Browsing Tag

London Indie

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

London’s Lemonade Sin defied gravity with their elevated dream pop single, Melanie Nods

Posted on 7 June 2022
Melanie Nods by Lemonade Sin

Following the saturated-in-tape-delay indie dream pop intro, Lemonade Sin’s latest single, Melanie Nods, unfolds as a transcendentally playful aural crumble of the definitive UK sounds from the 80s to the 00s. The hazy shoegaze textures, chilling nods to post-punk and the Manic Street Preaches-Esque riffs in the middle eight pull together to form a sonic trajectory that you will want to follow time and time again.

With vocal reminiscences to Joy Division’s Atmosphere and the Human League’s Mirror Man happening simultaneously, Lemonade Sin is for every 80s fan out there looking for artists innovative enough to pull new aesthetics out of the synths, unmistakable percussion, and vocal layering.

Melanie Nods is now available to stream and purchase on Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

John Dhali took feel-good indie-folk to stratospheric new heights with his latest single, Taste

Posted on 20 March 2022

With caressing crescendos and swells of soul by the smorgasbord, the indie-folk singer-songwriter, John Dhali’s latest release, Taste, definitely isn’t an acquired one.

What starts as a gentle and euphonic offering of indie art-pop bliss transcends into a rock-licked all-consuming aural entity as you’re left to face the untamed passion in the lyrics and vocals and the equally as robust production.

When Taste reaches its anthemic peak, it is enough to rival Mr November by The National. Yet, I’m not sure The National could get away with the sweet and lofty ukulele melodies that John Dhali uses to amplify the high vibe soul. When he says his sound marries the feelgood accessibility of George Ezra with the evocative depth of Buckley, he more than backs it up with his viscerally euphoric discography.

It comes as no surprise that the Northwest, UK-born, London-based artist has already garnered attention from BBC Radio 1 and 2 and won regional awards for the best solo artist. We can’t wait to see his career blow up after the launch of his forthcoming album.

Check out John Dhali’s latest single, Taste, on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

djamesk13 has released his sludgy stargazing alt-indie hit, Then We See Our Stars

Posted on 21 February 2022

Then We See Our Stars is the latest lo-fi feat of alt-indie from the London-based experimentalist, djamesk13, which will instantly instil alt-90s nostalgia in any self-respecting no-wave fan.

The hooky grungy track may be too harsh and discordant to be everyone’s cup of tea, but for anyone who wants to revel in cathartic sludge fed through plenty of wobbly and echoey tape delay; Then We See Our Stars will hit the sludgy spot. Its Half-Man Half-Biscuit meets Pavement meets Swans. What more could you possibly ask for?

Then We See Our Stars is now available to stream via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Shoegaze thrashes against No-Wave in Mild Horses’ standout single Failing Upwards.

Posted on 24 September 2021
Ignorance To Enlightenment And Back Again by Mild Horses

If your 90s Shoegaze records aren’t quite hitting the same these days, introduce yourselves to Slowdive’s noisier cousin, the London-based solo artist, Mild Horses.

The standout single, Failing Upwards, from their debut album, Ignorance to Enlightenment and Back Again, is comparable to a cocktail of the most indulgent elements of the Pixies, My Bloody Valentine and Interpol.

Listen intently, and you will get to keep hold of the sway-worthy bitter-sweet melodies that resound around the harsher no-wave elements that adrenalize the mix without ever chipping away at the ethereal soul of the release. Towards the outro, Mild Horses builds a wall of noise in his own psychedelically sonic style, making Failing Upwards all but impossible to forget.

Failing Upwards is now available to stream and purchase on Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Louise Aubrie has released her soul-filling hook-laden indie rock earworm, ‘Last’.

Posted on 11 June 2021

If it has been a while since you encountered a truly authentic indie rock artist, hit play on the latest single from London and New York-residing artist Louise Aubrie.

The pop choruses make an earworm out of Last as the definitively jangle-pop guitars earn Last its indie rock stripes. It has all of the soul-filling appeal of Umberto Tozzi’s ‘Gloria’ track paired with the enliveningly energetic progressions found in the not-so-morose hits by the Smiths.

Blondie references are easy to make, but discernibly, Louise Aubrie has her own authentic voice; it just happens to exude the same ability to leave you utterly captivated by the imagery in the lyrics.

So far in her career, she’s pulled in acclaim from BBC 6 Music, recorded in Abbey Road Studios, played in multiple big-stage-venues in New York and London and worked with some of the biggest names in Indie Rock including Andy Woodward, Tom Edwards, James Knight, and Dave Collins. We’re fairly sure that the accolades won’t end there.

Whichever side of the pond you’re on, you’ll want Aubrie on your radar for her live performances. You can follow her via Facebook.

You can check out the official video to Last by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

Téa Texier traverses uncertainty in her striking indie debut single, ‘Garden Smiles’

Posted on 7 June 2021

With the same mesmerising appeal of Tom Odell, Grace Isaac, Warpaint and London Grammar combined with an even more intimate indie appeal and poetically meta lyrics, Téa Texier’s debut single Garden Smiles is absorbing from start to finish.

The indie track mixes art-rock with shoegaze to create a soundscape laden with dreamy and reverby textures, but with plenty of striking elements weaved into this melancholically compelling single that explores uncertainty, the fiery resonance doesn’t fail to take hold.

In the short time since the 16-year-old London-based singer-songwriter made her debut, she’s racked up over 6,000 streams on Spotify alone. Her ability to, quite literally, key into the contemporary mood to bring forth a mournfully relatable song for collective catharsis will see her go far in 2021 and beyond.

Garden Smiles is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

London Alt-Indie Trio Alchemy3 Has Made Their Lockdown Debut with “Ride Us Through the Storm”

Posted on 18 November 2020
https://alchemythree.bandcamp.com/

London-based trio Alchemy3 made their Alt-Indie debut on October 29th with the mesmerically compelling release “Ride Us Through the Storm”. Hit play and you’ll quickly come to realise how they came up with their moniker.

The high-vibe creative expression runs rampant through the tantalising soundscape, which is a minefield of aural curveballs, but each unexpected evolution in the single affirms that Alchemy3 have the ingenuity and the positivity to make a difference to the airwaves.

Ride Us Through the Storm is a track which utterly consumes you when you hit play, and I think we can all agree, aural escapism is more valuable now than ever. With vocals which share hypnotic reminiscence with the likes of Nadine Shah floating atop of the intricately orchestrated instrumental arrangement which mixes acoustic instruments with dreamy electric guitar notes, the single unravels as one of the most stylistically and lyrically profound singles I’ve heard this year.

You can check out Alchemy3’s debut single by heading over to Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast