Browsing Tag

Indie Electronica

Tree Giants bring unity in trend with their dreamy evocative firestorm, Better Together

Posted on 26 May 2022
Tree Giants

The electronica duo Tree Giants, consisting of Oklahoma City’s Daniel Chrisman and Israel Lee, have released another compassionately synthy-sweet dream-pop hit, Better Together. As blissful as Beach House, as momentous as the euphonic hits left behind in Avicii’s wake, it’s a triumph in genre-defying euphoria.

The message of unity behind the spacey sonic elements may be simple but through the honeyed indie RnB vocal lines, reverb-swathed synths and oscillating basslines that surge through enrapturing the progressions, it’s as profound as anything Shakespeare had to say in his time. It’s a stunningly sincere reminder that connection is a fundamental part of the human experience and in dark days, those olive branches can bring us to a new plateau of existence.

Hear Better Together for yourselves here.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Melodic bass meets noise pop in Heasuence’s latest experimental electro single, I Find

Posted on 4 May 2022

Melodic bass artists and producer, Heasuence has unleashed their evocatively charged trip-hop-tinged single, I Find. Despite the lo-fi production, it’s an artfully expressive electronica triumph. When the bass hits, I Find evolves from a melodiously downtempo and almost meditative sonic landscape with elevated indie-pop vocals into a monolithic cage of volatile turbulence.

The avant-garde and emotionally reflective elements certainly weren’t lost on us. It does what so tracks fail to do and brings you right into the artist’s psyche. And perhaps more importantly, in our commodified aural reality, it leaves an unforgettable mark on your consciousness with the ethereal versing of lyrics “I find peace in mystery” before the bass tears the track to asunder.

I Find is now available on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Art Crimes Band bring the soul in their Guy Like You (Blakkheart Remix)

Posted on 28 March 2022
The Art Crimes Band

Guy Like You is the latest soft, sweet, and soulful feat of electronica from The Art Crimes Band. The Blakkheart Remix brings out the best in the reverb-laden 90s-inspired progressions as they well under the harmonic timbre that gives the hit of ego-less catharsis a tranquil dream-pop meets minimalist trance edge.

By taking inspiration from the lives of John Legend, The Roots, Gregory Porter and Nikka Costa and sticking to their ethos of ‘playing the music and loving the people’, Guy Like You is the kind of soundscape you have no issue falling completely into. It’s simple and sparse but still, it resounds.

The remix of Guy Like You will be available to stream from April 8th. You can check it out via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Agaaze proves that pace is the trick in his electro-pop-meets-neo-psych single, Take it Slow

Posted on 8 January 2022

The New York-hailing multi-instrumentalist and producer Agaaze is fresh from the release of this debut 7-track EP, A Portal Inside, which features the eclectically progressive, Take it Slow.

Take it Slow was curated to prove that when it comes to progress, pace is the trick. The progressive single starts with the downtempo, dreamy textures you would expect from a track under such a name. By the time Take it Slow reaches the outro, expect to find yourself in a trippy, psychedelic rabbit hole that is structured by Agaaze’s soulfully sweet magnetism and the sheer range of his experimentalism. At the age of just 19 years old, his songwriting talent transcends the majority.

The world will never see another David Bowie for the simple reason that they’d rather place icons on pedestals and believe independent artists can never reach them. As far as we’re concerned, Agaaze came pretty damn close with Take it Slow.

Watch the visualiser of Take it Slow on YouTube or add it to your Spotify playlists.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Close to Monday – Kripko Spi: Transcendently Experimental Progressive Electronica

Posted on 27 December 2021

The indie breakthrough artist, Close to Monday, was one of the few artists that managed to garner international attention and affection in 2021. Based on their recently released EDM hit, Kripko Spi, Close to Monday’s success was one of the only things that made sense during our most recent perplexing trip around the sun.

With entrancing beats that would give Front 242, Covenant, and Skinny Puppy a run for their money towards the outro, it scarcely comes as a surprise that so many immersed themselves in Close to Monday’s sound that breaks the monocultural mould while creating a demurely alluring sensory experience.

With the 7-minute duration of Kripko Spi, the progressive single has plenty of time to transition from the ambience in the prelude to the dancey harsh beats. The vocals are minimalist, but every time they come to the surface, they’re nothing short of intoxicating.

Kripko Spi is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Davesar – Fates Dance featuring Archana: Dark, dancey indietronica alchemy.

Posted on 20 November 2021
Davesar

NYC artist and producer, Davesar, may be still flying under the radar since his debut but with his latest dark and moody single, Fates Dance, featuring Archana, he’s proven that he has what it takes to climb the electronic charts.

Fates Dance carries the gravitas of Warpaint, Portishead, Policia, Chelsea Wolfe and Crystal Castles with all of the excitement of discovering a new artist with the ability to orchestrate his own very distinct brand of dark dancey alchemy. The indietronica beats are a triumph within themselves; in combination with the clever layering of vocal melodies, Fates Dance feels like exactly that; a whirlwind of rhythm through the futility of trying to control your fate.

Archana’s sultry in spite of being commanding vocals were a perfect fit for the track around Davesar’s compassionately gentle vocal timbre. The collaborative chemistry between them is potent; we can only hope there is more music from the collab in the pipeline.

Fates Dance is due for release on November 19th, 2021. You can catch it for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Alice Payne – Visions: The Ultimate Chillwave Playlist Staple

Posted on 18 September 2021
https://soundcloud.com/alicepaynee/visions-radio-edit

‘Visions’ is the latest dreamily psychotropic dance-pop release from the independent Australian artist and producer Alice Payne. After releasing her debut synth-pop track, Drive, earlier this year, the hype is steadily garnering around her emotionally charged, sonically cathartic style.

The reverb-swathed soundscape starts with an ethereal indie trip-hop prelude before the downtempo four-to-the-floor beat starts to kick in to create a solid structure for the ensnaring track to capture you within.

With the teasing progressions, aural curveballs and enigmatic sense of intrigue in Visions, you couldn’t ask for a better chillwave playlist staple.

Visions is now available to stream on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Last Clouds take you to the sonic depths of dejection with their ethereal indie electronica track, Black Hole Lives.

Posted on 17 September 2021

With an intro that mashes The National-style tender piano keys with glitchy caustic electronica, the sense of duality starts resonating early in The Last Clouds’ latest single, Black Hole Lives.

There is an overarching sense of inescapable despair while the restive drum patterns epitomise our refusal to sit restless with ennui. Resonate with it, and you will find yourself consumed by the monochromatic tones, poetic lyrics and psychologically reflective rhythms as you’re taken to the sonic depths of dejection. I mean, do you really have anywhere better to go?

As the single progresses, the reverb that took the sting out of the naturally intimate, Paul Banks reminiscent vocals in the intro starts to slip away, allowing the emotion to ebb and flow with the crescendos, saving the most visceral for last.

I don’t make Paul Banks comparisons lightly, but if any new single is going to leave you an emotional wreck, it is Black Hole Lives and I can personally vouch for The Last Clouds when I say they pour plenty more into their live performances than Interpol.

Black Holes Lives is the second release from the Cheshire-based synth duo’s upcoming album, English Melancholy. The single was officially released on September 17th; you can check it out via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Mined Music extends an invitation of intimacy with ‘Let Me In’ featuring Amanda Power.

Posted on 14 June 2021

Munich-based singer-songwriter, artist and producer, Mined Music’s latest single, Let Me In, featuring Amanda Power, is a trippy feat of indietronica that extends an invitation of intimacy that you’ll find impossible to decline.

Through dark yet delicate synth-driven progressions and glitchy percussion, Mined Music created a hypnotic atmosphere for Amanda Power’s spoken word vocals to command. Despite the deadpan tone of the vocals as they verse the lyrics that capture the beauty of closeness and the subsequent danger of trust, you will still feel the vulnerability that manifests around intimacy. It’s a stunningly seductive single that is more than worth a spot on your ambient electronica playlists.

Let Me In is now available to stream on Spotify.

Connect with Mined Music via Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Siobamm has made her dark-pop debut with her alt-indie-electronica EP, ‘Gloom Patrol’.

Posted on 1 June 2021
Siobamm

Toronto, Canada-hailing roller derby skater Siobamm used her time during lockdown to write and self-produce her dark pop debut EP, Gloom Patrol. It is easily one of the most promising alt-electronica debuts so far in 2021.

The standout single, Bones, is a feat of darkwave synth-pop that pulls in gothy discordant textures along with the steady downtempo pace of the pulsating basslines, giving Bones a mesmerizingly mellifluous, almost cinematic, feel. If Gloom Patrol was her 10th EP, we’d be impressed. For Siobamm to make a debut with a sound that is polished as it is authentic is something else entirely. Discernibly, the key to Siobamm’s success was ensuring that connectable emotion ran at the surface of her unique sound.

Any fans of Warpaint, Hooverphonic, Portishead and Bjork won’t want to miss out on this stylistically moody synth-pop release.

Check out Siobamm via her website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast