Browsing Tag

Cigarettes After Sex

Brikcs has released his dark genre-bending work of neo-classic melancholia ‘Coffers’

Posted on 9 November 2021

With its Cigarettes After Sex and Perfume Genius-level of artful magnetism, the cold ambience in Brikcs’ latest neo-classically-scored single, Coffers, is a rare reminder of just how sonorously beautiful music can be.

We scarcely felt that there was room for improvement the last time we heard Brikcs in December 2020 with his single, Water, but Coffers exceeded all expectations. With the lyricism falling into the sombre side of poetry and the grand piano melodies within the lush layers of reverb, Coffers is as elegant as it is haunting.

The extended instrumental interlude towards the outro is enough to affirm that Brikcs is one of the most criminally underrated artists of our generation. The beguiling mix of grandiosity and raw, gorgeously bleak emotion is nothing short of breathtaking.

The Icelandic multi-instrumentalist and electronica producer, Brikcs, cut his teeth in the music scene in rock and metal bands before turning his attention to genre-bending works of melancholia; a move that we will be endlessly grateful for.

Coffers is now available to stream on Bandcamp and Spotify.

Follow Brikcs on Facebook

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Pinecones – It’s Fine (I’m Fine): Bedroom Blues

Posted on 7 January 2018

If I told you that this track was created by two college kids home for Christmas, you’d probably swerve it right? But what if that’s where you’ve been going wrong? From the moment I hit play on the Pinecones latest EP, I knew that sounds don’t get much fresher than this. It may not have made it to Radio 1 yet, but these sweet charismatic indie sounds are exactly the type of melody that can keep the band scene alive. Their international sound is instantly translatable to anyone that doesn’t mind indulging their apathy through hauntingly rhythmic music.

Pinecones play as you’d imagine a contemporary reimagination of The Smiths would. Pinecones come across as steeped in humble humility, yet they could be forgiven for developing an ego after creating a sound so poignantly real. With their soft yet playful sound, I have no doubt that they’ll be joining the likes of Cigarettes After Sex & Lou Barlow on people’s chilled out indie playlists.

I’m Fine is just one of the tracks off the band’s stunning 5 track debut EP ‘Summer in December’ which was released in December 2017.

Check out the Pinecones debut track and the rest of the EP by using the SoundCloud link below:

https://soundcloud.com/pine-cones/its-fine-im-fine

-Amelia Vandergast

Deep Sea Peach Tree – Clue: It Will Swallow You Whole

Posted on 21 November 2017

Vaguely Navy by Deep Sea Peach Tree

I saw the name, and fell in love before I even heard a note of their music. Their ambient Shoegaze sound riddled with alternative indie jazz & indie pop is the most sensational sound since Cigarettes After Sex. Shoegaze will always have an undeniably special place in my record collection with the likes of My Bloody Valentine, SWANS, and Slowdive.

The New York based trio have captured a quiescent sound through their new track Clue which is just one of the glorious sounds on their latest release Vaguely Navy. Every inch of their presence is poetic, they’re one of the most beautiful collective of musicians I’ve ever encountered. As you’d expect from a Shoegaze track Its ambient melody pulls at the heart strings whilst the heavy reverberation of the inexplicably played guitar fuels you with the sound of their powerful momentum that’s almost orchestral. Lead singer Kristof Denis keeps the soul of the enigmatic genre alive over the incandescent guitars and eerie melodies that have the power to swallow you whole.