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South America

Tequila Wave’s Lies: A Darkwave Post-Punk Sermon from the Shadows of Inner Conflict

You’d be forgiven for thinking that Sisters of Mercy had a new sibling after the emergence of Lies—the darkwave earworm by Tequila Wave that also teases Joy Division-esque guitar lines into the production, where the synths sink percussive gravity into the track as much as the beats. As the moody vox reverberate shadows through the mix, the danceable kinetic energy lends an air of transcendence; an invitation to pull away from the weight of your weary soul and sink rhythmic catharsis into your veins. Tequila Wave may not have reinvented the darkwave post-punk wheel with Lies, but why ruin an already perfect formula when you can inject fresh lifeblood into it?

Channelling discontent and transformation into every brooding note, the Mexican artist Jorge Luis Niño proves that Tequila Wave is far more than an alias—it’s an emotional vessel. With a sound rooted in goth, post-punk, and darkwave, but never limited by them, the artist’s bilingual approach and unfiltered self-expression reach far beyond the surface. The themes aren’t theatrically dressed up—they’re unvarnished truths, stitched into pulsating synths and shivering riffs that hold enough weight to carry listeners through their own internal reckonings.

Where previous releases like Take Away the Mask peeled layers back with surgical precision, and Café offered a deeper look at his cultural identity, Lies digs into the emotional marrow. It’s less of a song, more of a séance.

Lies is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast.

ShadowHart’s ‘Calcified’ Hits Like a Gothic Cathedral Crumbling Under the Weight of Time

ShadowHart, AKA Richard Nelson, redefines pop-punk with the weight of his orchestral motifs and baroque-leaning vocals. ‘Calcified’ commands attention with its colossal crescendos and atmospherically charged angst.

A lifetime of musical obsession and technical expertise bleeds through every note. Raised in a household where guitars were practically heirlooms, Nelson cut his teeth young, climbing the ranks as one of Tennessee’s top jazz musicians before taking his talent through Auburn University and a career in aerospace engineering. Now, armed with a Master’s in Music Technology, he’s sculpting sound with the precision of someone who understands its mechanics from the inside out.

‘Calcified’ is a haunting contradiction. It carries the visceral energy of early 2000s pop-punk but leans into a cinematic darkness that sets ShadowHart apart. The emotive riffs and orchestral undertones carve out space for his vocals to amplify every lyric’s weight, swelling with the kind of gothic grandeur rarely heard in the genre. The theatrics never overshadow the sincerity—his voice cuts through the production like an elegy for youth, delivered with wisdom most of his contemporaries lack.

For a genre oversaturated with imitators, ShadowHart’s approach is an anomaly. With his full-length debut album dropping on April 25th, 2025, he won’t be lingering in the shadows for much longer.

‘Calcified’ is available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

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

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

EmiTQM has made an ethereal debut with his installation of Latin indietronic pop, IGUAL Y ME PENSASTE

Latin pop sensation in the making, EmiTQM, has made an indelible mark on the Latin pop scene with his dreamy indietronica debut single, IGUAL Y ME PENSASTE, which arrests with ethereal melodic waves in the same vein as Cigarettes After Sex, and originates via tenderly warm and exploratively 8bit-adjacent sequences which envelop you in a sonic world of kaleidoscopic colour and soul.

Translating to ‘maybe you thought of me’, IGUAL Y ME PENSASTE is a reticently sweet embodiment of hope and yearning to reverberate around the mind of the person who ceaselessly occupies every waking thought.

The single is an affectingly unforgettable introduction to the Mexican pop singer-songwriter and producer’s unique style which has already seen him amass a loyal army of fans who relish in his ability to visualise universally resonant facets of the human condition.

The emotions that will flood through you as you follow EmiTQM’s lead through this future-forward earworm reach the pinnacle of visceralism. The hazy love-drunk hues translate with perfect articulation as the lines between reality and imagination blur.

One of the only things with more promise than his music career is that the sun will rise tomorrow. We are already stoked to hear what he has in store for his sophomore release.

IGUAL Y ME PENSASTE was officially released on June 27; stream the single on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Tarantino Tango: The Rhythmic Revolution of INÉSNation’s Heart of Glass

If music is a cure, the Mexican collective of world-class musicians INÉSNation is the ultimate healer. Their latest remedy, Heart of Glass, filters indie flamenco rhythms through a Tarantino-esque lens, bringing in elements of bluegrass to smash through the monocultural mould and leave fans of Tele Novella, Black Honey, and Superfood weak at the rhythmic pulses.

Singer-songwriter, INÉS, is the April March of her generation with her hauntingly timeless vocal timbre that allows you to effortlessly fall into the vignette which captures the turbulence within a mind attempting to piece together a fragmented heart.

It was a bold move using the same title as the Blondie classic single, yet after hearing Heart of Glass, it’s clear that no move can be too audacious for the genre-fluid collective which frequently experiments with jazz, blues, and folk while amplifying their scintillating syntheses through the raw power of rock and immersing their listeners in lyrical lore with country-esque storytelling.

Heart of Glass is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Return to the alt-90s with Trailerfuss’ debut single O Rei da Solidão

Trailerfuss’ debut single, O Rei da Solidão, from their EP Roteiro Sem Final, revisits the 90s grunge era via a route never before taken.

By fusing the sludgy rhythmics of Dinosaur Jr and the fierce soul of Hole, Trailerfuss created a solid foundation to lay their innovative approach to evoking alt-90s nostalgia on. They didn’t stop at emanating two influential artists; you’ll hear everyone from Bob Dylan in the opening harmonica blows, Grandaddy in the lo-fi intimacy, the Beachboys in the surfy layered vocal harmonies, and nuances of Pavement and Pixies synthesised between.

The debut single is a visceral statement from the Rio de Janeiro-based band that is strong enough to carry their fans back to the rose-tinted sanctity of the alt-90s while also delivering potent punches of their own authenticity.

Stream O Rei da Solidão on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Eguie5 turned up the heat in the Latin American alternative scene with his solo project debut, One Last Dance

Eguie5 became a conduit of post-rock and pop-punk alchemy in his anthemically hooked debut single, One Last Dance, which efficaciously captures the bitter-sweetness of goodbyes before bringing in the cacophonous drums that pay homage to the superlative skin-beating style of Taylor Hawkins.

After spending two decades cutting his teeth as one half of the alternative duo, TUNNL19, the Puerto Rico singer-songwriter reconnected with his artistic roots via his solo venture, which keeps expressive experimentalism at its core.

The emotively melodic structures in One Last Dance made the heart-in-throat choruses all the more riotous, in the same way Linkin Park allowed their audience to feel the sense of resonant vindication while screaming the reprise of “I’ve given up”, One Last Dance became the silver lining of heartbreak. The atmospherically intuitive hit struck all the right chords to affirm that Eguie5 is a one-man monolith of innovation.

One Last Dance hit the airwaves on June 14th; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

What You Gonna Do: PH Mazza cuts through the false heroes with ease on Fake Artists

Uniting art rock and glam rock references and self-producing every droplet of this eye-opening track made with revolutionary powers, PH Mazza sees through the false narratives that can break many dreams on Fake Artists.

PH Mazza aka Pedro Henrique Souza Boaventura is a classically trained Rio de Janeiro, Brazil-based indie alternative artist and music producer who has ravenous vampiric qualities to eat through anything which isn’t real.

If anyone has what it takes to dethrone Nick Cave, it is PH Mazza” – Amelia Vandergast

Delving deeper into an important topic which is often forgotten about or merely shrugged over, PH Mazza is an example for us all. Fearlessly opening up a sensitive topic which has the power to find out the real amongst the posers, Fake Artists is the honest letter we all need to open.

Fake Artists from Brazil-based indie alternative artist and music producer PH Mazza is a stunning single which should awaken many sleepy souls who haven’t noticed how counterfeit society has become. Performed with a heightened intensity which will stir many veins into feeling something actually meaningful, on a razor-sharp track to slice greedily into.

See the music video on YouTube.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

Paraguayan Southern Rock troubadour Sunburned River is beguilingly defiant in his cinematic single, Go On

Paraguayan Southern Rock troubadour Sunburned River closed 2022 with the release of his heart-wrenchingly defiant single, Go On.

Starting with choral 70s folk-rock tones, the disarming single seamlessly builds around orchestrally cinematic and baroque motifs, complementing the rugged acoustic guitar timbres and the low ethereal hum of his evocative vocal timbre. If that wasn’t enough sonic beguile, the singer-songwriter orchestrated an electric guitar riff solo for the ages.

Regardless of who you revere as a guitar hero, Sunburned River’s talent while ripping through the soaring lead guitar work is breath-takingly superlative. The only thing on par with his instrumental ability is his captivatingly immersive songwriting skills.

The official video for Go On is now available to stream on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Kwun Interview: Allowing himself to fully flourish on debut release Supernatural

https://open.spotify.com/track/7zkm8bzzLVIRDQD90xVuQW?si=4569d0e4b7944247

After impressing us with his epic debut single from October 2022 called Supernatural, Mexico/UK-based creative Kwun takes us deep with the realms of the healing arts and more with such an insightful interview to embrace. Showing us what it’s like to be a music producer and artist, we find a kind soul who just wants to make timeless music.

We appreciate you taking some time out of your busy day to speak with us, Kwun. Firstly, where are you based today and what is the music scene like currently in your local area?

Kwun: It’s a pleasure, I appreciate you taking your time too! So, I’m here in Tulum in Mexico, which is where I live for some of the year. Between here and the UK.

I really don’t know what the music scene is like here, to be honest! I was a healer in a previous profession and still tend to gravitate more towards these kinds of things. Tulum is that sort of place. That said, I have a project on right on now where I’ll be working with some local musicians so will be checking out the scene more to find the right musicians.

What’s it like to be a musician and producer? Do you feel like it’s an advantage or a disadvantage sometimes?

Kwun: That’s a really interesting question, and one that no-one’s ever asked me before! I guess I see it all as part of the same thing, like the whole creative process. The musicianship, the songwriting, the producing. It’s how I’ve always done it. So it’s neither an advantage nor a disadvantage. Though if it had to be one, then I’d go for advantage! I usually have a very clear vision of what I want the song to sound and feel like, and having the skills to see that through is a definite plus.

Though I can see benefits of working with a producer also, for sure. Would totally be up for that, for a future project. It would have to be approached with a completely different mindset though, and would be a different process altogether.

As for disadvantages, it’s has never occurred to me that it has any disadvantages. I work with a bunch of session musicians anyway, so it’s not like I play all the instruments myself. And the session musicians always bring their own flavour and flair and usually something really magical to the mix. Which I love.

In fact with my future single release, ‘Ancient Ageless & True’, I don’t actually play anything on it at all, so I just produce. And I sing. I always say I’m doing karaoke on my own track with this one!

If you met someone who had never listened to music before, how would you describe your creations?

Kwun: Well, they’re a very eclectic bunch of songs with a few rousing instrumentals thrown in. Be prepared to be taken on a journey through sound, textures, beautiful melodies, visiting many different genres on the way. We’ll work our way through from Beatlesque songs, to funk and hard rock, via some Afro-beat inspired grooves and some Jazz. Each track is different from the last, juxtaposed in such a way that will tantalise, intrigue but yet somehow sound familiar and feel like home! Some lyrics will make you think, others might move you to tears, as they have done with some of my friends who’ve heard certain as-yet-to-be-released tracks. The lyrics invoke strong emotions, putting you in touch with your humanity! And many of the tracks are journeys within themselves.

If you were in charge of the music industry for a day, what would you change first and why?

Kwun: I would open up the possibility to take more risks with artists, meaning I’d widen the range of what is let through and marketed in the mainstream. The thing is, people’s music tastes are a lot more eclectic and intelligent than what the industry would sometimes give them credit for. So that’s what I’d change.

Do you have any tips for independent musicians who are new to the game?

Kwun: Well, I’m pretty new to the game myself, but what I’d say is build a really strong team. You’ll need their help! And stay true to what you want to create, try not to be swayed by what you think others want from you. Obviously, an appropriate amount of diplomacy and playing the game is necessary. We’re all doing our job as best we can! But just be true to who you are artistically, and the rest should fall into place.

What’s the best advice you ever received?

Kwun: Well, what comes to mind right now is something my mentor, Francesca de Valance once said. She said to be more expansive and to allow myself to show up as all of me. And to not squeeze myself into a very small box! Words to that effect. It was a permission slip in a way to do more of what I was already doing.

Last of all, where can we see you live next and what goals do you have for 2023?

Kwun: No live plans as yet, I’m afraid, but I’m aiming to shoot a video of a couple of my songs here in Mexico with a live acoustic band. The band will consist of a string quartet and some of the local musicians I mentioned earlier. Not exactly seeing me live in person, I know, but hopefully the next best thing.

For 2023, I’m releasing my debut album, titled ‘Ancient Ageless & True’, after the song I mentioned earlier. There will be a few singles leading up to that, including the title song itself. I will shoot more music videos. I have a few other goals which are in the early stages of planning, so don’t want to say too much yet, but hopefully I’ll be to able to share some exciting news with you all in due course.

Hear this top song on Spotify. See more news on IG.

Interview by Llewelyn Screen