Browsing Tag

Psych Pop

Marlon Bianco went left of leftfield in his experimental electronic trip, Mad Man

Posted on 1 November 2024

Marlon Bianco’s latest single, ‘Mad Man,’ plays like an auditory hallucination; like peering through a drunken kaleidoscope, sounds and colours blend into a vivid sonic trip. Beginning with scratchy, trip-hop-adjacent beats, the track seamlessly evolves as Bianco’s dreamy, nostalgically textured vocals marry with the underlying rhythms.

It’s a sonic sculpture that etches itself into the mind, pulling you into the affirmation that insanity is infectious as elements of funk and jazz are weaved into a sublime lo-fi collage of sound.

Hazy summer nights may be behind us, but this psyched-to-the-nth-degree synth-driven odyssey from the Brighton-based aural polymath is here to stay. There’s no escaping the dreamy Avant Garde clutches of this release which forces you to live within its layers.

Mad Man will hit the airwaves on November 1st; stream the single on Spotify and follow Marlon Bianco on Instagram and Facebook.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Silver Magpie’s alt-indie single ‘Dickens’ is the perfect package of style, substance, and scintillation

Posted on 3 September 2024

Forget about the Oasis reunion, Silver Magpie’s return to the airwaves following a two-year hiatus with the single, Dickens, is infinitely more laudable. The trippy in all the right places alt-indie art-pop single, which embodies the classic songwriting of epochs gone by, is a tonal triumph. The glistening piano keys and angular guitar notes against the moody reverberations create an evocative platform for the singer-songwriter to pour candour across as he covers the pain of coming to terms with externally and internally concealed truths.

The consistently in flux vocal presence delivers everything from punchy cadences that punctuate the track as much as the percussion to resigned yearning to fiery swaggering outpours of unfeigned emotion to ethereal harmonies which endlessly ascend through the production.

Jesus Gutierrez hit pause on the Silver Magpie project after his 2022 single, Cartoon Hero, to refine his sound; given the kaleidoscopic gravity which pulls you into the poetic cosmos of Dickens, it is safe to say that the singer-songwriter has got his sonic signature down to a fine art.

The way Dickens implores you to swim with the thematic currents establishes Silver Magpie as so much more than an artist paying homage to the alt 80s and 90s; he’s a 21st-century pioneer, filtering his evocative narrative through lenses of textural nostalgia, resulting in a sound that you can sink into and instantly feel at home while prising new-found resonance from his eloquently penned productions.

Dickens was officially released on August 22nd; stream the single on Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Denim Dan is in the borderlands between optimism and pensive resignation in the folky 60s psych-pop single, ‘Guess I’ll Be Alright’

Posted on 2 September 2024
Denim Dan

The invitation to celebrate Denim Dan’s 25th Anniversary (1994 – 2024) is the hottest sonic ticket on the airwaves. The commemorative LP compilates some of the biggest hits from the band’s seven studio album legacy, including 3AM, Don’t Throw it Away, Let Your Love Fall Down on Me (Too) and Down By the River Bend Flow.

Every release earned its coveted space on the expansive double album, yet potentially none more so than the quintessential kaleidoscope of eccentric nostalgia, Guess I’ll Be Alright. After a smoky 60s psych-pop overture, the single unravels in Denim Dan’s signature folk troubadour style, which permits his vocals to flood the mix over the cosmically swanky melodies.

Few artists dare to lyrically roam in the grey area between pensive resignation and optimism, yet Denim Dan boldly ventured over unchartered emotional territory to sonically visualise a relatable sensation of suffering a blow to the soul but looking ahead with jaded self-assurance that wounds will eventually heal.

Following the release of Denim Dan’s 25th Anniversary (1994 – 2024), Denim Dan is starting a new chapter with a new album in the pipeline and set to drop in November 2024.

The anniversary album will be available to stream on all platforms, including Spotify, from September 2nd.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Barry Slorridge – Why? Avant-Garde Whovian Electronica

Posted on 21 August 2024

Any artist who uses the vocalisations of an existential Dalek in their tracks is an icon in our book, and that’s just the tip of the ingenuity iceberg in Barry Slorridge’s slice of Whovian avant-garde electronica.

With Why? the UK-based composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist didn’t use his Bachelor’s Degree in Classical Composition by any conventional means; instead, he chose to score his cultivated composition chops into an installation of delicious discordance which reminisces with nuances of The Beatles and Kraftwerk.

The synth lines carry echoes of The Phobophobes, introducing a dark, reflective undertone, interwoven with kaleidoscopic effects, allowing distorted waves of psychedelia to cascade through the music. Meanwhile, sweet psych-pop harmonies offer a stark contrast to the monotonal menace of the Dalek samples.

The track epitomises revolutionary art, achieving a rare feat—it unsettles those comfortably ensconced in their auditory preferences while providing solace to those who find beauty in the bizarre. Once Slorridge finds his niche, he will be an unreckonable force in the alt-electronica scene; his ability to orchestrate sensory experiences which bend the mind and electrify the pulses is unparalleled.

Why? was officially released on August 5th; stream the single on YouTube now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Lie awake in a psych-pop fever dream with Mope.’s seminal single, Wanderer:

Posted on 17 August 2024
Mope.

Despite the somewhat paradoxical pairing of an artist with the moniker Mope. with a track titled Wanderer, the dissonance fades swiftly, swallowed by the entrancing psychotropic waves of the production.

Wanderer traverses through the sonic landscape with a fluidity that justifies its title, enveloping listeners in a deliciously distorted Shoegaze embrace. The track’s structure is a hypnotic hybrid, part leftfield electronica with its syncopated rhythms and part psych pop fever dream, observed through a kaleidoscopic lens. You don’t just listen to Wanderer—you sink, letting the warm, luminous tides of sound wash over you. The commanding, semi-lucid vocals flow like an undercurrent, pulling you deeper into the aural odyssey few can rival.

The genesis of Mope.’s journey is profoundly personal. Following the loss of his father and the bleak dawn of the COVID-19 pandemic, Brad Steed transformed his grief into art, resulting in the creation of his debut album, An Optimist’s Guide to Self-Destruction.

The album, replete with reflections on his journey from sorrow to fleeting moments of peace, offers a psychotropic escape into love, loss, and electric currents. Created in the quiet corners of Raleigh, North Carolina, each song bears Steed’s intimate touch—written, recorded, mixed, and mastered by the artist himself.

Wanderer will be available to stream on all major platforms, including YouTube, from August 16th.

Follow Mope. on Instagram to stay up to date with their latest releases.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Riverman opened a doorway to 60s psychedelic pop summers with his alt-indie single, Somnambulism

Posted on 26 June 2024

Once you grab an oar with Riverman’s seminal single, Somnambulism, taken from his Summer Up / Summer Down LP, you’ll be reluctant to ever put it down. Riverman, the moniker of the Winston-Salem, NC-residing singer-songwriter Steve Hedrick, has earned his place in the pantheon of indie greats with this epoch-traversing genre-fluid installation of nostalgic euphony.

With sticky-sweet harmonies that pull at the heartstrings as fervently as Elliott Smith’s dreamy timbres juxtaposed with an exuberant indie-pop production which interweaves Johnny Marr-esque jangle-pop guitars and opens a doorway to 60s psychedelic pop summers all the while embracing brash, garage rock-infused licks, Somnambulism, which introduces Riverman as a ‘soporific spectre’ is a release that will send serotonin firing through your synapses.

The metaphorical exposition of sleepwalking is a masterclass in nostalgic synthesising. Riverman effortlessly infuses motifs from a broad sonic spectrum to pour a cocktail of aural summer haze that will quench your thirst for fresh indie sounds. It’s a lush escape that’s impossible to resist.

Stream Somnambulism on YouTube now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Rock your way into another dimension with Steve Schuster’s psychonautic passport to the 60s, Sassafras Supersonic

Posted on 1 May 2024
Steve Schuster

Steve Schuster’s single, Sassafras Supersonic, taken from his LP, Permanently High, is a vibrant homage to 60s pop & rock, which rides the surf waves as smoothly as the Beach Boys to create a harmonised to the nines nostalgic nod to the era.

Every 60s psychonaut will find familiar comfort in its release, which also radiates the kaleidoscopic colour and charm of The Beatles. However, Schuster doesn’t merely replicate; he innovates, transcending cross-Atlantic appeal with the zany lyrics which invite listeners on a cosmic trip across constellations and into another dimension.

The sticky-sweet explosion of expression, filtered through infectiously honeyed 60s pop-rock progressions, ensures that there’s charisma in every chord and the soul of the track reverberates viscerally enough that your mind will be open to the idea that if this world is just an illusion, imagination is the only passport needed.

Schuster, an award-winning songwriter with a career spanning several decades, showcased his prowess in blending classic rock influences with contemporary flair in this transfixing temporal gateway. His latest album promises a similar journey of emotional and thematic exploration. Recorded with meticulous dedication and the multifaceted talents of producer Mike Pascarella, it’s set to resonate with fans old and new.

Stream the Permanently High LP via Steve Schuster’s official website from May 1st.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Bruj pushed funk into psychedelically interstellar waters with ‘The Edge’

Posted on 30 April 2024

Bruj’s latest single, The Edge, is an interstellar escapade that melds funk, electro, soul, and pop into an exhilarating synthesis which will juxtaposingly sink your senses into catharsis.

From the energetic pulse of choppy funky staccato guitars to the unwavering force of steady percussion and snaking basslines, this track offers more than just sound—it crafts a visceral experience. Listeners are whisked away into a psychedelic nirvana, enveloped in the hypnotically exotic warmth that distinguishes Bruj’s sonic approach.

Originating from Brussels, the trio—Antoine, Simon, and Raphaël—have honed their collective expertise since 2014, refining their influences into scintillating, soul-affirming auditory narratives. Since their transformation in 2022 into original composers, their music has assumed a fresh dimension of creative freedom, evidently showcased in this release.

The Edge excels in its ability to transport its audience far beyond the constraints of material reality. When immersed in rich pools of tonal bliss, you’ll instantly succumb to the grooves which testify to Bruj’s ability to craft experiences beyond the borders most artists are willing to take their sound.

The Edge dropped on April 15th; stream the single on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Luke Meyn delivered an indie psych dream you’ll never want to wake up from with ‘When It’s Over’

Posted on 24 March 2024

Embark on an indie synth odyssey with the Brisbane, Australia-hailing artist Luke Meyn’s debut single, When It’s Over; finality has never sounded so sweet. Meyn covered the entire spectrum of emotion in this seminally blissful release which proves that endings don’t always need to necessitate bitterness.

The soundscape became the perfect vessel to carry the tenderly expressed emotional themes. The way the psychedelic layers rove through the scintillating cosmos of the production that bleeds all the intimacy of Grandaddy and Yo La Tengo while delivering the same transcendently kaleidoscopic colour of The Beatles and all of the arcane air of Mercury Rev ensures that When It’s Over sonically swallows you whole and transports you to another dimension.

With the promise that no two songs from Luke Meyn are the same, we’re equal parts gutted we can’t anticipate another single in the same vein as When It’s Over and stoked to hear what is to come from the artist who takes a spontaneous approach to song crafting by following his muse, wherever they may roam.

When It’s Over was officially released on March 16th; stream the single on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The troubadour of die-hard romanticism, Andy Smythe, struck aural gold once again with ‘Out of My Mind’

Posted on 3 February 2024

Andy Smythe teased the aurally amplified eloquence caged in his forthcoming album, Poetry in Exile, by unveiling the standout single, Out of My Mind, which captures the toil of finding ‘the one’ in a sprawling metropolis.

The psychedelic and sporadically spacy pop hit, which oscillates in the middle ground between the Beatles, Bowie, and Buckley, brings brand-new meaning to an endeavour being a labour of love while allowing you to fall head over heels for the London-based troubadour of die-hard romanticism.

The kaleidoscopic melodies vortex around the horn stabs, which bring an infectious and enrapturing bluesy stridency to the release, ensuring that Out of My Mind will never be far from your own psyche after you have succumbed to the rhythmic magnetism. The stunningly rendered release is the ultimate testament to Andy Smythe’s talents in prising sentiments from his soul and visualising them through his tenor harmonies and lush arrangements that will effortlessly become your new crush.

The official music video for Out of My Mind was officially released on January 26. Stream it on YouTube and follow Andy Smythe on Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date with the launch of his upcoming LP, which is poised for a March 1st release.

Review by Amelia Vandergast