Browsing Tag

Cali Indie Pop

Micah! is California dreaming in their latest alt indie pop release, STAY UP

Posted on 7 October 2024

You don’t need Micah!’s bio to tell you that they’re a Cali-residing artist, you can hear it in the dreamy warmth of the hazy melodies in their latest alt-indie-pop single, STAY UP, which teases nuances of hip-hop into the mix with sharp pseudo-rap cadences in the verses.

After honing their songwriting, recording and production skills for a decade, STAY UP is a catharsis-soaked culmination of all the time invested in their unflinching dedication to carve out a niche that listeners will want to nestle into time after time.

Fans of the deliciously delirious tonal palettes alchemised by NewDad, Jibba, Just Mustard and other contemporary indie icons in the same vein will find endless appeal in STAY UP, which is yet another attestation to Micah!’s potential that has already been actualised after the artist opened for Snoop Dogg and hit the 1 million stream mark on SoundCloud.

STAY UP was officially released on September 19; stream the single on Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Maxton Hunter sets his trajectory to the moon in his psych-pop single, Halfway Home

Posted on 20 July 2022

As classically soul-stirring as Chris Isaak and as compellingly contemporary as a pop-styled Courtney Barnett, Maxton Hunter’s latest single, Halfway Home, extends psychedelic indie Cali warmth across the stratosphere.

Commercial potential and magnetic don’t always go hand in hand, but they have a tight grip on each other in the oceanically breezy indie hit. It’s quite ironic how the lyrics leave Maxton Hunter pontificating on superpowers, given the celestial sense of melodicism that drives through Halfway Home. And vocally, he could very well be the last of the great dreamers. For catharsis’ sake, we can’t wait to hear what comes next from the up-and-coming artist.

Halfway Home is now available to stream on Spotify and all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Darcy Court has released their triumph of a 60s-psych-tinged alt-indie debut, Bar of Clay

Posted on 18 April 2022

The instantly trailblazing 60s psych pop-inspired indie rock act, Darcy Court, brought plenty of the Cali heat into their euphonically blissful debut single, Bar of Clay, which unravels to the narration of the conflated emotions that transpire when locked in a too-good-to-be-true crash and burn relationship and all you can do is await the final collision.

The kaleidoscopic synaesthesia-inducing melodies feed into the rich timbre of the single that flirts with the alt-90s era just as much as the 60s psych-pop nuances to create an era-spanning indulgent tonal pool that you’ll find infinitely temperate.

Indie debuts don’t get much more promising than Bar of Clay. Darcy Court have got exactly what it takes to reach the same heights as their iconic 60s influences.

Bar of Clay was officially released on April 8th; it is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast