Browsing Tag

Indie Singer Songwriter

Meg Chandler finds herself on the visceral side of ethereal in her intimately nostalgic indie alt-pop single, Woodland

Posted on 25 November 2022
Meg Chandler

Given that it has been a fair while since we weren’t living through a historical event of some devastating global nature, it’s all too easy to crave the uncompromised simplicity of youthful nostalgia. Meg Chandler brought it by the smorgasbord in her single, Woodland, which precedes her debut EP, due for release in 2023.

The 21-year-old singer-songwriter divides her time between a remote village in Shropshire, where she finessed her authentically out-of-the-smoke alt-pop style that will be a hit with any fans of Daughter, Adrianne Lenker and Phoebe Bridgers, and in Manchester where she enlists the help of the production/writing duo SOAP.

Never a truer line has been delivered than “now everything just seems to hurt” in Woodland, which flicks through the sepia-tinged memories of a childhood “chasing shadows by the lake”. Projected through intimately vulnerable indie pop vocals that resound on the more visceral side of ethereal, Meg Chandler, with her proclivity to hold nothing back in her lyrics, is set to make major waves with the profound consolation in her music.

Woodland will officially release on November 18th. Stream it on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

BREGN put the humanity in our collective anxiety with his reflectively expositional lo-fi folk single, YOU AND ME

Posted on 20 November 2022

Danish singer-songwriter, BREGN, gave humanity hope in his latest single, YOU AND ME, which was officially released on November 18th to dispel the disquiet anxiety spilling from each new global catastrophe.

BREGN’s minimalist soundscapes and the sonorous sense of soul in his quiescent harmonies always strike a visceral chord. With this new melancholic shift, YOU AND ME hit like a tonne of bricks. In the same way Slowdive can hammer home the emotion solely through their reverb-laced angular guitar notes, the guitars in this sombrely sweet single drive you to the brink of tears. Before the choral storm in the outro as a torridly dystopian crescendo pushes you over the emotional edge.

Here’s to hoping next summer gives us a chance to embrace the season free from an ever-pervasive sense of dread.

“YOU AND ME is a reflection of our times; a mix of summer, love, the insecurities imposed by war, political drama, and the deepening energy crisis. There is hope in the continuation of believing that there is still a “You and Me” at the end of the day, that is what I wanted to convey.”

Listen to YOU AND ME on SoundCloud and Spotify.

Follow BREGN via Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

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

Posted on 24 October 2022

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

AJ Elkins has released his indie folk meditation, Breathe In Breathe Out

Posted on 25 September 2022

With an acoustic guitar intro that rings with the same evocative timbre as Neutral Milk Hotel’s Two-Headed Boy before bursting into an art-rock arrangement, AJ Elkin’s indie folk single, Breathe In Breathe Out, is an emotionally-charged extension of sanctity.

The Nada Surf-Esque lyricism that sympathises with the trials and tribulations of the modern age becomes efficaciously consoling against the rugged progressions. The US singer-songwriter clearly has a knack for creating connective music; we can’t wait to see where his compassion and songwriting tenacity takes him – he is undoubtedly one to watch.

Breathe In Breathe Out is now available to stream on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Warick Pond picked up the pieces with the aching soul in his single, The Wreckage

Posted on 23 September 2022

Taken from his seminal album, Open Roads, Warick Pond’s standout single, The Wreckage, carries the solemnity of Tom Waits, the contemporary Americana edge of Kurt Vile, and the mellow melancholy of the Verve.

Reminiscences aside, the American singer-songwriter puts his own authentic beauty into aching soul through the resounding quiescence of his guitars, which match the gentle outpour of visceral emotion through his Americana-tinted vocal timbre.

When an artist can create such a profoundly emotional soundscape with minimal production and understatedly passionate vocals, you know that you’ve just come across a one-in-a-million entity. Enduring the agony of hopeless romanticism fleetingly became worth it through the resonance extended by Open Roads, which captures the enduring loneliness of the human condition and how tightly we cling to connections which can turn to past tense in the blink of an eye.

The Wreckage is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Spotlight Feature: Bye Malo created the ultimate indie paradox in his sweetly toxic single, September

Posted on 16 September 2022

While some artists paint themselves as the perfect protagonists in their lyrics, the up-and-coming indie artist, Bye Malo, opted for self-effacing honesty in his latest single, September.

With the admission that he left his feelings at the door in a fractious relationship that isn’t worth wasting a wedding on, he lets the candour pour through his raspy indie vocals, which cause evocative friction against the saturated in delay catchy chord progressions.

Anyone that still believes they can fix (manipulate) ‘broken’ men will be left loving to hate the portrait that Bye Malo painted in September, which is the first single to release from his latest project.

Check out Bye Malo on Spotify.
Follow on Instagram


Review by Amelia Vandergast

Ruby Sue told her coming of age story in her bitter-sweet triumph of a debut LP, the Need

Posted on 9 August 2022

With the sweetness of Taylor Swift, the soul of Brandi Carlile, and the bite of Courtney Love, the 19-year-old Minneapolis singer-songwriter Ruby Sue released her coming-of-age debut album, The Need.

Although pitch-perfection and instrumental distinction are a constant through the 12 singles, special attention should be paid to I Remember September, which mellifluously exhibits just how fleeting youth is, and how inclined we are to cling to it through fear of the future. I can only imagine how terrifying the transition into adulthood is in this era, but everyone going through it now has a confidant in this soul-stirring debut LP.

With lyrics such as, “who will I be when I’m not young and free?” Ruby Sue proves that despite her age, she’s got more self-awareness than most lyricists. Get her on your radar.

I Remember September is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Dog Day God showed us the meaning of mellow with his sophomore single, Can’t Take Time

Posted on 9 August 2022

‘Can’t Take Time’ is the sonorous sophomore release from the Columbia, US-hailing indie artist, Dog Day God (AKA Michael Moore), who has broken away from his indie progressive rock band, Halcyon Fields, to douse the airwaves in warm saturated delay and soulfully crooned vocals.

Mellow isn’t usually an adjective easily affixed to emotion-driven music, but Dog Day God made sure his lo-fi single, Can’t Take Time, broke the mould as much as it will break your heart as the lyrics lull you into imbibing in adequately paced introspection.

Stumbling on this intimate feat of indie almost felt like an act of serendipity, but I think everyone can be accused of yearning for an unrealistic frantic pace when anticipating positive change. For anyone in a transitionary time, hit play.

Can’t Take Time is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Horatio James – they will have us: lo-fi indie just got infinitely sweeter

Posted on 5 August 2022

If you poured some sugar on Pavement or Dinosaur Jr, the result would be just as sweet as the latest single, they will have us, released by Horatio James.

With reflecting the human condition through lo-fi indie folk soundscapes as the motivation behind the singer-songwriter’s creativity, each new release is an opportunity to boost your mood and brighten your perspective. The dopamine streams are aided by the sweeping overdriven guitars, meltingly warm analog tones and his honeyed harmonies, which will teach you the meaning of expressive vulnerability.

The London-based artist is an all too refreshing taste breaker away from the superficiality that is prolific on the airwaves. For the same reason indie fans developed an affinity for the Violent Femmes and the Dandy Warhols, they will have us will leave an all too welcome synaptic imprint.

they will have us will officially release on August 5th. Check it out on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

David Wakeling looks into the future of this dystopia in ‘Living at 45 Degrees’

Posted on 24 June 2022

With the melancholy of The Verve in their best years, the folky narrative introspection of Bob Dylan and psychedelic layers not all too far removed from the kaleidoscopic textures from The Legendary Pink Dots, David Wakeling’s seminal single, Living at 45 Degrees, hits a plethora of spots.

The Anthropocene-conscious single only runs on par with Amanda Palmer’s Drowning in the Sound in terms of the wit in the metaphors, which cleverly shine a light on the ridiculous state that humanity has shaped itself into.

It’s tracks like Living at 45 Degrees which truly prove the worth of music in society. It’s something for the minority of humans that are self-aware enough to see into the futility of existence to meld into and find reason within.

The official video for Living at 45 Degrees is now available to stream via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast