Browsing Tag

Acoustic Indie

Make your soul whole with Mark Braham’s introspectively compassionate indie single, Somebody’s Pain

Posted on 4 November 2023

Taken from his debut LP, After a While, the standout single, Somebody’s Pain, from the indie rock singer-songwriter Mark Braham seduces the listener into an Elliott Smith-esque tender sequence of compassionate consolation.

With the raggedly euphonic acoustic guitar chords flowing in complete synergy with the melodic lines projected through his hushed, honeyed and harmonic vocal range, Somebody’s Pain is a deeply affecting, artfully enticing score which unravels as a viscerally resonant exhibition of ennui and painfully conscious introspection of how we all have the potential to become someone else’s pain. From the first experience with Somebody’s Pain, you’ll stop, think, and feel the compulsion to hit repeat.

The Darwin, Australia-born artist has had music in his blood since a young age; his creative journey began by writing melodies on a cheap classical guitar before he joined a band. With enough talent to become a one-man powerhouse, he released his debut LP in 2019, opened his recording studio, Freestone Productions, in Canberra and turned his delectable talent to producing, mixing and mastering for other artists.

We can’t wait for the sophomore release, Authenticity, which is currently in the works. His ability to make your soul feel warm and whole is unrivalled.

Stream Somebody’s Pain on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

BLOCKED personified stoicism in her ethereal alt-indie single, I Don’t Mind

Posted on 3 November 2023
BLOCKED

The Melbourne-based Singaporean singer-songwriter BLOCKED reached the epitome of ethereal magnetism in her artfully quiescent self-produced single, I Don’t Mind.

After some of the most accordant and assured acoustic guitar chord progressions I have ever aurally bore witness to in the intro, the single intensifies in ornate beguile through the introduction of quiescent chamber strings which swell around the shoegaze-y vocal lines, which will captivate fans of Cigarettes After Sex and Elliott Smith.

I Don’t Mind is just one chapter in the four-part story of growth and resilience told through the artist’s forthcoming EP, which encapsulates mastering the art of letting go. Socrates couldn’t have said it better himself.

I Don’t Mind will be released ahead of the highly-anticipated 4-track EP, no worries, which is due for release on November 17th. Stream I Don’t Mind on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Peter Beatty unveiled a wanderlust dreamscape with his acoustic indie folk single, Tell Me Where To Go

Posted on 13 October 2023

After picking up the best song award from the Cannes World Film Festival in 2023 and picking up more awards for his music and accompanying music videos from The London Independent Film Awards and The Independent Shorts Awards, the critically acclaimed and endlessly accoladed UK singer-songwriter Peter Beatty has unanchored his nautically meta single, Tell Me Where To Go.

With layered vocal harmonies as magnetically compelling as Jack Johnson’s and Richard Hawley’s atop honeyed and intricate acoustic instrumentation, listening to the organically resolving orchestration will set your imagination alight, awaken even the most dormant of wanderlust proclivities, and unequivocally convince you that in this generation of singer-songwriters, few can infuse their elysian soundscapes with a paralleled shot of alchemy.

I couldn’t think of a more stunning way of attesting to the fact that life is little more than a collection of explorations, whether that’s inwards, towards another, or into territories that will show us pieces of ourselves we never knew existed. Great songs stir emotions; superlative ones have what it takes to reconceptualise your take on existence in a few lyrical lines. Beatty is definitively in the latter camp. Someone exhume and tell Sartre I’ve just found the cure for existentialism.

Tell Me Where To Go hit the airwaves on September 29; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Culture Bloom harmonised to the nines in their spectrally raw acoustic indie & alt-rock synthesis, Nightmare

Posted on 8 October 2023

‘Nightmare’ is the first synthesis of acoustic indie and alt-rock to spill from the debut EP, Aren’t You Proud?, from Denver Colorado’s most nostalgically euphonic drop-dead stunning duo, Culture Bloom.

If Placebo penned bitter-sweet symphonies in the same vein as The Verve and mainlined a little Death Cab for Cutie into that vein, the alt-90s melodiousness would hit with exactly the same force of impact as Nightmare.

The emotional weight carried within the harrowed and haunted layers of vocal harmonies as they collide with the stabbing guitar lines resonates as infinitely more than the sum of all parts, allowing Nightmare to stand as a testament to the song-crafting capacities of the duo that should be on every alt indie fan’s radar.

Stream Nightmare on Spotify and stay tuned for the EP release on October 20th.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Stu Daniels – Enemies: Achingly Soulful Acoustic Indie-Rock

Posted on 22 September 2022
Enemies by Stu Daniels

With all of the evocative gravitas of Eddie Vedder’s aching soul, Stu Daniels’ latest single, Enemies, compels you to surrender to the acoustic indie rock plaintiveness, which is all too easy to relate to from the first immersion. Beyond the sobering overtones of the emotionally crafted and reverbed guitars is a lyrical extension of salvation with the poignant and powerful reminder that enmities will always do their best to strip your power and use it for their gain.

The singer-songwriter and guitarist fronts the Adelaide band, Already Gone, but notably, standing alone, his sound is equally as sonorous. Watch this space for more compellingly tenacious expositions of the human condition.

Enemies was officially released on September 16th. Check it out for yourselves on Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Kyle Jaymes is a Perennial Millennial in his latest intricately melodious indie rock hit

Posted on 6 September 2022
Kyle Jaymes

New Hampshire indie singer-songwriter, Kyle Jaymes, brought a pioneering sense of melodicism to 00s emo with his latest single, Perennial Millennial. For anyone that grew up with Death Cab for Cutie and is looking for a matured take on sonic nihilism, Perennial Millennial is the finest wine in the metaphorical cellar.

Since breaking away from his indie rock band, Call Her Alaska, he’s become a one-man powerhouse, fuelled by his emotionally charged lyricism, intricate acoustic guitar hooks and euphonic production style, which gives all the angst of pop punk and none of the brash overtones.

Perennial Millennial will officially release on August 30th. Check it out here.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Alex Young has released his lovesick acoustic indie-rock ballad, Might Just Catch Your Eye.

Posted on 23 October 2021
Out into the Light by Alex Young

Singer-songwriter Alex Young is here to remind us that romance isn’t dead with his emotionally iron-wrought acoustic indie-rock ballad, Might Just Catch Your Eye.

The Barnsley-based solo artist’s affectionately ambient single captures lovesick agony while keeping the minimalist yet resounding instrumental melodies ring free of the disquiet conflict. If Glen Hansard leaves you floored with his contemporary spin on folk songwriting, you might want to sit down before hitting play on Might Just Catch Your Eye.

Might Just Catch Your Eye is now available to stream and purchase on Bandcamp along with Young’s debut album Out Into the Light.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Snir Yamin: maybe your new favourite singer-songwriter with new single ‘Taking’

Posted on 31 March 2021

Snir Yamin might just be the best male singer-songwriter you’ve never heard of; his previous singles, ‘Down The Line’ and ‘Twenty Three’, both made it to number one on the iTunes Top 200 Alternative Tracks chart, but new single ‘Taking’ is simply stunning, a painfully wistful melancholic nostalgia to Yamin’s guitars and plaintive vocals.

It’s a great track, evocative and emotive, gentle yet powerful all at once, some intricate, melodic guitar picking underneath the poignancy. It’s reminiscent, a little, of The Calling, but also classic singer-songwriters like Elliot Smith and guitar-led artists like Snow Patrol and John Mayer, there’s also classic songwriting with elements of older influences such as the Stones, Dylan, or the Police in the mix too.

‘Taking’ is available on Spotify right now; check out Snir Yamin on Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Alex Holmes

Slow Capital take us ‘Underground’ with this beautifully alluring acoustic story.

Posted on 21 December 2020

Slow Capital is Andrew Dailey, a filmmaker from Kansas City, MO, who is currently based out of Brooklyn, NY; a precursor to a six-track EP planned for early 2021, Slow Capital’s second single ‘Underground’ is a beautifully mature fingerpicked acoustic guitar track, mellow and delicate, alluring in its simplicity, and carried along by Dailey’s poetic, storytelling lyrical content and up-front vocal delivery.

At just over three minutes long, ‘Underground’ is a perfect piece of alt-folk, confessional, poetic, a narrative tale to music with a harmonious, melodic guitar line and a gentle, tender vocal. You can hear ‘Underground’ on Spotify, and follow Slow Capital on Instagram.

Review by Alex Holmes

Destroying those painful memories: Eric Dash sings with such gusto on ‘Killin’ Your Lies’

Posted on 14 December 2020

Eric Friedman aka Eric Dash is a well-traveled singer-songwriter, producer and engineer, who has just dropped the excellent ‘Killin’ Your Lies‘.

After learning so many skills from Jack Joseph Puig (American audio engineer, A&R executive, and record producer), he has since gone on do things DIY to further grow his expertise.

‘’ I’ve been writing songs since I was 8. Now I produce too. I should’ve just gotten my degree in finance.’’- Eric Dash

The immensely intricate start gives us a look inside the soul of the track and you just know this is going to be something spectacularly deep, like a clean swimming pool in summer that has a few cracks at the bottom. You like the experience for a while but something isn’t right.

His voice is so smooth and gets you singing along at the top of your lungs. He straps his boots on and tries to hold his heart close as it has been hurt by her selfishness. The pain is thrown against the wall and he puts his heart and soul into every second of this terrific Indie-Pop track.

This story about how the lies built up and you are trying to move on but it’s so hard. You get lost sometimes and get wrapped up tight into your thoughts for way too long. You need to stop obsessing as now you are alone as you have other-thought each moment, blaming yourself. You weren’t the one at fault so need to move on for your own mental state. These words are easier said than done, but the truth.

Eric Dash is quite brilliant on ‘Killin’ Your Lies’ and is a multi-skilled musician and has worked hard on his skills in the studio and seems to be sounding better and better vocally too. The world has been crazy in 2020 and this is a man to support and back his music. True quality is hard to find but here is a perfect example of a self-motivated artist that is constantly evolving to be the best version of himself he can be, each day.

Stream and support via Spotify and find out more on his IG and FB.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen