Browsing Tag

Alt Dream Pop

Detroit Dreampop Diehard Romantic, Jessie Berkshires, Pulled All the Emotive Punches in Her Latest Single, Don’t Let Me Down

Posted on 6 December 2024

With her latest single, Don’t Let Me Down, Detroit-based indie artist Jessie Berkshires carved a new vein into the dream-pop pantheon. Opening with tenderly hammered minor piano notes entwined with a syncopated, trip-hop-inspired beat, the track balances warmth and alienation in bittersweet duality.

Beneath its polished production lies a raw exploration of the paradox of love and its ability to flood your world with light while igniting fears of the darkness of heartbreak. Berkshires’ lyricism pierces with its candour: the tension between vulnerability and the need for reassurance is as gripping as the delicate melodies that carry it. Her ethereal vocal delivery is perfectly framed by an instrumental arrangement that feels both spacious and all-consuming, like staring into a love you want to trust but fear will falter.

The balance of the raw, relatable emotion and the cold visualisations of romantic dissonance in the instrumentals allow Jessie Berkshires to establish herself as an artist who knows exactly how to amplify her lyricism with melodies which may be quiescent, but they know exactly how to pull the evocative punches.

Don’t Let Me Down was officially released on November 22 and is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.  

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Demure dream-pop royalty, speakeazie has released her debut album, Prohibition Hippie

Posted on 25 February 2022

The Minneapolis-based alt dream-pop artist that is never short of mesmeric material, speakeazie, has released her highly anticipated debut album, Prohibition Hippie, featuring the standout single, Disintegrate, which spins an engrossing narrative tale of a young girl losing control. Anyone that has ever felt their mask of sanity slip will undoubtedly want to delve into this compassionately orchestrated single.

Disintegrate shares a tonal palette with Echo and the Bunnymen’s earlier material. But with the instrumentals distorted via the wobbly tape delay effect, the bedroom pop single takes an authentically demure form.

speakeazie’s vocals parallel the evocative power of Florence Welch while keeping in line with the contemporary moody indie-pop vocal trend. By that we mean they are alchemic leagues ahead. Also written into Disintegrate’s mix is speakeazie’s influence of dreamy retro aesthetics and the 1920s. It is inarguably one of the most distinctive releases that we have heard so far this year.

speakeazie’s debut album is now available to stream on Spotify. Or you can check out the video on YouTube. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Sarah Rae tempts shadow sides to the surface in her surf noir single, Shadow Girl.

Posted on 16 November 2021
https://soundcloud.com/sarahraesings/shadow-girl

If April March had a deviously arcane side, her hypnotic rhythms would share the same maleficent magnetism as Sarah Rae’s latest single, Shadow Girl, which was orchestrated to tempt shadow sides to the surface.

The operatic harmonies interlace with the artfully tumultuous instrumentals, acting as a cascading anchor through the symphonic scores, disturbed dream-pop layers and surf rock noir style. Naturally, the Atlanta-based artist is one to watch. She’s by fair one of the most original artist’s we have heard in 2021.

Shadow Girl was officially released on November 11th; it is now available to stream on SoundCloud. The album from which the ethereally Avant single was taken is due for release in 2022.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

scixnce brings in the future of future pop with latest single ‘in the dark’

Posted on 25 February 2021

‘in the dark’ is the latest psychedelically spacey electronic pop single from up and coming UK singer-songwriter, scixnce; it may just be the future of future pop.

in the dark puts a futuristic spin on indie dream pop by propping up scixnce’s soulful vocals with entrancing reverb-drenched electronica beats which showcase the artist’s ability to construct infectiously catchy melodies and offer organically manifested good vibes.

While some high-vibe dance pop tracks are only fit for dancefloors, the masterful production ensures that your mood will be uplifted by this hit, wherever you encounter it. It’s the perfect indie pop playlist staple.

In the dark is available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Frank Michaels showcases their constraint-less charisma with their alt-indie electronica debut ‘2 Weeks’

Posted on 12 February 2021

If you’ve lost all concept of time, Frank Michaels’ single, 2 Weeks, may not be able to help in that regard, but it does provide 2:19-minutes of alt-indie electronica experimentalism which will set your synapses alight, and let’s face it, dopamine is hard to come by these days.

By fusing elements of trippy indie hip hop, electronica and funk-driven pop into atypically galvanising and glitchy progressions, the Toronto-hailing songwriter and producer created the perfect platform for their dream pop-Esque vocals which bring a sense of tranquillity and soul.

COVID-19 may have a lot to answer to for, but the inspiration it gave so many artists to take the bull by the aural horns and make their debut is definitely a silver-lining. Frank Michaels can discernibly count himself amongst the artists making these bleak times a little brighter with their constraint-less charismatic sound.

2 Weeks is available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

AYGYUL exudes strength through her emboldening electro pop single ‘I’ll Be Alright’

Posted on 20 January 2021

Vienna-based, Russian-born singer/songwriter/producer Aygyul mixes up the genres on her new, bilingual single “I’ll Be Alright”, throwing in Indie-pop, Electronica, and a little dash or two of R&B, to produce a classy little dance-pop track.

Created during lockdown from Aygyul’s bedroom music studio, and working with poet Pati Avish (who writes all the lyrics for Aygyul’s songs), this is a reminder that, no matter what’s going on around us, we need to look internally, to our inner resilience and strength, and to take the time out to care for ourselves and give ourselves time to recover; ‘I’ll Be Alright’ is a strong track, dance-oriented but still poppy and uplifting.

Hear ‘I’ll Be Alright’ on YouTube. Follow Aygyul on Instagram.

Review by Alex Holmes