Browsing Tag

Trap Pop

Shayla Hamady – LMWYC V2 featuring KnovaT27: horror trap pop has never been hotter

Posted on 25 March 2022

With a music video that could rival American Horror Story and the way that Shayla Hamady entwines horror with moody trap melody, her latest release, LMWYC V2, featuring KnovaT27, is a work of scintillating multi-media art.

The sultry timbre of her dark pop vocals brings a transfixing edge to the track that gets even sharper when KnovaT27 brings his cutting rap bars to break up the accordance that lingers after Shayla Hamady’s ultra-vivid lyricism, which plays with dark themes and romanticism. We didn’t need the Detroit born and raised artist’s bio to tell us that she’s inspired by Eilish. Yet, Hamady still came into her authentic own in LMWYC which stands as a testament to her commitment to expressive art.

The official music video for LMWYC is available to stream on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Scarlett Angel brought in the future of pop with her dark and stormy track, C u L8r, featuring Zēo

Posted on 3 March 2022
Scarlett Angel

The Melbourne-based singer-songwriter rapper, Scarlett Angel, has everything it takes to define the future of pop – if her latest single, C u L8r, featuring Zēo, is anything to go by.

With her sweet future-pop-meets-bubble-gum-pop vocals spilling into the dark and moody instrumentals, which start with shoegazey dream pop vibes before transgressing into a stormy pop trap track, the choruses in C u L8r will stick to your synapses like superglue. Whether you want them to or not.

Lyrically, C u L8r is just as emboldening as Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off, Avril Lavigne’s Complicated, and You Oughta Know by Alanis Morissette. But make no mistake, Scarlett Angel is creating her own empowering pop signature sound.

Check out Scarlett Angel via SoundCloud and Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Mavi Veloso delivered a vindicating hit of urban electro euphoria with ‘Names’

Posted on 19 February 2022

Debut albums are scarcely as promising as the Brazil-born, Netherlands-based artist Mavi Veloso’s debut LP, Travesti Biológica, which hit the airwaves on January 21st, 2022. The LP celebrates the beauty of trans and non-binary bodies while making no bones about pushing the envelope in a more progressive direction. The mash of pop, trap and futurism is an indulgent throw-back to the electroclash era and simultaneously a definitive milestone in the evolution of electro-pop that breaks the heteronormative mould.

The standout single, Names, is a fierce electro-pop anthem that bites back and speaks out to anyone in the queer community that has felt the sting of derogatory and disgustingly dim remarks. You couldn’t ask for a more vindicating hit of urban electro euphoria. Mavi Veloso has exactly what it takes to become the Peaches of our generation. We are more than here for it.

Names is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Tanner Molique puts emotion into ‘Motion’ in his latest RnB hip hop track

Posted on 1 February 2022

It is all about the vibe in Tanner Molique’s discography of tracks. The LA-hailing artist strives to make music to drive, think and be intimate to; he discernibly succeeded based on his first 2022 single, Motion. The hazy lo-fi RnB Hip Hop track gives you plenty of ambience and reverb to sink into while you follow the grooves in the trappy melodies. It’s almost enough to conjure imagery of a neon-lit urban cruise through bustling metropolitan streets as Motion mellifluously runs through the sexually charged progressions.

Motion is the ultimate testament to Molique’s emotionally charged ethos as a songwriter and artist who seeks to evoke emotion by delivering evocative content hand over fist.

Motion was officially released on January 14th; it is now available to stream and purchase via Apple Music.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Get your feel-good fix with BG Scott’s sticky-sweet alt-indie pop single, Don’t You Say.

Posted on 3 January 2022

US alt-indie artist, BG Scott, has deservedly garnered plenty of hype with his honeyed experimental music which pushes the envelope into unchartered aural territory. His debut EP, Leap of Faith, is a soul-soaked triumph – especially on the basis of the bright and wavy lead single, Don’t You Say. The lo-fi track is almost paradoxical for its radio-ready resonance; the sticky-sweet sensibility evokes emotion while the entrancing grooves feed the dopamine.

The 20-year-old Virginia-hailing artist has already racked up over 59,000 streams on Spotify alone with Don’t You Say which merges trap pop energy with lo-fi indie style. Considering that he is still at the outset of his career and his tracks are already this entrancing and evocatively appealing, his future is set to be as auspicious as his sound.

Don’t You Say is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Goonmetal has released his addictively authentic alt-indie single, For the Moment

Posted on 26 December 2021
https://soundcloud.com/goonmetal/for-the-moment-ft-treistemm?si=78b4791b773a4fa19a9f02fc0accf788&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

With the same floods of bleeding reverb as Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine mixed with the indie jangle-pop melodies and trap pop sensibilities, Goonmetal’s latest single, For the Moment, featuring Treistemm, is a fiery feat of constraint-less experimentalism. It hits the visceral spot whilst leaving you utterly transfixed in the aural chaos as choral tones come up against caustic ones.

The white-hot guitars cut through the mix just as efficaciously as they did in Interpol’s debut record. But there is an accessible lo-fi edge to all of Goonmetal’s tracks that prove his interest in commercial success fell by the wayside as the need for expression took the lead throughout his creative process.

The 18-year-old Glastonbury, CT-hailing artist is a self-taught artist who has made every beat from scratch since making his debut in 2019. He knows exactly how to amplify the raw emotion that is projected into his music. For that reason, he will remain firmly affixed to our radar throughout 2022.

For the Moment is now available to stream via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Lije. looks under the hood of capitalism in his RnB trap pop track, FNTY.

Posted on 5 November 2021
Lije.

Up and coming alt-pop artist, Lije. is set to release his high-vibe sophomore single, FNTY, which pulls from a myriad of genres to groove with a brand-new, trappy soul-pop sound.

Right from the outset of his career, the Southwest Sydneysider is proving that he’s got a matchless sonic style that draws from Fijian culture, gospel and artists, including Khalid, Lucky Daye and Arin Ray.

With his lyrics that inspire introspection as deep as you will find on offer in the single, it’s impossible not to be caught up in the soul of the release with lines such as “Why does winning feel like a new low?”

Check out Lije. on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

RnB pop luminary Lánre shares the Cali sun in his latest soul-fix of a single, LA.

Posted on 27 October 2021

I’m fairly certain a significant part of my soul belongs to Atlanta’s trailblazer of soul-pop, Lánre, after hearing his latest good-vibe track LA. With his arcanely harmonic vocal melodies and the modern trappy indie-pop beats, it is easy to see how he has come to amass over 300k streams on his debut release. Hearing LA immediately becomes secondary to feeling the vibe in the emotionally charged single that finds a poetic way of proving that it is the people that make the place, not the landscape.

It’s tracks like LA that prove that there’s still plenty of originality to be pulled out of lovelorn pop, if you do it with enough soul. The sky is the limit for this quickly ascending artist and his affectionate panache.

Take yourself to Lánre’s depiction of LA via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

XANDE breaks barriers with his mental health alt-pop stormer, DOWNFALL.

Posted on 8 October 2021

Alt-pop singer-songwriter and producer, XANDE, is set to release his rawest single to date with DOWNFALL, which doesn’t just open up the MH conversation; it drops an atomic bomb to break down barriers and advocate for mental health awareness.

By mixing with contemporary pop elements with trap textures and alt-rock stylings, DOWNFALL could easily be  universally adored. If you thought that Wrecking Ball was evocative, brace yourselves for the emotional firestorm that blazes throughout this massive melodic hit.

The Portugal-born artist penned the single to reflect the emotions that transpired through being a caregiver for his father, who suffered from schizophrenia and PTSD. It finds a nuanced way of portraying the very real truth that the symptoms of someone’s mental health conditions can cause another’s trauma.

As someone that has also had to constantly creep around depression and anxiety during childhood, I couldn’t help finding myself in the lyrics; that hollowing feeling of knowing that your emotions will always be secondary and the people that should have your back just let you fall or push you even further. It’s a stunning single, in every conceivable way. We can’t wait to hear more.

The official video to DOWNFALL will premiere on October 8th; you can check it out for yourselves on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Sun-Soaked Trap Pop: Captiøn – Malcølm In the Middle feat. Christian Awong

Posted on 20 August 2021
Captiøn

There are two kinds of experimental artists, the ones who strive to create anything as long as it is new, and the ones that give their tracks the same IQ as Einstein, the up and coming alt-pop artist Captiøn is definitively in the latter camp.

His latest single, created in collaboration with Christian Awong, is as alternative as it is emotional; the vocal hooks in Malcølm in the Middle pull you deeper into the trippy, sun-bleached melodicism. Summer may be coming to a close, but if there is any tropic trap pop track to keep you warm through the winter, it is this sweet and authentic earworm.

Check out Captiøn’s latest track on Spotify or SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast