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Blog Showcasing Singer Songwriter Talent

Lil Ellz Sets Fire to the Void in Alt-Trap Single ‘Come With Me’

Posted on 2 May 2025

Lil Ellz’s alt-trap track, ‘Come With Me’, is destined to gain traction with its spacey, melodic, bass-bruised flow, carried by emotive vocals infused with trap DNA. Yet Ellz is a hybridic powerhouse of innovation, injecting a baroque atmosphere into the cosmic track, which is galaxies away from familiar dark trap with spectral shadows haunting the cabaret-esque orchestral production, proving Ellz knows no fear in standing vulnerable with a complex, uniquely untested sound. With lyrics inviting listeners into an emotional abyss, Lil Ellz reveals his thematic ambition—to guide those who wander alone, balancing melancholy and positivity.

Based in the UK, Lil Ellz navigates effortlessly from shadows to melody, crafting sounds ranging from darkened trap to optimistic melodic rap, inspired notably by artists such as Juice WRLD and Polo G. His mission is clear: deliver solace through shared experience.

‘Come With Me’ is Lil Ellz at his bravest, emotionally candid and sonically intricate. For anyone who has stared into darkness and craved connection, Ellz offers his hand—inviting you deeper into his introspective world.

‘Come With Me’ is now available to stream on all major platforms, including SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Natalie Christie Tracks Tectonic Fault Lines of the Soul in the Americana Hymn ‘Between the Lines’

Posted on 1 May 2025

If a songbird could write an instrumental melody and key into its harmony, the organic euphony would resound with the same fervour as Natalie Christie’s standout release, Between the Lines, which tenderly tends to the roots of Americana with whispers of sweet, dreamy reverie.

Rather than solely traversing the tectonic plates of connection, Natalie Christie goes deeper, tracking them within the fabric of her own being to stand in front of her audience with her mandolin strings on her sleeves. Few songs truly give us an idea of an artist’s true identity in the span of 3 minutes, but with Between the Lines, you become a witness to mind, aura and soul.

Natalie Christie writes like someone with one foot in ancestral memory and the other in the shifting present. Rooted in her American settler, Celtic, and Scandinavian lineage, her folk songs move like slow-burn vignettes from the edges of wildlands and candlelit rooms. The soft harmonies and ethereal vocal layering in Between the Lines don’t just recall time lost—they suspend it.

The melancholia never weighs heavy; it brushes lightly against themes of love, memory, and longing, refusing to trade rawness for theatrics. In a track this exposed, there’s no veil to hide behind.

Between the Lines is now available to stream on all major platforms, including SoundCloud. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

CR Srikanth Lit a Celestial Fuse Beneath the Dancefloor in the Hyper Pop Anthem ‘Dancing in the Dark’

Posted on 1 May 2025

CR Srikanth, one of the most fearless sonic explorers, goes beyond traversing uncharted ground; he builds new intersections between symphonic harmony and synth pop to invite his ever-growing army of fans into mind, body, and soul-melting vehicles of escapism.

As one of the rare affecting architects of hyper-sonic pop, none of the emotion is diminished through auto-tune in his latest single, Dancing in the Dark. Visceralism weighs heavily in the euphoria of the dance-worthy anthem, which lifts you to one of the highest plateaus you could ever hope to reach through sensory experience alone. The track is so much more than a tour de force of genre fusionism—it’s constraintless expression delivered through the desire to rush body beats with serotonin.

With Dancing in the Dark, CR Srikanth expands his VS Pop™ vision—his self-defined cinematic crossover genre where orchestral scores collide with ambient and electronic pop aesthetics. Since launching the project in late 2024, he has earned global traction with FM and digital radio spins across seven countries, over 100,000 venue placements through playlisting networks, and a growing Spotify audience. His background as a composer and producer, backed by a catalogue of over 30 orchestral works and a growing presence on YouTube, makes each release more than a standalone single—it’s a signal that the future of genre boundaries is already dissolving.

Dancing in the Dark is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Jack Judd – Birdie: A Folk Debut from an Artist With a Heart Which Beats Pure Poetry

Posted on 30 April 2025
Jack Judd

Through his natural fluency on an acoustic fretboard and a voice that reaches deep within as it pours harmonies into your soul, Jack Judd is so much more than another UK folk singer-songwriter on the scene. He’s a diehard romantic in the form of a virtuoso troubadour. Yet, even with his expansive arsenal of discernible songwriting talent, it’s the sincerity with which he carries his lyricism. Striking you as an artist who can see beauty concealed in most people’s eyes, there’s a sense that Judd is far more attuned to the world than your average passenger. Through his music, he invites you to see the colour and live within the catharsis of living with a heart which beats poetry.

‘Birdie’, the Devon-based artist’s official debut single, lands as a cinematic and emotionally articulate anthem for resilience, written during a time of quiet self-reflection and inspired by watching someone close navigate towering internal mountains. Using nature as metaphor, Judd threads an evocative narrative through twinkling fingerpicked melodies, grounded percussion, and soaring layered vocals that never veer into indulgence.

After a decade of crafting songs in solitude, Jack Judd found his moment to open the door to listeners seeking lyrical shelter and emotional aliveness. ‘Birdie’ swells with lived-in emotion and lands with the quiet impact of someone who doesn’t need to shout to be heard.

‘Birdie’ is now available to stream on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Asa Winasis Built an Acoustic Lifeline Between Hope and Heartbreak in ‘Just for Now’

Posted on 30 April 2025

As a talent never destined to linger in anyone else’s spotlight, Asa Winasis shines when given the reins of creativity. He went in for the evocative kill with Just for Now, a humble plea for sanctity, comfort, and connection in the moment; it’s quite literally a mindfulness meditation, providing an exposition of how important the present is, to be given another chance to taste something you want to savour forever.

Through gentle melodicism and even more euphonic vocals which contend with the arcane harmonies in Low and Death Cab for Cutie, Just for Now unravels as an artfully quiescent, orchestrally scored indie chamber pop ballad for the modern era when we’re all searching, yearning, aching and never quite reaching.

The Indonesian artist, previously known for his session guitar work across Southeast Asia and contributions to film soundtracks, strips his sound back to the raw bones of emotional storytelling with Just for Now. Mixed by UK-based engineer Chris Brown, who has worked with Radiohead and Muse, the single carries a sonic clarity that mirrors the tender vulnerability embedded in the stripped-back acoustic arrangement. Singing straight from the heart, Asa Winasis transforms simplicity into profound resonance, embracing a more reflective side that exposes the turbulence of heartbreak and the desperate clutch for one more fleeting moment of connection.

Just for Now is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Gillies Shattered Stirred Scarred Souls with Americana Folk Reverence in ‘It Hit Me Like a Bullet’

Posted on 29 April 2025
It Hit Me Like A Bullet by The Gillies

There’s no escaping the arcane aura of It Hit Me Like a Bullet, the latest release from the award-winning contemporary Americana folk duo, The Gillies. Through shimmering organ tones that swell around the arrangement and seraphically panoramic vocals, the single welcomes Americana Folk home on London’s streets. The Gillies – Susan Turner and Mark Evans – have long been revered for weaving steel-strung and tenor guitars into haunting odes to love, loss, and tangled relationships. True to their reputation for creating ‘music for your graveside’, they set raw emotions free without straying into needless theatrics.

It Hit Me Like a Bullet is salvation in sound, an invitation to tend psychological wounds no matter how raw. The imagery the cinematically intimate arrangement conjures transcends the more than a thousand words phenomenon, unchaining the soul, giving it permission to feel as free as the breezy melodies within the track.

If you know how it feels to find your feet after life broadsides you with perpetually unravelling perplexity, find your peace in the authentic euphony of It Hit Me Like a Bullet. The Gillies, whose previous works like ‘6am’ earned accolades such as Best Single in the GSMC Music Awards 2023 and selections for Fatea Magazine’s showcase sessions, continue to affirm why their understated melodies and timeless themes resonate on both local and international stages.

It Hit Me Like a Bullet is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Bandcamp. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Anirban Jee Soaked the Soul of Disco in Retro Pop Gold with ‘Are We Gonna’

Posted on 28 April 2025
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=CXuEg-fVvUo&si=hVCae7KRJQXqhecp

Are We Gonna by the internationally notorious chart topper, Anirban Jee licks retro pop with swathes of funk, giving the glow of a disco ball lighting above a gyrating dancefloor. The serotonin flows as easily as the Nile Rodgers-esque staccato guitar rhythms in the melodious rapture of the track that lifts as much as it hits the sweet spot tucked away in your soul. With a voice that reaches the pinnacle of euphony through infectious charisma, Are We Gonna is an earworm you’ll want to nurture forever.

Known for rewriting the rules of pop, urban, and R&B composition, Airban Jee’s discography is a testament to his endless creative evolution. From his early start at twelve with an electronic keyboard to multiple chart-topping singles and collaborations with heavyweight producers like Simon Cohen and Steve Peach, his career has been a masterclass in soulful, lyrical expression. With accolades including Songwriter of the Year awards, multiple #1s on the World Independent Music Charts, and extensive commercial radio airplay, he’s become a driving force on the global stage.

Following successes with tracks like Will Above My Wish and You On My Side, Are We Gonna continues the momentum, proving that when it comes to creating timeless anthems, Anirban Jee knows exactly how to hit the visceral marks.

Are We Gonna is now available to stream on all major platforms, including YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Mario Deschenes as OneSelf Set Soul Spinning Through 60s Psych Rock Kaleidoscopes in ‘Unicitude’

Posted on 28 April 2025
Versions 'N' Not 8 by OneSelf Featuring Mario Deschenes

OneSelf’s latest seminal release, Unicitude, which translates to ‘Unique Link’, swings rock back into the 60s as so much more than a sonic pitstop; it’s a reincarnation of the shaking, rattling, rolling kaleidoscopes of soul that sparked a movement still reverberating with momentum 60 years later. With a garagey rock production giving the track a raucous bite and psychedelic carousels of colours contouring through the harmonised melodies, it’s impossible not to get in the groove with Unicitude. The vocal presence is a dualistic dream; there’s no tearing the rock renegade energy from the lyrics, regardless of the sticky-sweet proclivities that envelop the performance.

OneSelf created Unicitude as a force that reconnects the soulful rawness of yesteryear with the imagination of the present, setting a new standard for how rock and soul can collide and reawaken.

Mario Deschenes, the mastermind behind OneSelf, is a multidisciplinary artist who has spent over four decades weaving his authentic and original creativity across music, painting, and videography. With seven albums released under his name and another set for release in September 2025, Mario’s music is an extension of his visual art, infused with the same vibrant essence. His catalogue spans over 91 songs and 42 videos, a testament to his enduring commitment to artistic expression through every medium he touches.

Unicitude is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Bandcamp. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Cinema Painted Dusk with Unconditional Indie Folk Pop Affection in ‘When the Sun Goes Down’

Posted on 26 April 2025

With a title that frames the dimming light as more than a shift in the sky, ‘When the Sun Goes Down’ by London-based indie pop artist Cinema sinks into dusk with the kind of melancholia that only surfaces when you’re caught between the tendrils of longing. Through emotive vocal inflections, Cinema transforms a quiescent lo-fi folk-adjacent soundscape into an affecting invitation to feel the claws of compassion as you listen to the diehard romantic candour.

There’s no sleight of hand behind the heart-stirring honesty—just the kind of stripped-back introspection that sharpens with every whispered syllable and picks its battles with silence. With the same evocative intimacy as Cultdreams tied in with more mainstream indie folk pop appeal, Cinema has scored the ultimate formula to break out of the mainstream. The production refuses to rush, giving space to each aching note to stretch and settle under your skin, proving that emotional weight doesn’t need orchestral theatrics to be devastatingly impactful.

In the same way Frightened Rabbit disarms you with the artful agony, Cinema, with When the Sun Goes Down, takes the sum of its parts and calculates it into a profoundly moving sensory experience. If you needed any proof that there’s beauty in vulnerability, it’s in black and white in the kaleidoscope of unflinching confession of unconditional love which veers away from cliché, hitting all the right chords to attest to the striking sincerity with which it was composed and performed.

When the Sun Goes Down is now available to stream on all major platforms, including SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast.

The Disenchanted Divinity of Feeling Ill-Fitted: Useless Wonder! by The Mercury Sounds

Posted on 24 April 2025

If the sanctuary within the tonality of Useless Wonder! is anything to go by, The Mercury Sounds have become masters of carving relics of nostalgic experimentation that border on divine intervention.

The Baltimore-based duo, Jason Stauffer and Josh Krechmer, have been long-hauling their sonic telepathy since primary school. Two decades later, they’re still refusing to colour within the lines. Their fusion of indie-pop vitality and folk-rock introspection culminates in Useless Wonder!, a cosmic lament steeped in lo-fi 70s alchemy. Through natural vocal proclivity and delicate lyrical agony, they sculpted an aching confessional that stings with the sentiment of not being built for a world that keeps shifting beneath your feet.

The way the vocals bleed with weary existentialism against the gauzy swell of warm distortion and glimmering, melancholic strings carries the same weight as a memory you can’t outgrow. The verses tether you to vulnerability, while the chorus throws you into an orbit of quiet resignation.

Even though it would be impossible to crown a Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell or Bob Dylan in our modern and fractured industry, it’s clear that if Useless Wonder! had surfaced fifty years ago, it would be playing through grainy AM radios as a national folk treasure.

The Mercury Sounds exhaled a truth for the quiet disenfranchised who’ve long since given up pretending they fit the mould, if you can align to that particular branch of melancholy, hit play.

Useless Wonder! is now available to stream on all major platforms, including SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast