Browsing Tag

Indie Synth Pop

Spotlight Feature: Slip into the indie synth-pop sanctum of Aquarium Drinker’s reflectively melodic single, By Design

https://.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf0WRBEbE94&feature=youtu.be

Finding the synthesised middle ground between Alan Vega and Beach House, the up and coming Seattle-based alt-pop artist Aquarium Drinker created a sentimental synth pop haven with their latest single, By Design, which is due for release on February 24th.

After the strobing synths in the prelude feed the euphonic energy, the indie singer-songwriter introduces his quiescently deadpan vocals. Despite their laidback attitude, it is all too easy to connect with the soul of the reflectively poignant release, which ponders how much control we have over our lives and how much was brandished on a blueprint from our first breath.

By Design is beyond anything we have ever heard before. Yet, through the resonant intimacy, few soundscapes we have heard this year are satisfyingly sweeter.

Here’s what Aquarium Drinker had to say about his latest single:

“Many of my songs, like this one, are about being disappointed in others. The sole theme of By Design is on the points of contention in a relationship with one of my exes. We had differing opinions about a political issue; I couldn’t bring him into my frame of mind because that is how he was raised to think… By Design.”

Stream the official music video for By Design by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Iris Brickfield – Cherries: Lusciously Sweet Synth Rock

Iris Brickfield’s ‘Cherries’ is some of the sweetest synth-rock we’ve sampled in 2022. The Newcastle upon Tyne duo run their dreamy indie pop vocals over the lush sweeping synths and honeyed choral guitar lines to create an 80s ethereal atmosphere that comes with a contemporary Adrianne Lenker-Esque kick and swirling reminiscence to Pale Saints.

It comes as no surprise that Iris Brickfield has been selling out venues on their home turf after gaining over 10k streams with their debut EP, Hold on My Lovers, which was released in 2021. They melodically toe the line between nostalgia and trend-carving innovation with gracious gravitas scarcely seen in the indie scene.

Cherries is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

F/L/P reimagined 80s synthpop in Ride With Ya featuring DAMOYEE 

Norwegian artist F/L/P couldn’t be more of a force to be reckoned with, especially on the basis of his latest single, Ride With Ya, which was written and recorded with the USA artist DAMOYEE over the course of the global lockdowns in bitter-sweet anticipation of the world reopening.
The bass-heavy 80s synth pop track will undoubtedly be a hit with fans of Tame Impala or anyone that can resonate with the overarching themes of isolation and separation. The single efficaciously encapsulates how those yearnings for reconnection can keep us going through the fervid passion in the prominently vivid vocals that dominate the lush sweeping synths that are definitively 80s. The sweetest spot hits with the unexpected but appreciated all the same guitar solo, which riffs even more emotion and gravitas into the synthpop earworm that proves romance isn’t dead, it has simply been isolated.
Ride With Ya is now available to stream on Spotify.
Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Relays sentimentally stargaze in their synthy alt-indie debut LP, Under Different Stars

After recording their debut album and mislaying the only copy for ten years, The Relays are finally here with their arrestive synth-driven LP, Under Different Stars.

With their previous releases, the Wigan, UK-hailing 4-piece have featured on BBC and Radio X, along with being lauded by Steve Lamacq and Huw Stevens. The title single from their debut album is a spacey testament to their swoonsome radio readiness.

While Under Different Stars lyrically latches onto a sense of sentimentalism that pulls you into the interstellar centre of affectionate gravity, somewhere along the way, the shimmering synth chords become entwined with your rhythmic pulses as you follow the melodic progressions through their absorbingly artful distinction. There’s no understating the evocative power of Under Different Stars, which effortlessly reaches above the standard for up and coming artists. It’s an achingly sweet release that will undoubtedly see the luminaries go far in their candour-heady career. Forget Editors’ new album, delve into this.

The debut album launched on September 29th; check it out on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

AURASHADE has made his emotionally enveloping indie synthpop debut with the single Circles

AURASHADE is the new project of singer-songwriter Timothy Hoad, who has recently moved away from his acoustic roots to embrace a more synthesised sound with grittier electric guitar tones. His debut single, Circles, more than reflects his 20 years of experience as a songwriter. You just can’t help but succumb to the evocative power as AURASHADE forces you to question your relationship with your autonomy through clever vocal effect layering over the synthy heartbeat of the single.

Clearly, on the basis of the compassionately deep lyricism, the up-and-coming artist is leading by example in terms of self-awareness. Rarely does electronica so full of soul and substance surface on the airwaves. We can’t wait to hear what follows.

AURASHADE’s debut single is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Mark Earnest – Just a Dog: his beats aren’t as bad as his bite

For his latest single, Just a Dog, the Ireland-born, Tokyo-based artist Mark Earnest served a stellar slice of lush RnB pop. You can’t help but drift away with the mellow funky grooves, the soulfully resonant vocals that are pinched by melancholy instead of overarched with it, and the mellow guitar-centric rhythms.

With the bedroom artist’s greatest motivation centred on bringing catharsis and compassion, he gave his soul free reign over Just a Dog, which lyrically sees him changing species to allude to his need for simplicity. If you aren’t on board with that sentiment, have you even been alive for the past few years?!

Just a Dog will officially release on July 1st. You can check it out for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Nostalgia and neo-classic nuance drive Seven Layer Piano Cakes’ latest emotionally-charged synth-led indie single, Remy

Seven Layer Piano Cakes

From the first deep dive into the sticky-sweet indie magnetism in Seven Layer Piano Cakes’ latest synth-pop single, Remy, we were hooked. If you fused the cool edges of Interpol onto the retro bliss of Grandaddy, the sonic result still wouldn’t be as sweet.

In the infectiously ardent chorus, you’re caught up in a spacey impassioned bop-worthy feat of synth-pop. In the spaces between, you’re arrested by the cuttingly angular indie guitars that blaze around the consistently evolving synths. From playful polyphonic tones to deep grounding notes, the classically trained pianist and harmonically-blessed vocalist plays with them all in the intricate layers of his complex signature sound.

Each new release, Seven Layer Piano Cakes (Justin Hoyt), leaves us even more assured that he is one of the most exciting names to have entered the LA music scene as an independent artist in recent years. His nuanced neo-classic tendencies paired with his ability to make his music as evocative as any of the most revered ‘emo’ artists is a potent combination. With his humbly affectionate charisma, he’s almost the antithesis to every virtuoso that has existed before him. Naturally, we can’t wait to hear what comes next.

Remy will be available to stream from February 4th. It will be available to stream via YouTube, and Spotify.

Follow the artist via Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

New York’s alt-soul pioneer Leifer lets the good vibes groove next to heartbreak in his funk-laced indie synthpop single, Vacancy

It was impossible to imagine room for improvement after hearing Leifer’s standout single, Say You’re Mine, in 2021. Yet, his latest release, Vacancy, which hit the airwaves on New Year’s Eve, even caught us broadsided by the way it pulls you down with mellow tones in the intro and brings you back up fast enough to give you whiplash.

Vacancy starts by teasing serenity in the easy, hazy guitar chords before bursting into a high-vibe alt-indie pop track, complete with euphoric synths, funk riding basslines and vocals that make an earworm out of the release.

Despite the vibrant energy, Vacancy forces you to reflect on the spaces that we leave other people’s lives, while the high-energy progressions ensure that you don’t get caught up in rumination. We can only hope that Leifer starts a trend with his meaningful approach to pop. If there’s one thing that this world needs more of, it is self-awareness, and Leifer’s emotionally intelligent lyrics offer the perfect mantras to follow.

Vacancy is now available to stream on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Hope Called in Sick has released their melancholic playlist staple, Lotus.

Hope Called in Sick

Iconic sonic palettes from the 80s and the 90s converge in Hope Called in Sick’s latest single, Lotus; the shimmering synth melodies paired with the layers of accordant shoegazey reverb made it a multi-stop nostalgia hit.

Plenty of contortions have been spun upon the 80s synth sound, but the husband and wife duo, Rob and Monica Schipul, managed to bring brand-new phantasmal energy out of it. Lotus offers a very different brand of ambience; one that reflects our modern malaise and the duo’s Jungian lens through which they see the world.

Check out the latest release from Hope Called in Sick on Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Partisan Way deliver polyphonic indie-pop bliss in ‘Borrow Me’.

Partisan Way started as a remote indie-pop lockdown project in 2020; on the basis of their debut album, Show Don’t Tell, we hope the UK-based outfit set its sights on plenty more than conquering more than just the digital realm.

The sweetest earworm on the album is the first single, Borrow Me. If you poured some sugar on The Vaccines, the sticky-sweet result wouldn’t be all too far away from the uplifting piano-led melodies and the even more vibrant synth lines.

While they call it like it is in the kind of toxic relationship dynamics that you can’t get enough of through the scathingly sharp-witted lyrics, the vibrant progressions successfully capture the haze that affection can leave you in.

I don’t make Mansun comparisons lightly, but Borrow Me hit the evocative spot just as well as I Can Only Disappoint You.

Borrow Me is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast