Browsing Tag

Alt Indie

Erika Levy blurred the line between grief and joy in her indie Avant-Garde single, Chicken and Rice

Posted on 5 January 2023

LA singer-songwriter and classically trained pianist Erika Levy closed 2022 with the release of her elevated alt-indie single, Chicken and Rice, which captures the desolation of the world in the absence of anchoring connection. Haunting and affirming in equal measure, your soul won’t know what’s hit it once you delve into the monochromatic sorrow flowing through her filmic vocals that establish her as a 21st-century chanteuse.

“I’ll get higher once I hit the ground, just takes a little bit to find me, Hey lonely, come buy me another round” is a lesson in heart-breaking lyricism; projected with such grace and finesse, the vulnerability is flooring. In place of pity, you’ll find appreciation for the strength she amassed to lyrically blur the line between grief and joy.

Any fans of Tori Amos, Amanda Palmer, Kate Bush and Fiona Apple will be disarmed by the sheer originality of Levy with the baroque nature of her descending piano melodies that become the off-kilter centre of her 70s folk-pop sonic world.

Chicken and Rice is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

UK Trio The Horizons Brought in a New Wave of Punk with ‘Just Friends.’

Posted on 4 January 2023

The Plymouth UK indie punk-rock trio, The Horizons, single-handedly brought in a new wave of punk with their latest hit, Just Friends. The sweeping choruses are as animating as Reel Big Fish’s cover of Take On Me, while nuances of 90s pop-punk bite away in the same vein as The Offspring’s Hit That in the backbeat. The frenzied grungy instrumentals are dusted with a sugar-coated post-punk snarl that immediately arrests you in the intro before they bring in the silky pop harmonies. Some bands need an entire LP or discography to establish their dynamism, not The Horizons.

Once the fear subsided that this wasn’t an incel-y track bemoaning the friend zone, the euphoria in the upbeat indie punk hit quickly became infectious. The hit becomes infinitely sweeter when you register the self-awareness that allows them to traverse around commitment issues while pertaining to a roguishly modern brand of romanticism.

Just Friends. was officially released on December 28th. Check it out on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

Ye Angst – 15: A Superlatively Succinct Alt-Indie Rock Remedy for the Soul

Posted on 2 January 2023

The indie singer-songwriter Ye Angst is renowned for sharing his artistic vision through the looking glass of youthful angst. In his evocatively enriched discography, which dates back to 2011, the perfect example is his exemplary single, 15. The jazz-blues piano keys around the Americana folk-rock body unravels as a superlatively succinct remedy for the soul.

In the same way, Cohen, Cat Stevens and Lou Reed emanate elevated grace, Ye Angst is in the habit of implanting ethereally cathartic instrumental accord in his singles that will effortlessly take you to a higher plateau while the lyrics and vocals pull you back down to our ennui-imparting earth.

Nearly a decade has passed since the release of 15, but the timeless single still resounds with glistening gospel for the impiously disenfranchised. Even around the complex instrumental interludes that give way to Journey-Esque heart-in-throat vocals, you’ll be caressed by the upliftingly melodic single, which perfectly rounds itself with orchestral strings for a filmic touch.

Succumb to the soul in 15 by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

EMRYS gifted compassion with her EP, Christmas Songs 4 Sad People

Posted on 24 December 2022

Following the success of her debut album, Downstruck, the independent singer-songwriter EMRYS has launched her refreshing antithesis of a Christmas EP, Christmas Songs 4 Sad People.

For anyone who can see through the capitalistic ploy the festive season has become and are reluctant to feign superficial joy because the calendar demands it, the five singles on the compassionately quaint EP will prove that you’re not alone in your seasonal pessimism.

After the harp strings in track one, Merry Christmas to the Miserable, have lulled you into a state of catharsis and assured you that you’re not isolated in your misery, EMRYS utilises her 2020 single, Christmas Will Be Silent This Year, to take us back to the frustrations of COVID deniers waving restrictions to celebrate a holiday as though it’s their God-given right.

Not Great, But Grateful is an exposition of what it means to be grateful while enduring a not-so-perfect life with humble grace. Serotonin for Christmas is a haunting reflection of how consumerism does little to quell the pain of mental health issues.

The concluding single, O Lonely Night, is a quiescently orchestral lullaby which instrumentally encapsulates the phenomenon of Christmas amplifying the isolation for anyone not at the centre of a picture-perfect nuclear family.

From start to finish, the EP is a gracefully elevated release, which definitively proves that true artistic beauty always lies in quirky creative autonomy. As someone who shares a similar mindset to EMRYS, I can fully attest to how seminal the EP is. Amanda Palmer couldn’t have said it better.

Christmas Songs 4 Sad People is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Deadpan indie rock icons in the making, Hairpin, walk ‘The Line’ in their latest earworm

Posted on 16 December 2022

Fans of deadpan indie in the same vein as John Grant, Spector and Jack Ladder will be just as hooked on the sardonic candour in Hairpin’s earworm of a sophomore single, The Line.

With a funk-riding indie disco beat as the backbone to the track that allows angular guitar melodies and gravelly post-punk-Esque basslines to form arrestive progressions under the magnetic indie drawling vocals as they lament the frustrations of contemporary connections, it is all too easy to succumb to the grip of the snappy, swanky hit.

The NYC independent five-piece, fronted by Nate Pozin, self-produces all their material, allowing it to retain its autonomy, which has seen the up-and-coming outfit make short work out of making their mark in the industry.

So far, they have sold out every show in New York by word of mouth alone. In a time where alt-indie rock success stories are tragically few and far between, it speaks volumes of their revolutionary capacity to win over a crowd and forge playlist staples from their home studio.

The Line is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Steve Twinley – Time Has Always Been a Friend of Mine: Hear the Latest Collision in Indie Electroclash

Posted on 14 December 2022
Sunsneezer (2022 album) by Steve Twinley

Taken from his 2022 album, Sunsneezer, Steve Twinley’s standout single, Time Has Always Been a Friend of Mine, is an indie electroclash earworm awash with 90s nostalgia. With a beat that pulsates with the same ferocity of Emerge by Fischerspooner paired with melodic choral increments that allow you to appreciate Twinley’s softer side, his seminal single inspires you to delve into it time and time again to re-appreciate the seamless shifts in tone and emotion.

The DIY Alt-Rock singer-songwriter hails from the South Coast of the UK and takes his influence from the alt-90s greats, including Weezer, Radiohead, Green Day, Eels and Feeder, but clearly, their inspiration was just a fraction of the creativity of the single that concludes on a psytrance-Esque outro in the same vein of Infected Mushroom.

Stream and purchase Steve Twinley’s single, Time Has Always Been a Friend of Mine, on Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

Spotlight Feature: Glimpse Behind the Scenes of Gated Estates’ Agitated Art-Rock Debut Single, A Letter, with the Live Studio Music Video

Posted on 11 December 2022

Breaking out of the Brecon Beacons, Gated Estates released our favourite debut single of the year with their agitated art-rock release, A Letter. Now, there is a glimpse of how the single was orchestrated; no magic was lost in the live studio version.

The video filmed in their home studio within rural wales provides a voyeuristic view of the gently tensile keys artfully pushing against the angular notes spilling from a Fender Jazz Master while the synths and loops in the background complexify the soundscape to create an alchemic exemplification of music that is greater than the sum of all parts. Christmas came early for the Neil Halstead fan in me as each guitar note transfused choral reverb into the single while the lyrics and vocals resounded with amplified ephemeral grace.

Just when I thought I couldn’t love Gated Estates more, they gave a bird’s eye view as they pulled the rabbit out of the proverbial hat in the compassion-encompassing single that navigates the bitter-sweet relationship between our present selves and our inner child.

Usually, music can only resonate with a subset of people that have experienced certain dynamics. As we have all grown from innocent vessels with naïve views of the world and optimism for the paths we will walk, A Letter speaks to everyone.

We can’t wait for the intellectualism bound to ensue from their sophomore release.

Watch the live studio video for A Letter, which premiered on December 9th on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Pinwheel Valley culminates a sense of hope in a disparate world with his Indie Psych Folk two-track release, Willow

Posted on 6 December 2022

With every new release from the singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer, Pinwheel Valley, we know we are in store for two things, deeply intellectual yet accessibly resonant contexts, and a glimpse into a brand-new facet of his creativity. His latest two-track release, Willow, was no exception.

The opening single, Willow, is a defeatism-traversing intrinsically melancholic work, which utilises solemnly angular art-rock lead guitar lines to completely submerge you in the cold tones that exemplify the isolation and frustration over deceit. Regardless of the inspiration of the lyricism, Willow extends sentiments that will viscerally resonate with anyone feeling adrift by the contemporary times, which all too often leave silver linings out of sight.

The second single, On to Land, uses an extended prelude of ardently raw acoustic guitar strings, rhythmically hammering zealous emotion before the first word is spoken. After cavernous shimmering reverb crawls across the folky, sparse soundscape, there’s an interlude of silence before the melody picks up under Pinwheel Valley’ vocals, which are fervid in their urgency to culminate a sense of hope in a disparate world. Closing on a turbulently psychedelic outro, you’re only human if you delve in for a repeat experience of the awakeningly affirming release.

Listen to Willow on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Freak out with the anthemically resonant single, Trauma, from the Atlanta indie powerhouse, yin.

Posted on 26 November 2022

Discussing inter-generational trauma no longer has to be confined to the therapy sessions you can’t afford, and posting statuses online that will result in a cascade of patronising care reacts. Atlanta’s most relatable alt-indie three-piece, yin, is here to make sure of it with their latest single, Trauma.

The infectiously maniacal high energy lets you ride the rare peaks that intersect the depth of the isolated lows. Strap yourselves in for the most anthemic indie jangle pop guitars you’ve ever heard as they sail through the dynamism that brings Take on Me to mind with the eccentrically soaring climactic choruses that leave the 1975 and Bleachers in the archetypal dirt.

In the style of Yung Blud, yin pair euphonic sonics with dark lyrics that make no bones about alluding to the dark places we drift into and all of the even darker thoughts that keep us company during the bouts of anxious madness that late-stage capitalism has left us to linger in. With their debut LP, Someone Who Isn’t Me, set to release on November 22nd, all eyes and ears should be on yin right now.

“There’s something really wonderful and terrible about being human in the modern age. We’re all struggling with the mere fact that waking up and convincing ourselves that we don’t hate each other is normal, and there’s always this emotional and spiritual push to try and love and cherish the little that we have to call our own. We just want to be honest about all of the sad parts as well as the really amazing happy parts.”

Trauma is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Captain Lo-Fi reached the serotonin-spilling pinnacle of feel-good music with his genre-fluid hit, ‘Joker’

Posted on 24 November 2022

With eccentrically sweet vocals that will instantaneously steal the hearts of any Modest Mouse and Grandaddy fans over some of the most genre-fluid instrumentals that you have ever heard, Captain Lo-Fi’s seminal single, Joker, is almost tear-jerkingly sweet.

The Germany-hailing musician and producer has been fine-tuning his sound in his own studio since 2013, working with artists from various genres and producing beats for artists and companies, including Loopmasters.

This goes a fair way in explaining the organic ease of the experimentalism in Joker, which throws all sense of pretence to the wayside to deliver funky, indie hip-hop-meets-pop instrumentals that his sunny-side-up vocals drift above. Creating authentically ‘feel-good’ music is no easy feat, but Captain Lo-Fi’s willingness to let his endearingly pure soul spill across his productions allowed him to reach the serotonin-spilling pinnacle.

Stream Joker on Spotify and follow Captain Lo-Fi on Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast