Browsing Tag

Piano Pop

In the wake of trajedy, Alexander Joseph found the beauty in his piano score, Waiting for You

Posted on 11 November 2022

The UK-based singer-songwriter, Alexander Joseph, created an intricately ornate balance of faith, regret and grief in the piano version of his single, Waiting For You, which captured the complexity of the emotions following his grandmother’s passing.

If you know how it feels to know that someone is at peace while they endured the opposite amongst us and for those torrid emotions to be confounded by guilt for not being more supportive while we had the opportunity, Waiting for You will weigh down on you like a tonne of bricks.

Yet, there’s ample solace within the pure soul of the vocals, which anticipate reconnection while the lyrics vow to go on in a way that will minimise regret when our time comes. By blending striking minor keys with major keys in the progressions to brighten the score, Waiting for You unravels to sonically amplify the message that even in the wake of tragedy, life can never be black and white.

Alexander Joseph’s commitment to orchestrating uplifting heartfelt messages is seen throughout his body of work, plenty of which has been lauded by BBC Introducing. When he’s not enriching our musical culture, he coaches the British Wheelchair Tennis Programme. My faith in humanity is officially restored.

Waiting for You will officially release across all major platforms on November 11th. Hear it here.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Alex de León counts the ‘Minutes & Hours’ in her compellingly tender piano pop narrative of lost time

Posted on 10 November 2022

London-based Mexican singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer, Alex de León has released her captivatingly tender single, Minutes & Hours. The instrumentally minimalist single captures the ephemeral nature of time, where the sands that are always pouring can leave the best of us behind.

Anyone with a proclivity towards burnout will resonate with the lyric, “I wish I could stop and smell the flowers, but all I see are minutes and hours”. It pulls you into the depth of this intimately vulnerable single which blossoms to the tune of the gentle neo-classic piano keys and her soft Tori Amos-Esque vocal harmonies.

Alex de León’s single Minutes & Hours was officially released ahead of her upcoming debut EP of the same title. Stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Ancestral pain emanates in Million Pebble Beach’s latest beguilingly awakening Witches

Posted on 6 November 2022

In modern culture, witches are often painted with crooked noses and broomsticks beside them; Million Pebble Beach’s latest single, Witches, paints them as what they always were, women powerful enough to evoke enough fear to drive men to burn them at the stake.

That archaic form of misogyny has shifted with the ages but remains just as pertinent in our regression-tainted cultural tapestry. The deep ancestral pain emanates through this sombre yet juxtaposing uplifting single that shimmers with tonal and lyrical beguile as their strength and power is celebrated.

The Hertfordshire-based solo artist has made quite the name for herself with her cinematic and poetic piano oeuvre since 2018, which any fans of Mitski and Phoebe Bridgers will find playlist-worthy,

Witches is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Nick Cody & The Heartache consoles Anthropocene anxiety in his single, All is Fine Until the World Goes Pop, featuring Towse

Posted on 30 September 2022
https://soundcloud.com/nickcodymusic/all-is-fine-til-the-world-goes-pop-featuring-towse/s-Cx1cPKU0Zbm?si=975686dab187470ca0639c3e3b299658&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

UK singer-songwriter Nick Cody is set to unleash his forthcoming album, All is Fine Until the World Goes Pop; the plaintive piano mockery of the state of our being at this crushing crux of humanity spills its fair share of antipathy while playfully protesting the black mirror reflection of our reality.

The standout single, featuring the glassy vocals from Towse, may not be able to brighten the corners of our contemporary insanity; it does something far more valuable. It euphonically cries out to everyone struggling with Anthropocene anxiety with a nuanced affirmation that they’re not alone in their all-consuming fear.

Artfully, lyrically, and conceptually, All is Fine Until the World Goes Pop is a multi-faceted triumph.

All is Fine Until the World Goes Pop will officially release on September 30th. Catch it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Richi Camarena let the candour pour in his single, Letter to Myself

Posted on 15 September 2022

Mexico-born singer-songwriter Richi Camarena let the candour poor in his debut EP, Letter to Myself. The title single starts by exploring the connotations of depression and the guilt it leaves us with when we’re unable to be happy for the people we love before vulnerably proving that nothing lasts forever, not even the emotions that seem impossible to escape.

The gentle piano pop ballad is a stunning testament to the 23-year-old artist’s motivation to open up with his emotions and allow his fans to follow suit. The simple piano melodies around the gentle percussive kicks give the artist’s voice plenty of space to resound and resonate before the faded outro.

Letter to Myself is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Evan de Roeper brought hopeless romanticism back in style with his pop single, Call My Name.

Posted on 23 August 2022

Evan de Roeper is the 21st-century dance-pop equivalent to Sinatra in his latest single, Call My Name. Whoever said that romance is dead clearly wasn’t one of the tens of thousands caught up in his hype. Just a week after the release, the smoothly affection-laden track has racked up over 32,000 streams and counting.

With his signature piano work behind the dancey short and sweet pop hit, it is all too easy to feel the sincerity behind the lyrics that yearn for a paramour – especially when the rap verses groove into the atmospheric production.

Here is what Evan de Roeper had to say about his latest release:

“Call My Name is the first single from my 4-track EP, Lavender, which documents the cycle of a relationship, told through the stages of a day. Call My Name is the ‘morning’ song, where you are waking up happy and generally optimistic about a future relationship. You are eager to find new love from someone who will call your name. Musically, it carries the euphoria of a Calvin Harris-Esque dance track.”

Call My Name was officially released on August 15th. Check it out for yourselves via Spotify & follow Evan de Roeper on Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Skinny G Radio burst ‘Delusions of Grandeur’ in his theatric piano pop single

Posted on 28 June 2022

If you abstracted the annoying aspect to Tim Minchin, you would be left with something akin to Skinny G Radio’s standout single, Delusions of Grandeur, from his debut album, The Heightening.

The piano-led melodies around the organs and synths jauntily add a touch of theatrical flair to the baroquely tinged single, inspired by the likes of John Mayer and Billy Joel, while the vocals animatedly wrap around the vindicating lyricism.

“Don’t get caught up in their pretension” may just be one of my favourite lyrics of the year. It completely bursts the bubble of ego-driven self-importance that most artists drift around the industry in.

Whichever way he is infiltrating it, the Connecticut-born and raised, LA-based artist, songwriter, producer, and performer will perceptibly brighten the creative crevices of our late-stage capitalist world. We can’t wait to hear what follows.

Delusions of Grandeur is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

Basia Bartz has released her feverishly pure piano-pop score, All Your Pages (Read Like Mine)

Posted on 6 June 2022
Basia Bartz

After an outtake-y intro which strips any air of pretension from the soundscape from the outset, the Poland-born and raised, London-residing singer-songwriter Basia Bartz careers into a smooth experimental jazz-pop ensemble with her latest single, All Your Pages (Read Like Mine).

Even though it’s scarcely imaginable that a contemporary artist can conjure as much soulfully demure alchemy as Peggy Lee did with Fever, that is exactly what Basia Bartz beguiles with.

Her name as a solo artist may be relatively unheard. As a violinist, she’s worked alongside Boxer Rebellion, Maisha, Ben Walker and Josienne Clarke, Dan Raza, The Penny Black Remedy, Cherise Adams-Burnett, Tankus The Henge, Trent Miller, Ian Prowse, Tom McRae, Jamie Lenman, Ferries & Sylvester, Catherine Rudie and the Kisses, Jason McNiff, The Clientele, ESE & The Vooduu People, Gabriel Moreno, Adam Beattie and many more.

Inspired by those very same artists, she started training as a vocalist and composer before releasing her debut single, A Girl at Dusk, in 2022. Her third single, All Your Pages, is her soulful take on a groove-led feat of piano pop which unravels as an honest expression of female sensuality. God knows we needed someone to put the innocence back into affection after Nikki Minaj defiled all that was sacred about those moments that are just as tenderly captivating as the swinging piano riffs in All Your Pages.

All Your Pages will launch on Bandcamp on June 3rd before releasing across all other platforms on June 21st.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Ariana Molkara showed us the epitome of country-pop class in her coming of age debut single, Birdies Gotta Fly By

Posted on 3 June 2022

With all of the class and arcane beguile of a Parisian Chanteuse, the alt-country pop singer-songwriter Ariana Molkara has made a theatrical yet intimately captivating entrance with her debut single, Birdies Gotta Fly By.

Cinematic scarcely covers the luminous production, which comes complete with pianos that would leave Ben Folds weak at the knees paired with infectiously upbeat percussion and orchestral strings to amplify the bitter-sweet coming of age sentiments expressed in the profoundly flawless single.

If this is her coming of age single, Ariana Molkara has a seriously bright future ahead of her.

Birdies Gotta Fly By was officially released on June 3rd. You can hear it for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Elena Louvis gave her latest indie-pop single This One’s on Me, the tender touch.

Posted on 6 May 2022

With the same tender touch as Bill Ryder-Jones, Daughter and Tom Odell, the NYC up-and-coming artist and indie record label owner Elena Louvis’ latest single, This One’s on Me, is a masterfully raw feat of downtempo indie-pop.

With the neo-classic nods, her vulnerably glassy vocal timbre and the immersive yet stripped back and meditative production, the mournfully humble single hits the evocative spot with bruising precision. The confessionally honest lyrics which spill the ink on idiosyncratic regret are so intimate and personal, yet, at the same time, the sentiments are universally recognisable.

This One’s on Me will be available to stream from May 6th. You can check it out for yourselves via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast