Browsing Tag

indie-pop

Elin Grace artfully enticed her listeners into meditation with the sophisticated tranquility of her alt-indie single, Breathe

Escape to the country with the rural poetry in Elin Grace’s latest quirky jazz-infused piano pop single, Breathe. With the same ephemeral grace of The Anchoress paired with her own celestially graceful beguile, the lullaby-esque single that artfully and unexpectedly entices you into meditation after a confessional outpour of emotion is a flawless triumph.

The mid-Wales-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who has mastered the piano, saxophone, cello, and ukulele, has been lauded by the likes of Adam Walton from BBC Radio Wales and has seen her music commissioned for London Fashion Week. Clearly, Elin Grace has a promising future ahead. She’s one of a kind, yet drinking in the tranquil sophistication of her melodies is, ironically, as easy as breathing.

Breathe is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Robert John Hanson sells sanctuary in his single, Hush and a Prayer

Judging by Robert John Hanson’s streaming stats, the soul in his sound has its own gravitational pull for listeners who want to fall into the vivid narratives and colourfully cathartic melodies time and time again.

The Liverpool-born, Rhode Island-residing singer, songwriter and guitarist’s standout single, Hush and a Prayer, celestially pays homage to the band that inspired Hanson’s lifelong journey as an artist, the Beatles, while reflecting the compelling styles of other British greats, such as Queen, The Kinks, Bowie and Pink Floyd.

Reminiscences all too quickly fall by the wayside to the lush ambience that swells around the guitar chords and his gently compelling vocal timbre that would fall into the easy-listening genre if it didn’t stir the soul so viscerally.

Hush and a Prayer is available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Take a nostalgic ride with Autoleisureland’s brooding ode to 80s electro-pop, Infiniti Drive

With scratchy Covenant-Esque synths and atmospheric beats that build a portal of 80s nostalgia, Autoleisureland’s seminal electro-pop single, Infiniti Drive, is a ride you will want to take time and time again. While the crooned vocals bring the stylistic indie soul, the brooding groove-deep beats take the steering wheel with your rhythmic pulses.

Autoleisureland may be new on the retro-modern synth-pop scene, but the Sunderland, UK-based founding members Paul Woods and David Brewis earned their electro stripes in the critically-acclaimed indie-soul band, The Kane Gang before launching the title single from their upcoming debut album, which is due for release on November 25th.

Infiniti Drive was officially released on October 14th. Check it out for yourselves on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Fading Out created the ultimate indie jangle pop anthem for the socially awkward with ‘So Embarrassing’

https://soundcloud.com/fadingoutmusic/so-embarrassing-master-v2/s-s15z5l7eAYc?si=379ae0cb9c0243bb91ef1336573ded22&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Brooklyn—based singer-songwriter, Fading Out (Evan Bieber) has launched the latest single, So Awkward, from his forthcoming debut EP, Maybe I Thought About You Once, and shared the ultimate indie anthem for the socially awkward.

With his upbeat approach to broaching cringeworthy moments, it is enough to instil you with a newfound sense of humility. The single, inspired by those everyday moments that compel you to run the second a micro faux pas slips out, is just a fraction of the introspective gold forged in his upcoming LP.

With a sonic palette that would complement any playlists featuring Peace, Swim Deep, Viola Beach and Jaws, So Embarrassing would be on the cusp of contemporary trends if it didn’t transcend them with the extra vigour in the angular jangle-pop guitars, which any indie rock fan will register as next level. Fading out even gives Marr & Robert Smith a run for their money with the intricately melodic gravitas in this colourful earworm that will stick to your synapses like superglue from the first hit.

So Embarrassing will officially release on October 17th. Check it out on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Mars Alva shares the euphoria of escaping toxic relationship dynamics in his latest alt hyper-pop single, Erase

Here to prove that there is nothing sweeter than the euphoria of breaking free from a toxic relationship dynamic is the alternative Houston, TX artist Mars Alva, with his latest indie hyper pop single, Erase. It is a markable sonic shift from his spacey single, CRASH!, which came four months prior. The raw nature of the lyricism necessitated the off-kilter production that reflects the tumultuousness of dissonance gifted by narcissists.

Erase looks back on the love-bombing stage of a relationship, where the facades that were painted on thick soon started to slip. Upliftingly, Alva supercharged his release with the visceral energy that manifests when the only regret you have from walking away is the time and energy you wasted. Even if you haven’t been there yourself, you will still get the rush from this sonic firestorm, influenced by the 1975, Kanye, Frank Ocean, and The Weeknd.

The official music video for Erase will premiere on October 14th. Catch it on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Love persists in Matilda Pratt’s tender indie pop love letter, Dear You

Swift fans will want to flock around the latest single, Dear You, to come from the 20-year-old indie pop songstress, Matilda Pratt, who studies law at Oxford University by day and lights up the airwaves by night with her classic yet quirky pop vocal dynamism. The vocal layering is nothing but a work of art in Dear You, which act as an open love letter to a departed and distant lover.

While the lyrics are straight-up bubble gum pop, Pratt’s husky harmonics bring them alive with a sense of old soul over the simple sporadically rugged folk-pop acoustic guitar progressions. How Pratt is still an unknown artist is utterly beyond me. Her vocal talent is as matchless as her capacity to draw you into a compelling narrative.

Dear You will officially release on September 30th. Check it out on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Electro-chanson meets 00s Britpop in Laptop Singers’ single, Le Love featuring Judy St. Clarke

Here to perpetuate the myth that there’s something in Sweden’s waters that breeds pop legends is Gothenburg’s brother duo, Laptop Singers, with their latest single, Le Love, featuring the Nashville singer Judy St. Clarke.

Before Le Love swings you back to Paris in the 60s, it makes a brief pitstop in charted by Garbage and The Cardigans 90s Britpop territory, leaving ample room for modernity to reflect in the lyricism that makes no bones about getting to grips with the tantamount of the tribulation.

The era-mashing yet juxtaposingly timeless single comes with more than just a pinch of electro-pop panache. The endlessly inviting demure soul from Judy St. Clarke against the electrically reverberating keys, high-energy guitars, and absurdity-embracing lyrics makes the chaos of 2022 worth enduring.

Here’s what Laptop Singers had to say about their sticky-sweet escapist release:

“This song is inspired by listening to lots of French music, both old classics from the 60´s, like Francoise Hardy, and new French indie pop like Bon Entendeur and L’Impératrice. It´s an uptempo, guitar-based song about youthful energy, love, and confusion right in the middle of 2022!”

Le Love is now available to stream on Spotify.

Follow Laptop Singers on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Maella brings the house down in her sultry alt-pop earworm, Tudu Tudu Tu

Prague-born, London-based Alt-Pop artist and producer, Maella brought a smorgasbord of Eastern European flavour to her latest single, Tudu Tudu Tu, which merges juxtaposing nostalgic sonic textures to allow a new wave of retro to crash across the 90s dance percussion and seductive bass.

It is as cinematic as any Tarantino cult hit, and a poignant exposition on a chapter of her life that closed the book on difficult breakups, unfulfilling romances, and the claustrophobia of lockdowns. If Shiny Toy Guns wrote Seven Nation Army, the earworm wouldn’t be a million miles away from the electrically serpentine rhythms that will leave you dying to come back for more. Empowerment never sounded sweeter.

Tudu Tudu Tu, which is part of the Slow Burn EP, is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

VANES speaks for the diehard romantics in his indie rock meets hip hop sophomore single, can’t feel your love

Indie rock, pop, and hip hop converge in the latest single, can’t feel your love, from the earworm raconteur, VANES. The Wolverhampton, UK-based British Caribbean poet and singer-songwriter is one of the few artists unafraid to wear their visceral vulnerability on their sleeve to enrich the emotional intelligence of their listeners.

The self-proclaimed unashamed embodiment of tenderness takes influence from everyone from Arctic Monkeys to N.E.R.D, but his guitar-driven indie sound is undeniably his own. The funk that permeates through the choppy licks made a radio-ready anthem out of can’t feel your love, which traverses the frustration of unfulfilling romantic dynamics that leave you reeling every time you extend affection only to feel idiotic for your diehard romanticism.

Can’t feel your love was officially released on September 30th; catch it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

World music goes pop in Paul Melia’s explosively artful single, Doctor in the Sky

Taken from the sophomore album, Moons Over Mountains, by the experimental artist Paul Melia, the standout single, Doctor in the Sky, is a fiery explosion of Avant Garde pop that breaks the monocultural mould with the exotic rhythms and jazz-derived world music synthetics.

Despite being in a strident league of his own, Paul Melia created the most visceral earworm of the year, complete with the capacity to allow you to transcend the drudgery of modernity. As for the music video, short of dropping acid, there is no better means of escapism as you explore a psychedelic world, complete with appearances from internet-famous cats riffing on keyboards and guitars and cringey moments from political pop culture. It is like the condensed version of Adam Curtis’ Hypernormalisation, with a soundscape that keeps on giving with every repeat hit.

The official music video for Doctor in the Sky will premiere on September 16th. Check it out on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast