Browsing Tag

The Maccabees

Hotel Florentia squeezed 60s psych-pop into garage rock with their saturated-in-delay slice of eccentric reverie, The 11th Hour

Posted on 7 November 2024

The Italian pop-rock duo Hotel Florentia squeezed the psychedelia of 60s pop into their criminally underrated lo-fi garage gem, The 11th Hour, allowing listeners to revel in a slice of indie reverie that matches the sublimity of The Maccabees and the Violent Femmes.

With melodies that burrow their way straight into the soul and turn up the heat through the glow of wavy saturation and nostalgically sharpened hooks which imbue instantaneous accessibility and familiarity to the single, The 11th Hour is the ultimate introduction to the Lodi-based outfit which are no strangers to international stages.

Equally as sweet as the instrumentals is the sense of playfully unfeigned eccentricity which sees the single become so much more than the sum of its parts. If Pavement never fails to leave you enamoured with their zanily electric vignettes, prepare to fall head over rhythmic pulses for The 11th Hour.

The 11th Hour is available to stream on all major platforms, including SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Simon Ewing serenaded through the eras in his acoustic indie folk triumph LULLABY

Posted on 23 April 2024

Simon Ewing’s latest single, LULLABY, artfully blends a spectrum of musical epochs with a mastery of guitar play that fans of folk and beyond will find irresistibly compelling. The track is a confluence of lo-fi charm and intricate guitar work that nods to The Maccabees’ Toothpaste Kisses while embedding a distinctly Americana vibe interlaced with blues’ soulful essence.

LULLABY won’t sing you to sleep; instead, it vibrates with life, signifying the Bristol-based troubadour’s knack for weaving narratives that affirm the sensibility of the soul. The song’s architectural simplicity in structure belies a complex, layered emotional resonance that hooks the listener from the first chord.

Ewing’s ability to synthesise swathes of genres into a seamless, flowing piece shows not just versatility but a deep reverence for the roots of each genre. Each note reflects a rhythmic exploration that feels both classic and innovative, making LULLABY a testament to Ewing’s ability to transcend traditional storytelling through music.

If Elliott Smith’s songs had veered away from melancholy towards this vein of succinct sweetness, they might have touched the same bright corners of the soul that Ewing reaches with this track.

Stream LULLABY on SoundCloud and YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Lynden. – Change: A Melodic Indie Folk Pop Embrace of Vulnerability and Hope

Posted on 17 March 2024

Evoking resonance by versing on our tendency to chase distraction to outrun negative pervasive thoughts and feelings of loneliness, Lynden.’s latest single, Change, melodically thrives on an emotive confluence of indie, pop, and folk and renders your heartstrings raw through the candour.

The deep emotional themes which traverse the trappings of anxiety and depression go beyond touching on the darkness that finds a way of leaving a shadow over all of our lives. Lynden. used the opportunity to advocate for the vulnerability of honesty and to extend hope to people who need to hear that world views are malleable. In short, If this world is just illusion, choose one that fulfils you.

Starting with simple acoustic guitar chords and evolving into an intimately all-encompassing production which echoes the appeal of Violent Femmes and The Maccabees’ more melancholic work, the Burnley-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist orchestrated a soundscape which sonically visualises the tenderness of the lyrical narrative, while injecting enough rhythmic zeal to give Change an all-too efficacious uplifting energy.

After receiving critical acclaim and over 24k streams for his last single, You, Lynden. is leaving his affectingly intimate mark on the indie landscape; we can’t think of a more worthy breakthrough artist in 2024.

Change was officially released on March 15. Stream the single on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Slip into the hazy catharsis of No Lonesome’s Indie-Psych-Folk single, It’s

Posted on 16 August 2023

With tones that will do as much for your nostalgia-seeking soul as songs from The Beatles, The Maccabees, and The Violent Femmes, the debut album, Flowers Recomposing, from the Chicago-hailing alt-folk outfit No Lonesome is a Tour De Vintage Force.

Between the blissful timbres of the harmonies and the serotonin that spills from the foggy with euphoria horn stabs, the standout single on the album, It’s, is the perfect introduction to the ingenuity of No Lonesome, which can be tracked through the distinction in the production that melds the quirky intimacy lo-fi with higher fidelity instrumental recordings.

If you were under any illusion that fresh alchemy can’t be squeezed out of amalgamating folk, 60s psych-pop and indie Americana, the seminally sticky-sweet LP will prove you otherwise as soon as you slip into the hazy catharsis.

The debut album from No Lonesome is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast