Browsing Tag

Alt Indie Pop

Pick up Burlington’s latest alt-indie-pop hit, Summer’s Calling

Posted on 12 March 2022

We convince ourselves that we are complex creatures, but really, we’re not that much more complicated than leaves for the way we thrive in the sun and when we’re sucked into sun-soaked hits, such as the latest single from Burlington, Summer’s Calling.

The alt-indie pop earworm exudes those hazy sweet summer feel-good vibes through the soulfully imploring vocals atop the jangly, angular indie-pop melodies that are just as sweet as the euphoric hooks Marr has crafted in his decorated career.

The sense of soul and the musicality is one thing. The massive production, which comes through Burlington’s experience as a house producer, is another thing entirely. Mumford & Sons, eat your heart out.

You can soak up the rays for yourselves by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

OneNamedPeter explores the pleasure-pain connection in his artful cosmic pop single, Hurts

Posted on 4 March 2022

Ahead of the release of his fifth 100% DIY album, Hurts, the alt-indie British singer-songwriter, OneNamedPeter, has given us a teaser by letting us taste the cosmic pop textures in the bitter-sweet title single.

If you took Prince’s solos, Elliott Smith’s raw songwriting style, the dreamy chamber pop style of Daughter, the spacey gravity of Bowie and threw them into an aural cocktail with orchestral motifs to boot, it would pour just like the intoxicating soundscape, Hurts.

Nothing about the high-fidelity production feels less than professional. OneNamedPeter knows just how to conjure enough alchemy to wrap around his lyricism that explores the pleasure and pain connection.

Hurts is one of those tragically rare releases that you immediately know you’ll want to dive into time and time again. We’re stoked to hear how the LP ensues after the title-single set such a blissful and accordant tone.

Hurts will officially release on March 4th, 2022. You can check it out for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Zofia Alaya dropped the temperature in her latest alt-indie single, COLD

Posted on 4 March 2022

London’s ethereal alt-indie-rock songstress, Zofia Alaya, is set to drop the temperature with her latest single, COLD, which paints with chillier tonal textures to reflect the cold nature of the human experience.

It is one of the hardest life lessons to realise how cold, calculated, self-involved and downright narcissistic a significant proportion of humanity truly is. For anyone that is already schooled in that regard, COLD is a stunning reminder that, even if that behaviour is prolific, it’s still fundamentally wrong.

The deeply compassionate single has all the experimentalism of The Mars Volta paired with Zofia Alaya’s vulnerably moody vocal timbre. It is nothing short of arrestive – especially in the presence of the poppy hooks that make an addictive earworm out of COLD.

COLD will officially release across all major platforms from March 4th, 2022.

Check out Zofia Alaya via Facebook, Instagram and SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Get your feel-good fix with BG Scott’s sticky-sweet alt-indie pop single, Don’t You Say.

Posted on 3 January 2022

US alt-indie artist, BG Scott, has deservedly garnered plenty of hype with his honeyed experimental music which pushes the envelope into unchartered aural territory. His debut EP, Leap of Faith, is a soul-soaked triumph – especially on the basis of the bright and wavy lead single, Don’t You Say. The lo-fi track is almost paradoxical for its radio-ready resonance; the sticky-sweet sensibility evokes emotion while the entrancing grooves feed the dopamine.

The 20-year-old Virginia-hailing artist has already racked up over 59,000 streams on Spotify alone with Don’t You Say which merges trap pop energy with lo-fi indie style. Considering that he is still at the outset of his career and his tracks are already this entrancing and evocatively appealing, his future is set to be as auspicious as his sound.

Don’t You Say is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

.Wav Rider shares affectional agitation with Step Away, featuring Nikki Silva

Posted on 22 September 2021

To make sure that the listener’s heartstrings are well and truly tugged, alt-indie rock artist .Wav Rider’s latest acoustic single, Step Away, unravels as a heart-wrenching duet featuring vocals from Nikki Silva.

Step Away captures that fraught moment when the realisation that a situation is no longer healthy hits. Despite his sweet and affable indie pop-rock vocals, you feel every ounce of affectional agitation.

When Nikki Silva’s come into the choral and sun-bleached soundscape, the narrative becomes multifaceted, serving as a stark reminder that no matter how much time you spend with someone, or how well you know someone, there are some things that you will never see eye to eye on, mostly because you stop looking and want to turn away completely.

Any fans of Frank Turner, AJJ, Neck Deep and All Time Low won’t want to sleep on this release.

Step Away is now available to stream on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Srujanika shines a light on the darkest nights with her indie single, ‘Rise’.

Posted on 8 June 2021

For her latest single, ‘Rise’, which has now been accompanied by a music video shot by Guillaume, up and coming singer-songwriter Srujanika teamed up with producer MILIAH to orchestrate an intricate, intimate feat of indie-pop that doesn’t just lyrically scratch at the surface. It cuts right down to the marrow.

Sometimes, all that is needed is the reminder that no matter how alone you feel on the darkest nights, you’re not alone in your dark transition periods before the light starts to breakthrough. The deeply spiritual release pulls in nuances of shoegaze and dream pop to give the single a sense of fragility; through Srujanika’s vocals, you’ll find comfort along with the inspiration to find the same resilient strength.

Even if you listened to the radio all day, you wouldn’t hear a more compassionate and consoling voice.

You can check out the official video to Rise that premiered on May 15th by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Danny Ritz – Window: The Most Relatable Love Song You Will Ever Hear.

Posted on 2 June 2021

Alt indie artist Danny Ritz has followed on from his debut EP with his latest artfully lo-fi single, Window. If you’re irresistible to the charms of bedroom pop, you’ll quickly succumb to the enamouring tones of psych-pop, synthpop and art-rock.

While most lyricists do their best to maintain a pretence of sanity in their songs, Danny Ritz threw his sanity by the wayside to channel organically manic, relatable emotions into Window. Any fans of John Grant, Spector and the Lathums will want to experience it for themselves.

With the macabrely inventive lyrical lines such as ‘you left my heart circumcised’, you can’t help but engage with the single. The intrigue is all too intense as you listen to Window unfold through the playfully polyphonic, unapologetically authentic progressions.

Window is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Madeleine Bradford has released her celestially striking single, Resting Bones.

Posted on 31 May 2021

Resting Bones is the celestially transfixing latest single from US singer-songwriter Madeleine Bradford. At the age of 17-years-old, her music already boasts narratively-meta lyrics, arresting vocal harmonies and a spiritual edge that compels you to lean even deeper into the single to abstract the emotion and introspection. Even the silence that follows the outro is resounding.

If anyone has what it takes to become the next Phoebe Bridgers while establishing themselves with a distinctive style, it is Madeleine Bradford. The mellifluous guitars in Resting Bones possess the same level of alchemy that you will find in Elliot Smith’s most intricate releases as faint orchestral swells add striking crescendos to the deeply provoking single.

Resting Bones is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Naked Face are ‘Coming Home’ with their ephemeral indie-pop single

Posted on 27 April 2021

Dreamy, ephemeral indie-pop with little dashes of post-post-punk – that’s the initial impression from first-listen of Melbourne-based Naked Face’s new single ‘Coming Home’, but on subsequent plays it’s clear the Australian three-piece have a lot more tricks up their collective sleeves and significantly more musical depth and character than that early, overly-simple description gives them credit for.

There’s elements of chilled Caribbean and even reggae to the chord work and arrangement of the verses, contrasting nicely with the bigger, chuggier power-chord overdrive of the choruses on ‘Coming Home’, singer Eddy Seagoon’s unique vocal delivery and delicately-picked guitar lines adding superbly to the tight groove of the rhythm section of Steve Slik and Nathan Stone, mashing-up a mixture of pop, punk, funk, jazzy chord voicings, and musical elements of The Police, the Young Knives, and Bloc Party amongst the audio influences here. It’s catchy and melodic, mixing in lyrical themes of isolation, social alienation, and distance whilst at the same time fusing a tight, focussed delivery and pumping out something that’s ultimately poppy, catchy, and delectable.

You can hear ‘Coming Home’ on Spotify, or check out the official video on YouTube. Follow Naked Face on Facebook or here.

Review by Alex Holmes

Danni Jackson opens up on ‘Too Much’

Posted on 7 March 2021

Opening up with some gentle picked electric guitar before the vocal and full-on musical arrangement kicks in, ‘Too Much’ is a perfect pop song, a mix of modern dance-able R&B with some older indie-rock stylings and a clever little set of pop sensibilities.

Recognisable from Comedy Central’s ‘Bad Cramps’ (which she writes and stars in), ‘Too Much’ is the follow-up to Jackson’s 2016 debut EP which included the BBC Introducing ‘track of the day’ ‘We Ain’t Got Love’. ‘Too Much’ is an honest, truthful first-person narrative on the problems of mental health, social pressure, and body image, an empathetic and open storytelling vibe in the style of Lily Allen or Anne-Marie, with maybe a little of the bounce and groove of Fergie thrown in for good measure. It’s fresh, vulnerable, and uplifting all at once.

Check out ‘Too Much’ on Spotify; follow Danni Jackson on Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Alex Holmes