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Shoegaze

London’s Lemonade Sin defied gravity with their elevated dream pop single, Melanie Nods

Posted on 7 June 2022
Melanie Nods by Lemonade Sin

Following the saturated-in-tape-delay indie dream pop intro, Lemonade Sin’s latest single, Melanie Nods, unfolds as a transcendentally playful aural crumble of the definitive UK sounds from the 80s to the 00s. The hazy shoegaze textures, chilling nods to post-punk and the Manic Street Preaches-Esque riffs in the middle eight pull together to form a sonic trajectory that you will want to follow time and time again.

With vocal reminiscences to Joy Division’s Atmosphere and the Human League’s Mirror Man happening simultaneously, Lemonade Sin is for every 80s fan out there looking for artists innovative enough to pull new aesthetics out of the synths, unmistakable percussion, and vocal layering.

Melanie Nods is now available to stream and purchase on Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Chris Koehn urges us to be more grateful on the soothing ‘Sympatheia’

Posted on 15 May 2022

Taken off his much-awaited upcoming EP, Chris Koehn shows that wonderfully genuine compassion which is missing from the mainstream on his latest single to win over your heart, ‘Sympatheia‘.

Chris Koehn is a Mexico City, Mexico-based indie shoegaze singer-songwriter, music producer and architect who is on a mission to help others live their life in a way that is free from materialism.

“The freer from our attachments we are, the happier our life will be.” ~ Chris Koehn

Bringing us a real reminder to be truly kind to yourself as the soul you have inside you is asking for your understanding, Chris Koehn sends us a true love letter that should be heard far and wide, rather than being harsh and evil to your consciousness that wants a warm embrace.

”After experiencing his brother`s death, Chris Koehn architect & singer/songwriter/ producer entered a musical journey as an introspective grieving process. Seeing the healing power its music had over him and others, he started to share and work on his music to help other people feel & heal together.” ~ Chris Koehn

‘Sympatheia‘ from Mexico City, Mexico-based indie shoegaze singer-songwriter, music producer and architect Chris Koehn is a calming blend of mellow sounds that shows us that being kind to yourself is the key to life, rather than worrying about things that don’t actually matter. Sung with true control and a mellow style, this is a tranquil song that should get you in a meditative state, that is far away from those silly stresses that can dampen your mood into a coldness that is so unnecessary.

Listen up to this new single on Spotify and check out his IG for more.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

Mallaigh Ashton made the alt-90s her own with her latest dreampop single, With a Song

Posted on 4 March 2022

NYC-hailing singer-songwriter, Mallaigh Ashton, made the alt-90s her own in her indie dream-pop release, With a Song. Reminiscences of Mazzy Star are there, but nothing about With a Song feels fractionally assimilative. There’s a real sense that part of the alchemy in this track is from Ashton’s creative passion and unfiltered poetry spilling into a mic.

Her vocals get just enough prominence in the release to give the cutting lyricism on in-love-anxiety a firm hold on your heartstrings but there’s still enough synergy with the soft shoegaze guitars to give With a Song an almost phantasmal mellifluous air as it alludes to just how fragile love can make you.

As a staunch shoegaze fan, it is always daunting discovering new up and coming artists borrowing tones from the alt 90s, but the cynicism soon faded after hitting play on With a Song. Mallaigh Ashton is a matchlessly breath-taking artist.

With a Song is due for official release on March 4th; you can check it out for yourselves via SoundCloud and Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Low Highs cut to the core of romantic scorn in their psychedelically dreamy alt-indie single, Don’t You Ever

Posted on 3 March 2022

The South Florida residing alt-indie duo, The Low Highs, have released their eagerly anticipated sophomore single, Don’t You Ever. The mellifluous earworm allows dream pop, indie psych and folk-rock textures to pull together in the atmospherically absorbing release that cuts to the core of romantic scorn.

Don’t You Ever captures the disjointing feeling of realising a relationship was filled with empty promises of perpetuity before exploring the confusion that leaves us questioning every exchange and retracted extension of affection as though our interpersonal history has been rewritten with the utterances of a few words.

The Kraftwerk-y style melodic synths and funky indie disco percussion paired with the hypnotically distorted vocals make exploring those torrid emotions infinitely easier. You’d be hard-pressed to find another up and coming outfit bringing a better aura to the airwaves. It’s almost ironic that a song on empty promises was so promising.

Don’t You Ever premiered on January 21st. You can check it out for yourselves by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Manchester’s most ethereal synth-folk artist, Test Card Girl, is transcendent in her latest single, Fly

Posted on 2 March 2022

From the definitive home of UK indie, the Manchester-based synth-folk artist, Test Card Girl, is here with their intricately alternative Kraftwerk-inspired single, Fly.

Her choral folk vocals float into the slightly Avant-Garde, endlessly ethereal electronica progressions as the lyrics navigate the stir craziness that lockdown stirred inside all of us. In their own words, “It is a rallying cry to stand up and walk to nowhere”, inspired in part by the colliery bands in British mining towns.

With Seadna McPhail (Airtight Studios) on production and the I am Kloot drummer, Andy Hargreaves, responsible for production, this Arts Council-funded single was worth every penny. There really is no understating how much its gentle gravitas cuts straight to the core of frustration while exploring art in the context of desolation.

Fly, the second single from Test Card Girl’s debut EP, was released on February 25th. You can hear it for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud, Spotify and Bandcamp.

Keep up to date with new releases from Test Card Girl by following on Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Demure dream-pop royalty, speakeazie has released her debut album, Prohibition Hippie

Posted on 25 February 2022

The Minneapolis-based alt dream-pop artist that is never short of mesmeric material, speakeazie, has released her highly anticipated debut album, Prohibition Hippie, featuring the standout single, Disintegrate, which spins an engrossing narrative tale of a young girl losing control. Anyone that has ever felt their mask of sanity slip will undoubtedly want to delve into this compassionately orchestrated single.

Disintegrate shares a tonal palette with Echo and the Bunnymen’s earlier material. But with the instrumentals distorted via the wobbly tape delay effect, the bedroom pop single takes an authentically demure form.

speakeazie’s vocals parallel the evocative power of Florence Welch while keeping in line with the contemporary moody indie-pop vocal trend. By that we mean they are alchemic leagues ahead. Also written into Disintegrate’s mix is speakeazie’s influence of dreamy retro aesthetics and the 1920s. It is inarguably one of the most distinctive releases that we have heard so far this year.

speakeazie’s debut album is now available to stream on Spotify. Or you can check out the video on YouTube. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

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

Posted on 26 December 2021

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

Spotlight Feature: NIA paints a portrait of inner turmoil in her downtempo alt-RnB single, Distant Colors

Posted on 14 December 2021

‘Distant Colors’ is the latest compassionately composed single from the New York-born, Philadelphia-based alt-RnB artist, and producer, NIA. Her signature spiritualism weaved its way into the downtempo release that explores inner turmoil for the emotionally attuned. For anyone who has ever cursed the depth of their emotional intellect, Distant Colors will act as an olive branch of empathy. As NIA’s light vocal timbre falls into the echoey and reverb-drenched shimmering guitars, the solid, steady drumbeats give the track enough structure while letting the ambience breathe through. The single was written, recorded and produced at NIA’s home studio; before being mixed and mastered by Tito Orjih at Oscar’s Greenhouse.

Here’s what NIA had to say about the release:

“My single, Distant Colors, expresses the raw emotion of being in tune with our inner struggles. Not only does this downtempo R&B tune tackle the feeling of isolation; it also represents the realness of the relationship that we have with ourselves.”

NIA started songwriting at an early age; on her journey to adulthood, she’s continued to hone in on her inexplicable talent that will instantly pique the interest of fans of Sade. Shortly after graduating from Shippensburg University, she established her record label, Chill Room Records and formed her band, The Chill Room Band. With new material in the pipeline, she’s definitely one to watch.

Distant Colors is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Poetry flows with the mellow vibes in Innocent Tata’s alt hip hop track, The End.

Posted on 3 December 2021

Alt rap artist, Innocent Tata, dropped his latest album, Kiwi (The Bird), on November 15th; with his poetic flows and ambient indie vibes, this is urban catharsis as you have never known it before.

The standout single, The End, is a mellow window into the artist’s candid soul. After a hazy intro that bleeds reverb, the beats start to rattle beneath his butter-smooth rap bars that work their way around the introspective gold in the lyricism. The End drifts through ethereal increments into crescendos of sheer ambient electro ingenuity; your vibe out playlists couldn’t ask for more.

The End is available to stream and purchase via the apple store with the rest of Innocent Tata’s album, Kiwi (The Bird).

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Alyssa Keen & Nickay – thanks but no thanks: emboldening ‘over you’ indie pop

Posted on 2 December 2021

For her latest single, singer-songwriter Alyssa Keen teamed up with Nickay to create the ultimate emboldening ‘over you’ track “thanks but no thanks”

Alyssa Keen’s natural, elysian and airy vocals make it all too easy to succumb to the soul in the romantically scorned track that reminds the listener how sweet it is to take back emotional power over yourself.

Around the easy acoustic guitar chords are stunning nuances of shoegazey indie and elements of style that fans of Kurt Wilde will instantly want to melt into. The single is so much more than your average bitter and coming age of single. Alyssa Keen’s motivation to pull optimistic perspectives out of the bad to enlighten the world is enough to restore your faith in humanity.

thanks but no thanks is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast