Browsing Tag

Chill Wave

Escape into the retro-futurism of tad valente’s synthwave world, take it away

Posted on 12 December 2022

Torrance, California-hailing independent songwriter and producer tad valente, took his listeners on a retro-futuristic sonic trip with his latest escapism-aiding release, take it away.

The playfully ambient melodies chime with purpose as they lead you through the experimental synth wave progressions, which fuse video game-esque aesthetics with an innovative twist on pop. The symphonic synths amalgamated with the chiptune textures and glitchy trip-hop motifs create an affably-sweet atmosphere that is impossibly easy to melt into and vibe with.

Clearly, valente is no stranger to taking control of his listener’s rhythmic pulses to lull them into a state of arrested appreciation of his intrinsically unique sonic signature.

take it away was officially released on December 2nd; stream & purchase it on Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Nocturnal Omissions – Local Customs: Meet Your New Experimental Escapist Playlist Staple

Posted on 15 June 2022

Pareidolia by Nocturnal Omissions

After the infinitely experimental alt-electronica artist Nocturnal Omissions invited us into the sanctity of his 2021 album, Tempus Destinatum, we’ve been hoping to see a return of his cinematic blends of post-rock, synthwave and chillwave.

The standout single, Local Customs, from his 2022 album, Pareidolia, is quite the departure from the last time we heard the one-man production machine, but a welcome reprieve from the soul-less electronica that floods the internet. The spacey meandering synths kaleidoscopically drift through the soundscape until the first crashing crescendo that lets you know just how immersed you are by pulling you through the tumultuous shift before the ambience creeps back, albeit briefly before another hammering blow of a breakdown.

Alchemic creativity and confidence in autonomy aside, any artist with the humility to describe themselves as perpetually emerging is an artist you should have on your radar.

You can check out Nocturnal Omissions’ album Pareidolia via Apple Music & Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Poetry flows with the mellow vibes in Innocent Tata’s alt hip hop track, The End.

Posted on 3 December 2021

Alt rap artist, Innocent Tata, dropped his latest album, Kiwi (The Bird), on November 15th; with his poetic flows and ambient indie vibes, this is urban catharsis as you have never known it before.

The standout single, The End, is a mellow window into the artist’s candid soul. After a hazy intro that bleeds reverb, the beats start to rattle beneath his butter-smooth rap bars that work their way around the introspective gold in the lyricism. The End drifts through ethereal increments into crescendos of sheer ambient electro ingenuity; your vibe out playlists couldn’t ask for more.

The End is available to stream and purchase via the apple store with the rest of Innocent Tata’s album, Kiwi (The Bird).

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Future bass fuses with classical in GASP’s ethereal electronic single, Qualified.

Posted on 1 December 2021

Electronica artist and producer GASP has released his ethereal debut album, CHILL FOREST MIX, which takes aural escapism to a whole new level. The Tampa-based artist fused his love of future bass, funk and classical into the ambiently explorative works that are quite literally a breath of fresh air for their embodiments of nature.

The standout single, Qualified, sets itself leagues apart from the predictable dystopic tracks that have flooded onto the airwaves recently. Qualified keeps its humanity and autonomy through the quiescent vocals which sporadically appear between the uniquely structured progressions. If you can imagine what Hozier would sound like if they became a ghost in the machine, you’ll get an idea of just how soulfully haunting the vocals are in Qualified. Instrumentally, it breaks a new aural boundary with every new evolution in sound.

Qualified is now available to stream with the rest of CHILL FOREST MIX via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Prepare your ambient playlists for the chill wave catharsis in !Noj’s latest single, sweet memories

Posted on 9 November 2021

‘sweet memories’ is the latest Synesthesia-inducing single to be released by the Netherlands-based chill hop experimentalist, artist and producer, !Noj.

The ambient lullaby chimes through hypnotic melodies, leaving ample space for points of reflection before the next progression that drags you deeper into the soundscape. With the beats keeping track like a metronome, the neo-classically underlined melodies add even more magnetism to the instrumental score.

sweet memories is enough to impart what it says on the tin; it provides a brief window of tranquillity; given the times we’re living in, you should probably take any chance you get to pull your mind out of the gutter.

Check out !Noj via Soundcloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Hope Called in Sick has released their melancholic playlist staple, Lotus.

Posted on 29 October 2021

Iconic sonic palettes from the 80s and the 90s converge in Hope Called in Sick’s latest single, Lotus; the shimmering synth melodies paired with the layers of accordant shoegazey reverb made it a multi-stop nostalgia hit.

Plenty of contortions have been spun upon the 80s synth sound, but the husband and wife duo, Rob and Monica Schipul, managed to bring brand-new phantasmal energy out of it. Lotus offers a very different brand of ambience; one that reflects our modern malaise and the duo’s Jungian lens through which they see the world.

Check out the latest release from Hope Called in Sick on Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Trip hop got trippier with the release of Bi&nka’s reverb-drenched seminal single, Loves a Wall

Posted on 14 October 2021

Any fans of Banks & Steelz will find the same amount of infatuation for the trippy ground-breaking tones in Bi&nka’s latest alt electronica single, Loves a Wall. The shoegazey reverb paired with the urban grit in the electronic mix opens up a mellow spacey soundscape for the spoken word rap vocals and the listener to fall into.

On the basis f Loves a Wall alone, it comes as little surprise that the independent Luton, UK-based artist and producer has received airplay from BBC Introducing and has amassed a loyal fan following with her indulgent, experimentally-layered mixes.

With her debut EP in the making, there has been no better time to place Bi&nka on your radar.

Loves a Wall is now available to stream on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Warren Davis has released his era-defining ambient EP, Oden’s Palace.

Posted on 2 September 2021

Birmingham, UK-based independent artist, Warren Davis, has released his ambient, mood-reflecting EP, Oden’s Palace, featuring the standout single, Discord. The meditative tempo makes it easy to drink in the organic flair of Warren Davis’ signature style which is defining a new era of new-age lo-fi. He leaves enough space for the listener to feed in their own emotion and imagination, but the gentle guitar melodies still lead to a higher mental plateau.

By taking inspiration from RnB, reggae, and Anime OST’s, Davis can orchestrate soundscapes that are as tonally vibrant as they are explorative and intensely cathartic. Do we even need to tell you he deserves a spot on your radar?

Discord is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Evoke Altered Nostalgia with Swimsuit Season’s Debut Self-Titled Vaporwave EP

Posted on 1 April 2021

https://open.spotify.com/track/69CSnWrsDcmOFf9UM9FmMS?si=fe692f7612644a26

Enjoy altered nostalgia with artist and producer Swimsuit Season’s debut self-titled EP. With their retro-futuristic approach to lo-fi vaporwave, the melodies lock into recontextualised sun-bleached memories as the instrumental mixes flow through their hazy, glitchy in part, progressions. Perceptibly, Swimsuit Season has no trouble keeping listeners entranced and simultaneously lost in daydream ambience.

The title track is the perfect introduction to Swimsuit Season’s almost ethereal sound that pulls in nuances of 8-bit and 16-bit for a touch of contemporary within the chillwave mix which could easily go viral.

Swimsuit Season’s debut EP is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Lumiere – Nyctophillia: Darkly Cinematic Electronica Meets Neo-Classical

Posted on 1 January 2020

A song dedicated to the feeling of finding comfort in the darkness was never going to evade our radar without piquing our bleak curiosity. Lumiere’s stunning composition Nyctophillia certainly didn’t disappoint.

The neo-classically infused cinematic Electronica score hooks you in from the first stabbing piano note. From there on out, you’re guided along by a bitter-sweet melody which allows you to embrace the aural darkness and find the fractures of effervescence through the lighter notes. Nyctophillia is so much more than an arrangement of deftly played instrumentals. It’s an offering of pure, resonant, cathartic emotion.

If you could imagine what it would sound like if the Verve started crafting instrumental scores, you’d get a good idea of what Lumiere has to offer.

Watching the visuals which Lumiere has put together with the evocatively arrestive soundscape in the official music video is an absolute must. You can check it out for yourselves via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast.