Browsing Tag

Indie Singer Songwriter

Jamie Beth shines in the fading light of intimacy in her latest single, Streetlights

Posted on 6 November 2024

Imagine the space on the sonic continuum where the commercial potential of Taylor Swift, the raw sting of First Aid Kit and the vivid vignettes of Phoebe Bridgers meet; that is exactly where you will find Jamie Beth in her latest single, Streetlights.

The aching timbre of her ethereal Angel Olsen-esque vocal lines effortlessly complements the simple yet all-consumingly affecting instrumental arrangement as the singer-songwriter paints a narrative of bitter-sweet affection. The melancholic delivery of the scenery leaves you living and breathing the dwindling vestiges of intimacy shared in the vulnerably candid track, which exhibits how fearless the Newcastle-born, Liverpool-based luminary is when it comes to wearing her heart on her sleeve.

With plaudits from BBC Introducing and Amazing Radio, Jamie Beth isn’t just making an impression on the airwaves; the 19-year-old is well on the way to making an everlasting impact.

Streetlights was officially released on November 5th; stream the single on Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Photo by James Grant

Keep your soul warm with Daniela Galasso’s slice of indie folk-pop reverie, Comfortable

Posted on 1 November 2024
Daniela Galasso

With an emotional richness and resonance that puts her in parallel to the most introspective works of First Aid Kit, Daniela Galasso, with her seminal single, Comfortable, radiates vulnerability and tonal warmth

Aside from the cinematic sonic sublimity, the real beauty of Comfortable resides in how the Italian-born, California-based singer-songwriter turns becoming comfortable in a relationship into something profoundly poetic. While so many people would perceive that as the moment the romance dies, Galasso flips the script with her ethereally tender, orchestrally scored single, allowing listeners to see comfort in a relationship as something just as sweet as the initial butterflies.

As an award-winning artist who has clearly mastered the art of textural alchemy within her productions, Galasso has stepped out of the shadows of her influences in the vein of Taylor Swift, Ellie Goulding and Imogen Heap and irrefutably come into her own through her installations of vulnerable reverie.

Comfortable will be available to stream on all major platforms from November 1st. Find your preferred way to listen via the artist’s official website.

Keep up to date with news of new releases from Daniela Galasso on Instagram and Facebook.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Lia Juno exhibited the pain of raw rumination in her alt-indie tour de force, Sight

Posted on 30 October 2024
Lia Juno

Ethereal alt-indie pop vocals meet cavernous guitar lines in Lia Juno’s intimately melancholic single, ‘Sight’, which deconstructs familiar tonality, tearing it down to the aural rubble before rebuilding a sonic landscape where sanctuary for the disillusioned resides.

Since unveiling her debut single, Fevering, earlier this year, the LA-based independent artist has made all the right waves; with her latest single she puts herself in the same league as Wolf Alice and Big Thief with the cerebral thematic nature of the manifesto of mournful rumination.

Building up from Pixies-esque artfully dramatic motifs to a blisteringly grungy crescendo of distorted guitars clashing in oscillation with the rhythm section, Sight ensures that if you have any pent-up emotions when you hit play, they’ll be obliterated by the impact of the track’s climax which you’ll want to feel the force of time after time.

Sight will be available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify and SoundCloud, from October 30th.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Spotlight Feature: Kaitlin Cassady – Home Away from Home: A 12-Part Panorama of Indie Folk Rock Candour

Posted on 23 October 2024

Kaitlin Cassady’s inaugural album, Home Away from Home, is an emotive expedition into the heart of indie folk rock, through which she secures her place in the lineage of songwriters who stir souls with their harmonies and strings.

Home Away from Home unfolds over twelve tracks that promise to resonate with anyone harbouring a penchant for profound storytelling wrapped in melodious harmony. It’s an exploration of self-discovery, articulated with a candour that soothes as it sears. Cassady, drawing on the narrative depth reminiscent of Aimee Mann and the tender, plaintive tones akin to Kacey Musgraves, crafted each song as a chapter in an intimate diary of longing and introspection.

The album’s inception, nurtured within the confines of an Oakland apartment, mirrors the personal and unpolished stories that Cassady chooses to tell. Supported from afar by her father, a seasoned songwriter, her work not only explores her roots but also the bittersweet sting of leaving them behind.

With nuances of country, jazz and melodic rock, all adding evocative motifs to the work, the album can’t be acknowledged as anything less than a profound triumph. The inclusion of notable musicians such as Thad Polk and Julia Floberg touches the anthology of growing pains with dynamic tender strokes without overshadowing Cassady’s raw, narrative sonic signature as she scribes through sonic diary entries covering love, loss, addiction and mental health, turning personal plight into universal themes which speak to a generation grappling with similar issues.

As the streams and accolades accumulate, it’s clear that Cassady’s Home Away from Home asserts her as a vital voice in the indie folk-rock scene. Her ability to convey depth, connection, and haunting nostalgia ensures that this album will resonate with listeners long after the final note has played.

Stream Home Away from Home on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Follow Kaitlin Cassady on Instagram to stay up to date with news of her sophomore LP.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Through the Wire: The Poetic Resonance of Mike Maurice’s ‘Telephone’

Posted on 11 October 2024

Mike Maurice’s latest single, ‘Telephone‘ intercepted the static of formulaic melodies by belying the minimalist instrumentalism with the profound euphony in the production. Nestled within the contours of indie folk and brushed with Americana hues, telephone orchestrates an ambient symphony where the instrumentals speak as profoundly as the lyrics.

Maurice’s skill in merging soul-stirring acoustic layers with his poignant narrative stitches together a sonic space where the deeply, almost shamefully, personal transmutes into the universally relatable.

telephone intertwines the melancholy of isolation with a lyrical richness that peaks with the confession, “I want the truth so bad I’d even lie.” This line alone encapsulates the dual nature of truth and deception, weaving them into the fabric of the affecting release, which was born through a collaboration between Mike Maurice and Danny Black of Good Old War and a pedal steel player from Gregory Alan Isakov’s ensemble.

From the rustic town of Biddeford, Maine, Mike Maurice has made a name for himself, coming out of the shadows of the John Mayer and Bon Iver comparisons. Maurice, alongside his seven-piece ensemble, continues to foster a sense of community at each performance, their collective sound reverberating through venues renowned and intimate alike.

Telephone will be available to stream on all major platforms, including YouTube, from October 11th.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Wading Through the In-Between: The Dilettante’s ‘Someone’ Bleeds Melancholy with Avant-Garde Soul

Posted on 30 September 2024
The Life and Times of.... by The Dilettante

The Dilettante, the enigmatic persona of David Hirst, has delivered a stunningly emotive sonic exploration with his debut LP, The Life and Times of….

The album’s standout single, Someone, traverses the turbulent undercurrent of indie folk melancholy, aching with the raw vulnerability that echoes the likes of Frightened Rabbit. The gentle intro sets a melancholic tone that bristles with candour before distorted and synthesised vocal harmonies flood in. This off-kilter twist weaves a sense of dissonance through the track, establishing The Dilettante as a veritable troubadour of avant-garde indie.

There’s immense comfort to be found in the chord progressions of Someone, which gives permission to embrace the full force of your emotions, if only for 4:55 minutes before you slip back under the ‘I’m fine’ façade.

With ‘Someone’, The Dilettante invites listeners into the most introspective corridors of his existential psyche, a space where anxiety, self-doubt, and the quiet battle for self-acceptance reign supreme.

The Life and Times of…. is not a record of extremes but of the struggle to navigate life’s liminal spaces where outliers emotionally linger. If you constantly find yourselves on the fringes, don’t hesitate to hit play.

Stream and download the debut LP from The Dilettante on Bandcamp now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Kaitlin Cassady unveiled a kaleidoscope of indie folk reverie with ‘Unconditionally’

Posted on 29 September 2024

Kaitlin Cassady’s seminal indie-folk single ‘Unconditionally’ from her debut LP, Home Away From Home strikes an intimate chord with its dreamy, lo-fi reverie.

Hit play and prepare to be swept up within the euphonic breeze of the mellifluous acoustic guitar strings, which seamlessly harmonise with vocals that echo the 90s indie pop ethos. The track reaches even further back in time by integrating 70s-esque pop-rock piano keys that lend endlessly ascending melodies to the all-encompassing production. It’s a sonic kryptonite for the diehard romantics who refuse to buy into the claims that romance is dead. Despite its bedroom pop aesthetic, this track could effortlessly soundtrack a Hollywood epic, showcasing Cassady’s humble yet world-class songwriting chops.

Hailing from Minneapolis, indie-folk-rock artist Kaitlin Cassady draws from a kaleidoscope of influences such as Aimee Mann, Carole King, and Elliott Smith, to contemporary icons like Billie Eilish and Coldplay. Cassady’s music—rich with introspective lyrics, lush harmonies, and intricate arrangements—captures themes of love, loss, and resilience.

Her latest self-recorded project, Home Away From Home, marks a major stride in her burgeoning career. We can’t wait to see what follows.

Stream Kaitlin Cassady’s debut album in full via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Jake Marshall allowed the anxiously attached to unite in his retro synth-pop hit, TOO MUCH!

Posted on 14 September 2024

We may be in an era of throwaway pop hits but if any track is worth holding onto it is Jake Marshall’s sad-boy synth pop sophomore release, TOO MUCH! Marshall and his 5-octave range set the bar high with his titularly ironic debut single, Bad Singer, and transcended it with the 80s aesthetics and indie hyper-pop nuances in TOO MUCH.

The candidly riotous track finds an earwormy way to articulate the trials and tribulations of contending with an insecure attachment style and battling with the inner monologue which constantly gnaws with crushing self-reflections of overbearingness. Even if you don’t have bags of childhood trauma attached to your attachment style, we can all relate to some degree to how it feels to feel too much as we try and seek assurance and affection.

Safe to say, Jake Marshall is the queer icon we never knew we needed; his discography is shaping up to be far more than just outpours of pained introspection, it’s a safe space where outliers, the heartbroken and the LGBT+ community can find swathes of consoling resonance.

With his upcoming EP, love(s) of my life, in the pipeline, the future looks iridescently bright for Jake Marshall.

TOO MUCH! Dropped on September 6th; stream the track on SoundCloud now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

maxhauer – fifteen: Cerebrally Melodic Indie Pop

Posted on 12 September 2024

Maxhauer’s sophomore single, ‘fifteen’, sweeps listeners into an indie pop sphere of celestial fluidity and exhibits how the innovative artist has honed his sound after a promising 2023 debut to re-emerge with a melodically cerebral piece that cradles his vocals which are so light they become the oxygen you breathe as you follow the diaphanous progressions as they lead to gentle, ambient crescendos.

Positioned somewhere between the evocative expressions of Death Cab for Cutie and Elliott Smith, maxhauer channels the introspective spirit of these indie legends while marking his territory as the boygenius of a new era. His sophomore single reveals an artful orchestration, seamlessly weaving expansive, lush harmonies that paint a vivid scene of emotional intensity, satisfying those yearning for a more complex, emotionally dense soundscape.

Maxhauer, as a multi-talented producer and vocalist, will undoubtedly become revered for his unique ability to infuse the nuanced longing of adolescence into his music. His compositions are both a revolution and an evolution in the indie music scene, where plaintive vocals and expansive harmonies intertwine to create a sound that gnaws at the listener with its raw, poignant beauty.

After one hit, your rhythmic pulses will crave the emotive journey for the catharsis in the candour. Safe to say, he’s one for every indie fan’s radar.

Stream fifteen on Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Gaze into the introspective kaleidoscope of leo hc’s seminal indie folk release, the shades EP

Posted on 23 August 2024

leo hc’s debut release, ‘the shades EP’, elegantly strips music back to its most elemental form, serving as a pure conduit for emotion which resonates through the instrumental textures and the lyrical narratives.

The opening track, the aptly named ‘the shades’, introduces us to a semi-lucid reverie where the angular, fingerpicked guitar notes intertwine with leo’s reticent, whispered vocals. Each motif transcends sound to become experiences shaded in deep introspection, allowing listeners to immerse their own melancholic emotions into the abstract depths of the production.

The subsequent track, ‘two wrongs’, transitions into a more indie folk aura, with vocals that echo Elliott Smith, soaring within a seraphically toned lo-fi backdrop. This piece epitomises intimacy, transforming the listening space into a personal enclave of reflective peace.

Track three, ‘i’m the man’, continues the narrative with a progressively gratifying indie lullaby. It allows for a dynamic interplay of intensity, with artful flourishes that let emotional currents ebb and flow, underscoring leo’s mastery in balancing sonic peaks and valleys.

The EP rounds off with ‘lovers hilltop’, a stunning demonstration of acoustic indie songwriting. Here, the poignant strains of coming-of-age yearning are captured through evocative fingerpicked guitars, drawing influences from classical Spanish guitarists while paying homage to artists like Jose Gonzalez and Hot Left Pole.

Overall, ‘the shades EP’ by leo hc is a pacifying synthesis of introspection and musicality, offering a sanctuary where each track invites personal reflection amidst evocatively crafted soundscapes.

Stream the shades EP on Spotify now. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast