psych-rock debut with ‘Chakra Song’.

NYC-hailing singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Matt Jacob has released his spacey psych-rock debut single, Chakra Song. Any fans of the Fall will want to take the cosmonautical trip the single invites you to embark.

Matt Jacob has performed throughout NYC alongside some seriously high-profile names, but perhaps most notably, he has performed in hospitals and taught music to girls in a Cambodian orphanage via Zoom; which goes some way in explaining why the soul on offer in the indulgently mellow single feels so sincere.

The meditatively cathartic single is an incredibly promising debut that will no doubt leave the artist on the radars of post-punk and psych-rock fans alike.

Chakra Song is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Annie Elise – glorious technicolour with ‘We Can Pretend’

Synesthesia is one of those conditions that doesn’t get the widespread understanding it should; but imagine ‘seeing’ sounds in colour, different pitches producing different hues across the whole musical/rainbow spectrum. That’s what Annie Elise, originally a classically trained violinist, has going on, taking her neurological condition and using it to create musical compositions that produce the colours that she likes to see.

Taking a break from production duties for Dawn Patrol Music, and eschewing her violin in favour of electronica, ‘We Can Pretend’ is an upbeat dance-biased synth-pop number, sequenced sounds and big beats working alongside Elise’s gentle vocal to deliver an easy, elegant europop track that’s big on catchy hooks and delicately worked melody – think gentler Charlie XCX, Little Boots, or Robyn, with a serious touch of Suzanne Vega’s chilled sing-song delivery and you’re in the right area. The sun’s shining, we’re drinking chilled Belgian beer from little stubby bottles, and ‘We Can Pretend’ is the perfect summery pop ear-candy soundtrack. Aaaaand relax.

Check out Annie Elise here or on YouTube; check out ‘We Can Pretend’ on Spotify or Apple Music.

 

Review by Alex Holmes

Jasi Bella calls time on the perpetuation of damaging ‘crazy ex’ archetypes in her latest dance-pop track.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoBHqzklCvM

Swedish pop artist Jasi Bella’s latest single, Your Ex, is a straight-up attack on the perpetuation of the ‘crazy ex’ stereotyping. Not only is it a warning that women can see through the wool being pulled over our eyes when you tell us why your last relationship was a disaster. It is also an emboldening track that inspires solidarity between women that suffer the same narrators that twist the story to play the victim of the ‘insanity’ they inspired.

With rates of domestic violence skyrocketing as a result of the lockdowns, we’re more conscious of the dangers of toxic relationships than ever; conversations, such as what you will hear in Your Ex, are vital to have. The vibrant pop track deserves to go viral.

Your Ex released on June 4th; you can check it out for yourselves by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Christopher Ambrose has released his Pride pop anthem, ‘To Feel Love’

NYC pop singer-songwriter Christopher Ambrose has been creating and producing for almost a decade; he’s produced tracks for the drag icon Honey Davenport (Ru Paul’s Drag Race, S.11), Robert Garcia, Jayce Vegas, and plenty more high-profile names. If you’re not previously acquainted with his energetically emboldening sound, his 2021 pride pop anthem, To Feel Love, is the perfect introduction.

If you could imagine Carly Rae Jepson, Years and Years and Ru Paul all aurally rolled into one, you will get an idea of the sticky-sweet luxurious feel that To Feel Love effortlessly exudes. The noisy synths cut across tropic pop beats to create the perfect platform for Christopher Ambrose’s upliftingly light vocals that inspire self-love and authenticity in times of uncertainty.

To Feel Love is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Better Times: Cory Johnson and the Broken Nightscape wish for good days again with ‘Cracked Streets and Broken Homes’

With a funky rock edge that has you listening rather attentively, Cory Johnson and the Broken Nightscape, drop the introspective new single ‘Cracked Streets and Broken Homes‘, which is taken off their debut twelve-track album called ‘Piece of My Life‘.

Cory Johnson and the Broken Nightscape is a guitar-filled indie rock act from Michigan, USA, with an honest tone who provide a groovy vibe full of sunshine and reflective thoughts to our awaiting ears.

With a ravishing riff that keeps you totally intrigued, to lyrics that tells the story of the pros and cons to what is happening now to the past, we are entertained by raw vocals which are full of passion and desire. This is a song that will have you reflecting deeper, as you wonder which direction life will take you in this crazy world full of worrying detours.

Cracked Streets and Broken Homes‘ from Cory Johnson and the Broken Nightscape, shows us in a world where we are so stuck inside our own aspirations and need to take a good look at ourselves in the mirror. There were some things about the past which were bad too – as we need to only look forward and never back – as the grass wasn’t always greener before.

Stream this deep new single on Spotify and check out his IG page for more news.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

I Don’t Want To Waste It: Sensational Sydney singer Cami Bex hangs on by a thread on the stunning ‘Nowhere To Put My Love’

With a fantastically edgy single that is all about love and how it can consume you so much, Cami Bex takes us for an amazing ride to express those important feelings that shouldn’t be bottled up on ‘Nowhere To Put My Love‘.

Cami Bex is a sensationally appealing Sydney, Australia-based indie alt-pop musician. Created with Los Angeles producer, Jason Boule, they have combined beautifully to make a striking single that has you feeling so reflective on how your romantic nature can be so powerful, and control you sometimes.

Cami was originally nervous about the graphic image in the close of the chorus, but has noted that it is more about a symbolic catharsis than a deathwish- ‘I’ve been dreaming of bleeding out into the ocean, but there’s no ocean big enough. There’s nowhere to put my love.’’ – Cami Bex

Nowhere To Put My Love‘ from the brilliantly lovable and alluringly cheeky Australian indie alt-pop singer-songwriter Cami Bex, sends our healing hearts in an absolute spin, as you think about doing things you wouldn’t normally do. She sings with so much vigor and pulsating passion, that is such an excellent listen to our warming souls. This is a wonderful single that has you captivated beyond belief, as she really has you thinking about how you truly feel inside your beating heart.

We are never alone and love will always follow us, no matter what has happened before. Don’t ever waste your love.

Hear this incredible new release on Spotify and check out her exciting IG for more.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

You Gotta Ball: Chicago underground rapper Dino feels invincible on intent-filled new single ‘No Hook Menace’

With his debut EP on the way soon, Dino dusts off the gloves and gets into the ring with his latest single called ‘No Hook Menace‘.

Brandon Coleman aka Dino, is a self-assured Chicago-based underground hip-hop artist with a ferocious delivery. He makes that raw rap music that swats away the competition easily, with his smartly penned lyrics and confident attitude.

He pulls up with a serious style and makes it known that he is for real. With a potent energy that has you captivated and nodding your head to his sterling effort, that rampages in like a hungry bull who knows where the prey is. He is tired of weak cats talking too much and is only focusing on being better from here on.

No Hook Menace‘ from the emerging Chicago-based artist Dino, is a swashbuckling freestyle-type track that leaves no doubt with his intentions. He is on a mission and doesn’t have time for anyone getting in the way of what he wants with girls, or his music career. This determined attitude has him on form here and with a bouncy beat – as this is a quick-fire track that is filled with smokey hard bars – and an artist who knows exactly what he wants.

You gotta ball after all to win in this life.

Stream this new track on Soundcloud and see more news on IG.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

Rachael Philip pays ode to continuity in ‘Relics in the Ice’

Rachael Philip

Manchester-based self-taught musician and composer Rachael Philip has taken a break from composing for film to release her debut album, Wax Ephemeral. The influences for the standout single, Relics in the Ice, came through the artist’s intense interest in science and spirituality. You will hear the latter laden in the minimalist, accordant progressions.

Hitting play on the dreamy instrumental landscape, complemented by birdsong, is a sure-fire way to get a potent hit of catharsis. The climbing progressions may be gentle, but Relics in the Ice is as transcendent as electroacoustic ambient neo-classic work gets.

In her own words,

“The album is a tribute to the continuous cycle of life, beauty in death, and regeneration into new forms from microcosmic to macrocosmic view, of a diverse but interconnected network of beings and organisms.”

Relics in the Ice is due for release on July 2nd. In the meantime, you can check out the composer’s other equally as mesmeric scores via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Television Of Cruelty go out of this world with ‘The Winchcombe Meteorite’

Eclectic is a word that gets overused in music reviews, but there are few that fit The Television Of Cruelty better; unexpected, often eerie and unsettling, ‘The Winchecombe Meteorite’ is a narrative tale telling the story of a big chunk of space debris which landed on the driveway of a house smack in the middle of Suburban England in February 2021, amongst the lockdown of the Coronavirus pandemic and the echoing divisions of Brexit and the Black Lives Matter protests.

Musically, there’s a mixture of folk, prog, and out and out rock; guitars, yes, and drums, but also flutes and a melodica. It sounds a little like New Model Army back in their ‘Vengeance’ and ‘Thunder and Consolation’ perfection heyday, mixed with ‘Space Oddity’-era Bowie and dashes of Pink Floyd and Yes. It’s gentle, poetic, storytelling folk-prog that’s a perfect introduction to the ToC’s new album ‘England’s Wyrding’. Stellar (sorry).

Check out ‘The Winchcombe Meteorite’ on Soundcloud; follow the Television of Cruelty on Facebook and Twitter.

Review by Alex Holmes