Browsing Tag

Psych Pop

Get high on the dystopic delirium in Heavy Salad’s tropic psych rock cocktail, Weirdest of the Weird Shit

Posted on 26 January 2024

Even though you probably don’t need a track to affirm that we’re living in an era as twisted as Shaun Ryder’s melons, there’s no understating the vindicating catharsis in Heavy Salad’s tropic psych rock cocktail, Weirdest of the Weird Shit.

The track transcends sonics to deliver a mind-melting invitation to get high on the dystopic delirium as part of a collective experience and let the hallucinogenic waves within the ebbing and flowing guitars crash over you and brighten the psyche’s palette. The multi-layered harmonies play an even more crucial role in embodying and imparting vividly hazy hues as they alchemise with a synergy that Heavy Salad has meticulously honed since their 2019 debut release.

With mantras to live by flowing throughout lyrical surrealism in the beachy Lynchian fever dream, you’re free to explore brighter corridors of perception, safe in the knowledge that logic has become an extinction event and the only thing you can really change is the way you engage with our shared illusion.

Weirdest of the Weird Shit is now available to stream on all major platforms via this link.

Follow Heavy Salad on Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Evolution 9 went interstellar with their nebulous synth-pop harmonies in Tell Me Something

Posted on 24 January 2024

If Grandaddy’s polyphonic melodies never fail to stir your soul, consider the latest single, Tell Me Something, from Evolution 9 as an unmissable sonic event. The unbridled synthesis of sound and emotion resonates with exhilaratingly rare depth. The rock-amplified synth-pop hit, which shares the same rhythmically cosmic air as Inspiral Carpets will envelop you in a kaleidoscope of colour as it vibrantly through its meticulously carved progressions.

The Beach Boys-esque vocal harmonies are a standout feature, adding layers of warmth and nostalgia to the track. These harmonies intertwine seamlessly with the synth melodies, creating a sound that is both familiar and fresh. The effect is akin to rediscovering a beloved classic while experiencing something entirely new.

Evolution 9’s ability to balance complexity with accessibility will undoubtedly see them go far in the current climate that necessitates singles that exude as much zeal as this dynamic, almost serendipitous gem.

Stream Tell Me Something on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Pomaa – Wide Eyed: Painfully Sober, Sonically Celestial Indie Dream Pop

Posted on 11 October 2023

With a transfixingly astral vocal register layering harmonies over the retro reverb-swathed synths, Pomaa’s latest single, Wide Eyed, bridges the gap between Siouxsie and the Banshees and cutting-edge outfits in the vein of Wolf Alice and Desperate Journalist while allowing you to linger in a kaleidoscope of dreamy psych-pop tones.

From the first immersion, the artist’s unique talents in blending the spirit of her own hypnotically authentic expression with the mixer of era-spanning signatures from shoegaze, post-punk, psych, pop and indie to pour the perfect sonic mocktail becomes immediately apparent.

Through Wide Eyed, Pomaa narrates the isolation of being the only sober person at a party; starved of connection and wracked with unshakable sensations which embed the loneliness of growing at a different pace to everyone around you.

Wide Eyed will be available to stream on all major platforms from October 11; stream it on Spotify & SoundCloud. If you like what you hear, stay tuned for the release of her debut EP, Bridge to Somewhere, which will drop on November 15.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Reality is fiction in Rooftop Screamers cosmic pop odyssey, Another Life, featuring Tim Smith

Posted on 27 September 2023

After celebrating critical acclaim in his power-pop band, Throwback Suburbia, the Portland-based drummer and songwriter Mike Collins created his studio project, Rooftop Screamers to showcase his original tracks and create an opportunity to work with local and world-renowned vocalists, musicians, and producers.

Swapping guitar solos for the far more euphonic timbres of synth lines, he orchestrated an interstellar sonic fantasy in his latest single, Another Life, featuring Tim Smith, but those power pop proclivities still worked their way into the sticky-sweet synthesis that will enamour any fans of Butch Walker and Father John Misty.

It is all too easy to affix an ELO reference onto any track that could be branded as a cosmic pop odyssey, but the fusion of Beatle-esque pop, classical arrangements, and futuristic iconography necessitated the reminiscence reference regardless.

Something tells me that Another Life will be an earworm that doesn’t quit until you have pandered to it repeatedly.

Stream Another Life on Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Angel Quintas – Feel at Home: Cosmically Cosy Indie Pop Worth Staying In For

Posted on 25 September 2023

If the Beatles entered their kitchen sink era while picking up a few Ziggy Stardust proclivities, their kaleidoscopically soul-affirming singles would be as cosmically cosy as the latest single, Feel at Home, by the Floridian adult contemporary singer-songwriter, Angel Quintas.

Rather than assimilating 60s and 70s icons, the self-taught musician and producer abstracted influence from their tonal palettes and weaved them into a tapestry stitched with more contemporary alt-indie production techniques to deliver a nostalgic sanctuary with modernist décor.

While it is all too easy to bemoan the lazy days that put few demands on your time, especially with the age of the influencer making you feel guilty for not living the lifestyle of the rich and famous every day despite being neither, Feel at Home, colourfully illustrates that few things can match home comforts while delivering musical theatre akin to the sonic performances of Father John Misty who always goes the extra euphonic mile to leave you fully consumed.

Feel At Home hit the airwaves just in time for Autumn on September 15th stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

LA’s most harmonic pop-rock pioneer, Johnathan Dax, evoked mindfulness in his latest single, These Are the Days

Posted on 17 August 2023

Johnathan Dax spun the ’60s psych-pop tones through a spacy, future-ready kaleidoscope to orchestrate his odyssey of a single, These Are the Days.

The single efficaciously finds a poignantly compelling way to prove that these times may not be perfect, but on this point on the space-time continuum, they’re all we have, and they were made for living in.

Our era may be choked with a wanton lust for nostalgia, but if any spacey pop-rock sonic universe can bring you back to the present and give you lust for contemporary life, it’s These Are the Days, which picks up momentum through rock licks toward the outro, while emanating the liberating transcendence of an ELO epic.

These Are the Days will be available to stream from the 17th of August; hear it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Andrew Bradley advocated for unity in the infectious grooves of his latest single, Everybody’s Welcome Here

Posted on 30 July 2023

Hot on the heels of his debut LP, All Things Considered, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Andrew Bradley is set to unveil his unifying funk-dripping pop-rock hit, Everybody’s Welcome Here.

After an 80s funk hop reminiscent intro, the single unravels as a kaleidoscopically groovy hit that will leave you itching to hit a dancefloor and move to the intrinsically rhythmic magnetism. With the attitude of Britpop and a perfect pinch of Beatles-esque 60s psych-pop, Everybody’s Welcome Here is a compellingly textured sonic TARDIS of a release that couldn’t be better timed.

In such a divisive era when it feels like the pot is being perpetually shaken to breed antagonism in the atmosphere, Andrew Bradley served an all too welcome reminder that acceptance is one of the highest virtues we should all find a little more time for.

Prior to releasing Everybody’s Welcome Here, Andrew Bradley has gained experience in the industry as an artist and producer. From The Sound Emporium Studios in Nashville to Abbey Road Studios, his multi-faceted talents have graced plenty of the bucket list studios.

Check out Andrew Bradley on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Christo Mondavi reversed the laws of gravity with his psychedelically transcendent single, Daisy’s Gone Electric

Posted on 15 July 2023

Christo Mondavi firmly implanted psychedelic soul back into rock n roll with his latest single, Daisy’s Gone Electric; the hazily lofty single brings brand-new and literal meaning to the concept of dancing on the ceiling.

With the colourful melodies and Mondavi’s honeyed harmonies resonating as though they have been pulled into this atmosphere from a far higher plateau, Daisy’s Gone Electric isn’t a single you can slip into; it is a single that instantaneously reverses the laws of gravity while paying homage to the tones popularised by The Doors and The Beatles.

For an extra lick of authenticity, there are also touches of Bowie to the spacey Odyssey-esque progressions and Zappa to the zanily pure vocal and lyrical presence, which proves Mondavi has a soul of solid 60s psych pop gold. Perfection may often be seen as an unattainable ideal, but if anyone can claim to sonically come close, it is Christo Mondavi.

Daisy’s Gone Electric is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Smooth Retsina Glow orchestrated a psych-pop sonic sugar rush with their latest single, Overcoming

Posted on 12 March 2023

After Smooth Retsina Glow got ‘Metaphysical’ with their third album in 2022, they’ve rivalled the psychedelic soul of the Flaming Lips in their latest single, Overcoming.

Sarah Stoll’s vocals effortlessly fuse into the technicolour tones of the psych-pop synths and the guitars that bring a pinch of angular new-wave indie melodicism to the release. If that wasn’t enough sticky-sweet nectar to melt into, the Beach Boys-ESQUE vocal harmonies are sure to strip the malady out of the weariest souls.

The Lehigh Valley award-winning act has been picking up the accolades left, right, and centre in recent years. Undoubtedly, Overcoming will earn the outfit that started in 2019 a few more. The boundless creativity paired with the optimistically bright lyricism, which proves that everyone can take control of their perception, created a serotonin-soaked playlist staple for anyone who wants to hang on to their sanity and optimise their mortal coils.

Stream Overcoming on Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

mooncrüe have made their psychedelically existential debut with the spacey alt-electro hit, Animal

Posted on 6 March 2023

Alt-electronica originators mooncrüe went heavy on the philosophy which will be as euphonic to existential ears as the kaleidoscopic synth-pop beats in their debut single, Animal.

If you have ever looked at the lesser-aware species that roam this scorched earth with us with envy for their habitual simplicity; you will find visceral resonance in this mix. Animal leaves the highs to the instrumentals, and the realism within the lyricism that becomes even more astute with every listen to the spacey psychedelic score.

It isn’t every day that you discover a debut that leaves you desperate for the sophomore, but clearly, the indie psychonauts within this devilishly clever outfit are anything but your run-of-the-mill aural peddlers. They’re on their very own spacey plateau. Hit play and join them.

Animal is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast