Browsing Tag

Indie

Sam Caldwell – feeding the wound: An Indie Art Rock Ode to the Raw Edges of the Human Psyche

Posted on 6 August 2024

The intimacy of unfiltered vulnerability doesn’t just breathe through Sam Caldwell’s standout single, feeding the wound, it quiescently screams and resounds through the delirious-with-self-discontent production which embodies the stripped style of Elliott Smith, and the artfully cultivated expressionist air of Mitski and Neutral Milk Hotel.

Caging one of the most viscerally affecting crescendos that has ever torn its way into my soul, feeding the wound is so much more than a lyrically sharpened vignette of a masochistic mind. Each element serves to visualise a psyche marred with self-awareness and destruction; from the sonic pulls of ennui to how the mind cascades under the weight of affliction, each progression is a revelation of a raw, painfully relatable perception.

The LA singer-songwriter is quickly making a name for himself with his encapsulations of the pain of coming of age; with his debut LP, he’s rivalled the resonance of Brett Easton Ellis’ Less Than Zero. His ability to tune into universal themes of guilt and heartbreak while using heartstrings on his fretboard will undoubtedly see him go far in the industry which is crying out for veritable troubadours of candour.

feeding the wound is now available to stream on Spotify as part of Sam Caldwell’s debut album, wanderlust, which was officially released on July 25.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Make Groovy Shirt Club’s ‘Ultra Violet’ the soft rock soundtrack to your emotional liberation

Posted on 1 August 2024

Groovy Shirt Club’s latest single, Ultra Violet, proves there’s more to their artistic identity than their audacious fashion choices. With echoes of Pixies drifting between the guitars and basslines in the mellowly iridescent progressions, which are heightened by inventive synth touches, the Deep Blue Something-reminiscent vocals have the perfect platform to soar from.

It’s almost impossible to allude to what this emotionally liberated single does to the soul when the emotion-driven earworm is bedding in and making itself home. The sublime melodies are enough to make even the most steadfast sway, attesting to the capacity of sound to transform your entire sensibility.

If you can’t remember the last time you didn’t feel weighed down, make today the day and immerse yourself in Ultra Violet, which pushes a panoramic vision of sun rays hitting ebbing waves. For any discerning rock fan, the first proverbial spin won’t be the last.

The self-professed ‘Champions of the Yacht Rock Revolution’, are quickly making a name for themselves with their ethos to embed real people, real instruments, real music and real lyrics about life into their infectiously cultivated soft rock staples. Ultra Violet captures this quintessence perfectly, blending their signature style with a fresh, emotionally resonant sound.

Ultra Violet is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Interpol meets Editors in The All Clear’s achingly angular indie debut, Northern Soul

Posted on 31 July 2024

If you affix any emerging indie outfit to your radar in 2024, make it The All Clear. With guitars which prove how scintillating it would be if Interpol’s Daniel Kessler lent his intricately angular notes to Editors, their debut single, Northern Soul, tears its way into the soul with aching precision and volition.

Northern Soul exhibited the Belfast-based architects, fronted by Joe O’Sullivan, of indie euphonia as an unrivalled entity, capable of conjuring arcanely poised post-punk alchemy which may show its roots, but only before the sonics blossom into a branch of sheer innovation. The seraphic synth-driven middle eight unfurls as a divine aural intervention; the transcendent melodicism will take you higher than any substance known to man.

After releasing three solo albums between 2015 and 2020, Joe O’Sullivan formed The All Clear in 2023, and their debut album, Harbour Songs, is already on its way, penned for release on September 21.

After hearing Northern Soul, which testifies to the fortitude of the working classes through a tenderly candid narrative, Harbour Songs has all the potential to become the indie album of the year.

Add some ‘Northern Soul’ to your Spotify playlists, or stream the official music video on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Optimists prescribed the antidote for catastrophists with their explosive indie garage punk hit,  Not a Big Deal

Posted on 28 July 2024

The Optimists have been making cynics meet their match since their 2018 debut which made all the right waves in the UK indie scene. With their latest single, Not a Big Deal, the Isle of Wight five-piece cranked up the monolithic volition to exhibit their biggest hit to date and etch a new chapter in their legacy that has reached the a-lists of Isle of Wight Radio & BBC Solent.

With crescendos of garage rock antagonism in the same vein as Fidlar mainlined into the scuzzy production around the melodic indie increments that are fraught with tension, the razor-sharp hooks dig in deep enough to pierce the soul.

Not a Big Deal is the ultimate track to shed inhibition and neurosis to. By extolling the virtues of disregarding the immaterial, the juggernautical hit is an irresistible invitation to indulge in the catharsis of being carefree.

If the outfit becomes as big as their guitar and synth riffs and stage presence, don’t be surprised if you see them at the top of the indie charts in the coming years.

Not a Big Deal was officially released on July 19. Stream the single on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Diehard Romantics Will Meet Their Match in Kaleb Cohen’s Bluesy Indie-Folk Release, Our Eyes Met on Friday

Posted on 26 July 2024

Kaleb Cohen is set to become the second biggest Cohen in folk after the release of his bluesy indie single, Our Eyes Met on Friday.

After opening with an introspectively tender extended prelude, inviting listeners into a defining moment that captures the essence of a soul finally finding its home the song unfolds through increments of upbeat folk elements reminiscent of the Lumineers and Mumford and Sons which surge through the ingenuity within the genre-bending energy.

This release showcases Kaleb’s profound ability to make loungey piano keys bleed pure raw emotion, complemented by his seraphically timbered vocals that masterfully blend the gruff with the smooth. The continuous sonic reinventions throughout the track play havoc with rhythmic expectations, yet each new arrangement is as euphonic as the last, exhibiting the devilishly playful innovation of an artist who could easily skate by on his larynx of gold but chooses instead to go the extra aural mile to beguile.

Kaleb Cohen, an indie-folk-rock prodigy from Connecticut who writes, records, and self-produces his music is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film & Television Production. As an omen of the illustrious path he is destined to pave, his first-ever show in New Haven was a sell-out with fans coming as far as Pennsylvania to witness one of Indie Folk’s most promising names etch their legacy.

Our Eyes Met on Friday will be officially released on July 26; stream the single on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Bang emotional ambiguity cascades into Bang’s alt-indie lullaby, HOLD ON

Posted on 24 July 2024

In his latest single, HOLD ON, the alt-indie visionary, Bang, plunged his eternally expanding following into a pool of lush reverb-swathed ambience, intersected by sharp, reverberant trap beats that push momentum into the hazy lullaby which envelops the senses with wavy dream-like soul.

With this seminal release, bang captured the essence of affection as the harbinger of comfort and the precursor to uncertainty and confusion. The exposition of the dangers of letting down your walls is intricately crafted into the thematic visualisations of the introspective lyrics that are filled with late-night longing.  The sensory expedition into the heart of emotional ambiguity is an irresistible invitation to escape into the delicious delirium.

The seraphically disorientating release marks the Michigan-raised Asian-American artist as the Thom Yorke of his generation while becoming a milestone stride in his set-to-be illustrious sonic journey which was chartered after early exposure to Bollywood rhythms and 00s hip-hop beats.

As the architect of hits that pulsate with modern indie rhythm and find superlative equilibrium between evocative and innovative cultivation, Bang is elevating the airwaves with his solo work and his role in the genre-defying collective, Rarehearted.

HOLD ON will be available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify, from July 24th.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Rhine Valley prescribed nostalgia-tinged serenity in their indie summer serenade, Instincts in the Red

Posted on 24 July 2024

If you want respite from the artists driven by delusion and to tune into an artist who grooves to the sound of his own nostalgia-licked mellow melodies, hit play on the latest single, Instincts in the Red, by Rhine Valley and discover one of the most underrated artists on the airwaves.

The 21st-century answer to the Zombies’ 1965 hit, Summertime, filters through a sepia-tinged lens which captures the heat of the sun-soaked season within the rhythms which ebb and flow beneath the artist’s idyllic vocal register; the harmonies easily reach euphony while injecting soul into the soundscape that is as laidback as Elliott Smith on Xanax.

Rhine Valley, easily one of the most self-effacingly grounded artists in the music industry, used his bedroom-recorded lo-fi number to candidly reflect on life and the embarrassment of his streaming numbers. By using the tribulations of operating as an independent artist sans a trust fund or nepo connections, he spearheaded the indie music movement with unflinching authenticity.

The song’s mellow indie vibe is perfect for fans looking for something genuine and grounded, it is a true reflection of an artist who can capture the beauty in the mundane and the plight of grassroots music with swathes of tongue-in-cheek panache to spare.

Instincts in the Red will be available to stream on all major platforms, including SoundCloud, from July 24.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Classic songwriting meets contemporary cultivation in Col Gerrard’s debut, Sun & Sky

Posted on 23 July 2024

The heat of 90s Britpop summers shimmer through the debut single, Sun & Sky, by Col Gerrard, who is already well on his way to becoming synonymous with seraphic soul-imbued sonics.

Nostalgia-filtered warmth radiates through the magnetic melodies which cast away shadows to invite a spectrum of sepia-tinged colour into your senses as the guitar-driven rhythms in Sun & Sky reverberate in the middle ground between Springsteen, Bryan Adams and the Manics.

The scintillatingly lush synths perfectly round out and modernise the euphoric atmosphere of the classically written single which was produced by the GRAMMY-nominated producer and Brit Award winner, Chris Potter, best known for his work with Blur, Kean, U2, The Rolling Stones, and The Verve.

Inspired by the way Bowie affected his fans, Gerrard has imbued the same soul-affirming stardust into his own work. Yet, when the tonal bliss of Sun & Sky washes over you and the tenderly compassionate lyricism that consoles the lost and pensive starts to resonate, there’s no mistaking that the alchemy within the promising debut is originated to its core.

Sun & Sky was officially released on July 12th; stream the single on Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Flames of funk and soul lick JANAYAH’s latest indie rock earworm, Can’t Get Enough

Posted on 22 July 2024

Janayah’s latest rhythmic revelation, Can’t Get Enough, mainlines funk-licked soul into indie rock euphoria through a filter of ’60s and ’70s nostalgia to breathe life into timeless tonality.

Born and raised in Auckland and now based in London, Janayah has graced stages from a tender age and has left lasting impressions with her dynamic live performances. Her sophomore single, imbued with the raw vocal power of Christina Aguilera with moments that oscillate back to old-school soul around rhythmically magnetic melodies is an embodiment of her soul-rock fortitude.

The single, which testifies to the insatiability of desire, showcases her signature style that crosses boundaries from pop to rock and dance, with each genre succumbing to the weight of her powerful vocals. Her previous works, including collaborations with EDM artists and features in prominent music venues, have all paved the way for this riveting return to her roots.

Ironically, every note in Can’t Get Enough promises to leave Janayah’s audience wanting more from the one-woman powerhouse.

Can’t Get Enough was officially released on July 12; stream the single on Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Indie synths drive the soul in ‘Our Story’, the latest chapter in the organically originated artistry of iinz

Posted on 19 July 2024

‘Our Story’ is yet another chapter in the organically originated chronicle of the Alt-RnB trailblazer, iinz. With an innate ability to traverse the lesser-explored corners of RnB and the human experience alike, iinz introduces a fresh, experimental approach to her euphoniously stylised narratives.

Born from a visceral moment of heartbreak, Our Story is a profoundly personal vignette which epitomises the authentic and introspective essence of the independent artist. The single touches on how even if you share the most intimate parts of yourself, that doesn’t guarantee that you’ll share the same reality.

The loungey, pseudo-jazzy rhythms interspersed with indie synthwave touches create a lush, immersive soundscape which testifies to the nuanced sophistication within the artistry of iinz. Her collaboration with producer Taiina elevated the sonic complexity and evocative resonance to the nth degree.

With iinz on your playlists, you’re never short of a refuge of solace and understanding. The LA-hailing Israeli-American soulstress’ ability to find the alchemic intersections between old-school soul and alt-pop is beyond compare. Yet, there’s an aching sense that when it comes to iinz, expression will always be prioritised over competition.

Our Story will be officially released on July 19; stream the single on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast