Browsing Tag

Alt-Pop

Emilie Thorsby drenched her latest single ‘Ocean’ in a sea of artful tranquillity

Posted on 12 November 2023
Emilie Thorsby

Capturing the calmingly vast natural beauty of the ocean which allows us to feel part of something bigger than ourselves within a soundscape couldn’t have been an easy feat, but the Danish singer-songwriter, Emilie Thorsby, resoundingly succeeded in her artfully alternative single, Ocean.

Through saturated almost shoegaze-y guitars, an electronica arrangement that breaks down cultural barriers as fluidly as the ocean moves without constraint, and vocal lines that resound with a sense of serenity and spirituality, Emilie Thorsby lived up to the hype that her countless accolades signify.

After releasing six singles, Emilie Thorsby has been recognised by EGW Magazine, several of her singles have gone into rotation on US radio stations, including NBC, and she was also nominated as the female artist of the year in 2022. We can’t wait to see the strides she makes in 2024.

Ocean will be available to stream on Spotify from November 11; stream the scintillating single on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Skinny G Radio’s latest hit ‘Whatcha Gonna Do?’ is a euphoric indie earworm worth tuning in for.

Posted on 10 November 2023

Skinny G Radio rode their authentic indie pop signature across the cosmos in the latest exuberantly sweet hit, Whatcha Gonna Do? The sugared-with-uninhibited passion vocal lines run in parallel to the experimental instrumentals which dabble in 80s new wave nostalgia while carrying the histrionic flair of a polyphonic pop opera. It is impossible not to get swept up by the soul in this loved-up hit that is potent enough to give even the most melancholic nihilists lust for life.

By taking influence from Billy Joel, Mark Ronson, and John Mayer and always staying true to his own rapturously distinctive style, the Connecticut-born & raised LA-based songwriter, producer, and performer is an unforgettable indie pop icon who is set to make major waves with the release of his sophomore LP, The Heightening, which is due for release in 2024. Whatcha Gonna Do is just a taste of what the rest of the presumably infectiously hook-y album will deliver.

Whatcha Gonna Do is due for release on November 10th; stream it on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Laura Loh illuminated the airwaves with her latest installation of alt-pop, City Lights

Posted on 9 November 2023

Laura Loh’s latest alt-pop single, City Lights, co-produced with MUNBOI, has already been picked up by BBC Introducing; given the earworm appeal of the release from the Hampshire, UK-based singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer, the question is, can they put it down?

With nuances of ambient leftfield electronica oscillating in the atmosphere of the scintillating single which pays an ode to the magnetism of metropolises and their tendency to keep pulling us back with the promise of limitless potential, City Lights is a compellingly immersive release, which stands as a testament to how honed Laura Loh has become since making her debut. Synthesising instrumentals which stand a chance of complimenting her naturally compelling vocal range is discernibly no easy feat.

As she’s veered away from her classical vocal, piano, and violin training and jazz music background, Laura Loh has audibly moved towards commercial appeal while never letting her folky alt-pop edge betray her authenticity.

City Lights will illuminate the airwaves on November 9th; stream the single on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Xther opened Pandora’s Box with the bloodlust in his experimental debut EP, A Disaster at Last

Posted on 8 November 2023

Pandora’s Box opened when Xther unveiled his seductively macabre standout single, Delicacy, taken from his debut release, which came in the form of his inaugural EP, A Disaster at the Least.

With bloodlust in place of the banality of lust, Xther, envisioned by the inventive Davin Casey, created the ultimate protest to the cultural quietude of Southwest Missouri; Davin’s musical metamorphosis stands as a vivid declaration of artistic tenacity and fervour.

After the stabbing piano keys tease a pop ballad, the throbbing synth lines send ravines of reverberance through the synthesis of dark electronic pop progressions and alt-rock manifestations of visceralism. If Deftones make you horny, I don’t even want to know what delicacy will do to you. The sultrily dark magnetism of She Wants Revenge creating friction against the future-ready production which highlights the dust on IAMX hits is a potent aural cocktail which will intoxicate you to Xther’s sonic reawakening which follows the dissolution of Davin Casey’s former hard-rock project, Story of a Ghost.

Stream Delicacy with the A Disaster at the Least EP via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Star-rove through the desolation in Othenic’s latest single, SUPERSONIC LIGHTSPEED

Posted on 5 November 2023

By using dark and spacey tones as a metaphor for the desolation of alienation and emptiness and pairing them with pensive lyrical iconography, Othenic proved his worth as an evocateur in his latest single, SUPERSONIC LIGHTSPEED.

The trappy nuances that bleed through the backbeat and the sharp delivery of his quasi-harmonised vocals become a sense of gravity in the reverb-swathed atmosphere of the star-roving single that instantly immerses you within the melancholy of the exposition of how inhospitable Earth can be when you’re forced to go through the motions without another soul as a compass.

Emanating the same sense of heart-on-sleeve deeply affecting appeal of Blue October and Porcupine Tree, the Kentucky/Cincinnati-hailing artist, who is quickly becoming our favourite discovery in 2023, is establishing himself as a song crafter with superlative tenacity when it comes to sonically locking into the darkest facets of the human experience.

SUPERSONIC LIGHTSPEED was officially released on November 2nd; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Jasno sharpened his hooks for his ethereal alt-pop earworm Runaway

Posted on 31 October 2023

Sink your senses into the latest synthesis of trap, dream pop, synthwave and indie rock from the Michigan-hailing genre-bending evocateur, Jasno, whose experimentalism knows fewer bounds than his talents in creating texturally sublime modernist masterpieces.

With a song structure which keeps the level of scintillation visceral through a never-ending barrage of aural curveballs to emanate the same progressively exhilarant air as the most infectious tracks from Mumford and Sons, the artist who keeps his sound fresh with each new release has exactly what it takes to go far in the industry which increasingly favours genre-fluid and stylistically uninhibited orchestrations.

If the instrumentals which are all self-recorded and produced by the artist’s fair hand aren’t enough to reel you in hook, line, and sinker, the clever confessionalism and candour will drag you into the candied gravity of Runaway.

Runaway dropped on September 15; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Anike stylised the archetypal perennial pop earworm in her sophomore release, Victorious

Posted on 30 October 2023

Following the success of her debut single, Beautiful Fate, the unforgettable electro-pop originator Anike took a year to hone her sound and sharpen her sonic signature before unleashing her superlatively stylised sophomore earworm, Victorious.

With as much experimentation in her sound as Warpaint, Cherry Glazerr, and Blonde Redhead fused with a sticky-sweet bubblegum pop sensibility, Victorious bridges the gap between two pop worlds with her synth-carved melodies and rhythmically arresting progressions. The track is an overpass you’ll want to revisit time after time for the feel-good factor which has all the euphoria of a guilty pleasure and all the gravitas of an artful pop-hooked Tour De Force.

Victorious was officially released on October 20; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Embrace our transhumanist future with Skylnz Ablze’s electrifying synth wave single, Memory Empty

Posted on 30 October 2023

Even though synth wave is all the rage in 2023, the Chicago-hailing songwriter, producer, and engineer Skylnz Ablze, rode his synth lines into a cut above the rest with the seminally animatronic single, Memory Empty, from his sophomore LP, Born from Electricity, which was crafted to exhibit a new perspective on pop.

By taking influence from electronica pioneers The Human League, New Order and Gary Numan and synthesising the new wave pop aesthetic into one that fizzes with oscillating ingenuity, Skylnz Ablze allowed the transhumanist future that awaits us all to embrace the listener from the very first ensnaring 808 kick to the last.

Memory Empty hit the airwaves on October 13th; stream it on Spotify as part of Skylnz Ablze’s sophomore LP, Born from Electricity.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Ojay put devil horns on their latest pop-rock earworm, Creep in the Night

Posted on 28 October 2023

This isn’t Thriller, but the Bad Guy by Eilish-esque swagger in the recently released macabrely magnetic pop-rock hit, Creep in the Night, from the prodigal sons of accursed experimentation, Ojay, is one of eeriest infectious earworms you will meet this year.

With their ability to bring the funk in the basslines, the grooves in the razor-sharp guitar cuts and wear the devil may care horns all too well in the vocal performance, the high-energy Australian outfit knocked it out of the seventh ring of hell with Creep in the Night.

Between the exemplary modern production which puts Highly Suspect to shame, the swathes of chilling charisma and the efficaciousness of the vocal hooks which seduce you into the dark heart of the release, I’m struggling to see how I will leave this hit alone.

Creep in the Night was officially released on Friday the 13th; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Angel Sinclair came of ‘Strange Age’ in her ethereal alt-indie pop sophomore release

Posted on 27 October 2023

After coming in all melodic guns blazing in her debut release, Soldier, the Canadian alt-indie-pop singer-songwriter Angel Sinclair invited us into an ethereal realm with her sophomore single, Strange Age.

Capturing the disorientating surrealism of coming of age and feeling alien within your own skin better than Brett Easton Ellis’ novel Less Than Zero within a soundscape which carries reminiscences to the artfully quiescent air within singles from Lucy Dacus, Soccer Mommy and Torres, Angel Sinclair effortlessly succeeded in her mission to envelop you in an intimately raw atmosphere where confessionalism spills around the accordance.

She may not have reinvented the wheel with Strange Age, but she asserted her mainstream appeal in the contextually tumultuous release all the same. Angel Olsen may want to watch out, there’s another Angel reigning supreme.

Strange Age was officially released on October 13: stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast