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Diehard Romantics Will Meet Their Match in Kaleb Cohen’s Bluesy Indie-Folk Release, Our Eyes Met on Friday

Posted on 26 July 2024

Kaleb Cohen is set to become the second biggest Cohen in folk after the release of his bluesy indie single, Our Eyes Met on Friday.

After opening with an introspectively tender extended prelude, inviting listeners into a defining moment that captures the essence of a soul finally finding its home the song unfolds through increments of upbeat folk elements reminiscent of the Lumineers and Mumford and Sons which surge through the ingenuity within the genre-bending energy.

This release showcases Kaleb’s profound ability to make loungey piano keys bleed pure raw emotion, complemented by his seraphically timbered vocals that masterfully blend the gruff with the smooth. The continuous sonic reinventions throughout the track play havoc with rhythmic expectations, yet each new arrangement is as euphonic as the last, exhibiting the devilishly playful innovation of an artist who could easily skate by on his larynx of gold but chooses instead to go the extra aural mile to beguile.

Kaleb Cohen, an indie-folk-rock prodigy from Connecticut who writes, records, and self-produces his music is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film & Television Production. As an omen of the illustrious path he is destined to pave, his first-ever show in New Haven was a sell-out with fans coming as far as Pennsylvania to witness one of Indie Folk’s most promising names etch their legacy.

Our Eyes Met on Friday will be officially released on July 26; stream the single on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Her Motives Are Silent delivered darkwave redemption in his spectrally lush orchestration, Running

Posted on 23 July 2024
Running by Her Motives Are Silent

In the latest single from Her Motives Are Silent, the marked-to-be illustrious Calgary-hailing innovator, Michael Valenzuela, looked into the shadows of introspection through a darkwave electronica lens that invokes Glenn Branca’s avant-garde obscurity.

‘Running’ meticulously stitches distorted vocals into the fabric of its production, ensconced amidst formidable percussive lashes flowing through syncopated rhythms and crafting a sonorous web capable of placating the macabrely-minded and unsettling the comfortable.

By implanting orchestral motifs and the spectral qualities of Porcupine Tree into the middle ground of NIN and Radiohead the single, which challenges the listener to confront their anxiety instead of simply evading it by any means necessary, is a deeply reflective score which acts as a compelling precursor to the solo artist’s upcoming debut album, Love Muse.

As the track unfolds, it pensively guides its audience towards resolution, encapsulating a journey through emotional turbulence with a promise of catharsis; the oscillating momentum ebbs and flows around the evocatively vulnerable pull of the vocal delivery, resulting in a cinematically lush auditory extension of redemption.

Running was officially released on July 19; stream and purchase the single via Bandcamp.

For more info, head over to the official Her Motives Are Silent website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Seraphic Soulstress, Cati Landry, Struck Again with Her Sophomore Single, Riptide

Posted on 18 July 2024

Cati Landry defied the confines of material reality with the rush of euphonic etherealism in her sophomore single, Riptide, inspired by an equilibrium of the timeless music she grew up on and the rugged beauty of her coastal Canadian upbringing.

Ensuing from the ring of acoustic guitar chords which tinge the intro with 90s nostalgia, the single quickly oscillates into a diaphanous, quasi-hymnal ballad which reminisces on the most tender and mystifying-on-the-heartstrings facets of a relationship while conjuring a seraphic sense of serenity.

Landry’s crystalline vocal lines take the dreamy indie pop meets alt-country soundscape to a whole other celestial level; you can’t help but surrender to her otherworldly command when immersed in Riptide, which doesn’t stop at washing over your rhythmic senses; the single permeates the soul to implant the reverie rendered into the release.

Cati Landry set the bar high with her 2023 debut single, Mind’s Eye, but she reached nirvana with Riptide and sits alongside Beach House, Mazzy Star, and Chayr in the dream-pop pantheon.

Prior to focusing on her solo career, the Vancouver Island-born-and-raised artist lent her talents to various bands and performed in jazz clubs, bars & theatres. After studying Literature at the University, she pursued a Master’s in Songwriting at Berklee, where she wrote her debut single, which was brought to life in an LA recording room and polished by producer Neil Wogensen.

The dream-folk daytime lullaby arrived on the airwaves on July 11, distributed via Foundation Media, stream the single on Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

khokkosh. incited an industrial art-pop riot with ‘pelicaning’

Posted on 16 July 2024

Exhibiting the artistic freedom of a mind that knows no creative constraint, the 20-year-old dark electro-pop producer and visual artist khokkosh. used her seminal single, ‘pelicaning’, prised from her sophomore two-track release, ‘pelicaning./a duck, a bear, and I.’ to conjure a macabrely avant-garde aural installation that haunts the middle ground of Poppy and Billie Eilish.

By mainlining the harsh elements of industrial into a hypnotically warped earworm which sonically mimics the effects of a trance spiral, the Indian artist found her place at the vanguard of the art pop revolution.  The self-written, produced, mixed, and mastered computer-adjacent, thematically visceral synthesis of caustic beats and scathing synths explores the self-invented phenomenon of pelicaning; the act of caging words inside you until they are forced to erupt.

With this two-track release feeding into khokkosh.’s merciless agenda of piercing through the veil of inhibition, regardless of how ugly we may appear to others we expose our true unfettered autonomy, the revolutionary isn’t just one to watch, her fearless authenticity makes her an artist to admire and emulate.

Stream the official music video for pelicaning, which premiered on July 8th on YouTube now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

An Avant-Garde Echo of Isolation: Lena Lovelace – The Lonely Doll Song

Posted on 12 July 2024

Lena Lovelace unexpectedly returned with her new single, The Lonely Doll Song, an audacious exploration into the depths of isolation and faded glory. Contrary to her announcement of a musical hiatus earlier this year, Lovelace’s latest orchestration plunges into the melancholic reality faced by child stars past their ephemeral peak of fame.

Inspired by the narrative of Björn Andrésen, whose youthful foray in the spotlight dwindled as portrayed in the documentary The Most Beautiful Boy in the World, Lovelace crafts a soundscape that mirrors this descent. The minimalist yet profound single, consisting of little more than ethereally haunting vocal layers paired with the sparse, resonant notes of an electric piano, becomes a raw, unfiltered reflection of neglect and obscurity.

Lovelace’s approach in The Lonely Doll Song eschews mainstream appeal to embrace a spectral quality; the melody and composition invoke a sense of disquiet, perfectly aligning with the theme of the piece which also exhibits the singer-songwriter’s awe-inspiring refusal to conform.

The Lonely Doll Song is now available to stream on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Nostalgic Smells filtered emo through a grunge lens in his third release, On an Axis

Posted on 27 June 2024

Nostalgic Smells’ latest single, On an Axis, is an ennui-loaded continuation of the sludged-up rancour introduced in his 2024 debut single, Glimmer. The distinction in this third release lies within the tensile textures of grungy, Deftones-esque hooks that tumultuously pull you along with rhythmically infectious progressions reminiscent of My Bloody Valentine.

David Weir, the independent musician behind Nostalgic Smells, showcased his adeptness at weaving visceral, pulsating progressions with lithe guitar lines that wind sinuously around the rhythm section through On an Axis, which alludes to how easy it is for worlds to be knocked out of kilter. His diaphanous voice works in striking contrast to the grungy instrumentation, creating a dynamic interplay that transforms an aural experience into an emotional connection.

Drawing inspiration from legendary bands like Deftones, Hum, Failure, and Quicksand, Weir leverages his 20 years of experience as a drummer to craft a sound that pays ode to pioneers, while charting his own path by following intersections through grunge, emo and shoegaze.

On an Axis became a discordant presence on the airwaves on June 17th; stream the single on Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Ludvik Langholm orchestrated an installation of anachronistically opulent alt indie reverie with ‘A Parody’

Posted on 25 June 2024

For their latest release, A Parody, the eclectic Leeds-based sound sculptor, Ludvik Langholm, emerged as a polymath producer and vividly histrionic narrator of burning desire to give fans of Roar, Vunderbar and Sir Chloe a perennial playlist staple.

The latest baroquely alt-indie single is a parallel universe and a few centuries away from the preceding release, Empty Parking Lot, which painted an intimate portrayal of a psyche torn between reaching and retreating in tender lo-fi brushstrokes. The Jane Austen-esque lyricism captures intense yearning as the intentional abstractions make room for personal reflection; the score gives the listener the freedom to implant their own melodramatic coveting affections into the superlative release.

Langholm tears through space and time by allowing A Parody to open on an installation of old-school Hollywood filmic reverie with their chanteuse-esque vocal lines lighting up the production until the lush layers of instrumentation deliver swathes of anachronistic opulence, which is perfectly balanced and moderately modernised with their signature introspective alt-indie warmth filled melodies that we’ll never tire of hearing.

A Parody was officially released on June 20; stream the single on YouTube now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Spyndycyt entered the industry as a zany indie pop enigma with ‘MysteryBoy’.

Posted on 20 June 2024

Spyndycyt’s seminal single, ‘MysteryBoy‘, kicks off with a short sermonic acapella narration of abstract lyrical poetry before the beat and scintillatingly strobing synths consume the track in true electro-pop style.

Yet, ‘MysteryBoy’ is far from your average pop fare. It fuses Jack White-esque aesthetics with Suicide-reminiscent indietronica and an eccentricity scarcely heard in the contemporary music industry. If Lou Reed lost all sense of restraint and approached his sound with unadulterated expression, you’d undoubtedly be treated to an exhilarant zany hit in the same vein as ‘MysteryBoy’.

Even after this soul-baring release, Spyndycyt remains somewhat of an enigma behind his avant-garde production that’s rampant with infectious zeal. His approach to music is intriguingly unconventional, but don’t get it twisted, though he may blaze through his productions driven by fantasies that far exceed his abilities, the result is a mould-breaking riot of rhythmically-charged euphoria.

His raw, almost naive touch, brings a unique authenticity to his work that seekers of fresh and boundary-pushing hits will want to devour. Break away from the mundane and predictable and hit play.

MysteryBoy was officially released on June 12th; stream the single on SoundCloud now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Jeffrey A. Meyer became the superlative savant of soul with his reggae-rock hit, L.O.V.E., featuring G. Love & Special Sauce

Posted on 11 June 2024

By merging talents with G. Love & Special Sauce, best known for his single, Rainbow, created in collaboration with the soulful one and only, Jack Johnson, the accomplished fusionist, Jeffrey A. Meyer, orchestrated the ultimate source of sonic serotonin with his funk-spliced, pop-hooked and reggae-wrapped roots rock hit, L.O.V.E.

The vibe-heavy sun-bleached hit keeps you ensnared with every chameleonic shift as Jeffrey A. Meyer exhibits his dynamic vocal talent and delivers everything from funked-up soul to evidence of his command over rhythm in the revved-up with rapture rap verses.

The North Dakota-born, Cali-based artist’s creative ambition with L.O.V.E paid off in spades; you can’t help but catch the self-love fever and forge a spiritual connection to the euphonically rugged in all the right places single that proves you’re never outside of love if you project adulation inwards.

Between the wind in the harmonica blows, the staccato rhythms pulsing through vintage tubes and the delicious grooves, L.O.V.E is as authentic as euphoric earworms come; each instrumental vividly paints the radiance of the track’s emotional underpinnings.

With more fresh, feel-good, funky jams ready to drop through Jeffrey A. Meyer’s sophomore album in 2024, there has never been a better time to affix the orchestrator of tonal transcendence to your radar.

L.O.V.E. was officially released on May 24; stream the single on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Sebas De Varona Opened a Portal to the Psychedelic Soul of the 70s with ‘Preachers’

Posted on 30 May 2024

The gospel in Sebas De Varona’s latest single, Preachers, opens a portal to the psychedelic soul of the 70s; it’s a doorway into the mind of a visionary artist you’ll never want to close. As an architect of melodies you instantly melt into and a lyricist that captures your mind as much as your soul, there are few artists of this generation as affecting as Sebas De Varona,

Thankfully, with the impending release of his new EP, Dynamics in the Fourth Dimension, you’ll have plenty more opportunities to trip with Varona’s dynamically electric vocal timbre that rests easy in the rooted-in-emotion synthesis of genres which illustrates the singer, songwriter, instrumentalist and producer’s expansive bedrock of influences. Primed to soak fans of Tame Impala and Pink Floyd alike in celestial euphony, the EP will easily be one of the most cultivated releases of the year.

After hearing the Hendrix-esque fret wizardry which blazes through a divine connection to the soul of blues in Preachers you’ll want to flock to the Floridian artist’s live performances like a moth to an arcane flame.

Preachers was officially released on May 15; stream the single on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast