Browsing Tag

Alternative Indie

Alt Indie Rock artist Tom Morris invites you to share ‘The Dark Hours’ with him through his debut release

https://tommorris.bandcamp.com/track/the-dark-hours

Like many artists, Scottish singer-songwriter Tom Morris released his debut single, The Dark Hours’, this summer, but unlike most new releases, the soundscape exhibited the artist’s prowess when it comes to instilling overwhelming emotion as the track becomes so much more than the sum of all parts.

The moody hints of 80s Electro hum around the intricate bluesy indie rock guitars while Tom Morris crafts one of the most infectious vocal melodies I’ve heard this year.

No artist carries the influence of Kurt Vile without picking up the hypnotically mellifluous textures of his meanderingly enticing guitar, which is exactly what is on offer in The Dark Hours which captures the agony of those twilight hours when your body loses most of its capacity for function while your mind runs rampant through every avenue for melancholy.

When I first hit play, I was intrigued by the stylistic collision of genres, by the time The Dark Hours faded out, I was overcome by the artist’s invaluable ability to alchemically offer compassion and comfort through relaying his own bitter-sweet introspection.

You can find out more about Tom Morris by heading over to his official website.

Head over to Bandcamp to stream and download The Dark Hours.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Sean Millea – Little Bit of Sunshine: Compassionately Emotive Indie

Up and coming Alt Indie artist Sean Millea dropped their seminal single “Little Bit of Sunshine” during lockdown. It may be a rough demo, but if you’ve got a soul, the tender evocative nature of the release won’t fail to resonate.

The track kicks off with delicately warm Neo-Classic keys before Sean Millea’s distinctive beyond definition vocals find a perfect place atop of the ever-evolving soundscape which slides into a feat of melodically explorative Alt Indie which pulls in faint yet masterful nuances of Hip Hop while Sean Millea offers an aural experience which isn’t all too different to what you can expect from the Verve.

Little Bit of Sunshine is as absolving as music comes. Do yourselves a favour and indulge in this compassionately emotive mix.

You can check out Little Bit of Sunshine for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Blondmodel – WEIGHT: Emotively Warm, Tonally Glacial Alt Indie

Blondmodel

Shoegaze, Post Punk and contemporary Indie converge in the hauntingly sublime standout single WEIGHT from Alt Indie trailblazers Blondmodel.

The experimental mix even finds room to lay down sonically caustic blasting synth notes into the soundscape which offered nothing but accessible accordance up until the track neared the outro.

Despite the palpable authentic creativity which went into the single, there are familiar hooks to ensure that it’s not just an easy track to slip into, it’s a track which wholly consumes your consciousness as you listen to the sheer emotion which doesn’t just come from the absorbingly soft vocals. The pensive yet soft instrumental melodies also possess the ability to crawl under your ribs.

Any fans of the National, Editors, Frightened Rabbit and Idlewild will undoubtedly want to check out WEIGHT for themselves.

WEIGHT is just one of the singles which features on Blondmodel’s 2020 EP “Neon Lights, Lonely Nights” which was released on March 27th. You can check it out by heading over to SoundCloud or Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Indie Rock Just Got Darker with Blakk Mantra’s Single “Planet of Sungrown Dreams” On the Airwaves

https://open.spotify.com/track/1u2knyypRoEYh9bNITYZOX

Distorted guitars, dreamy Indie Rock vocals, and soaring crescendos. Those are just a few of the things you can look forward to hearing when you press play on “Planet of Sungrown Dreams” by Blakk Mantra.

The filthy, fuzzy and sonic tones are sure to appease fans of the Black Keys, Arctic Monkeys, and Muse alike.

Blakk Mantra has made it all too easy for listeners to get obsessed with their slightly darker approach to Indie Rock. You’d struggle to find Alternative music as accessible as Planet of Sungrown Dreams. Yet, Blakk Mantra still carries that essential extra-juicy indulgent element in their sound which will leave you with the compulsion to play them on repeat.

You’ll also want to check out the second single “Donna Juanita” from their 2-track 2020 release “Where There’s Smoke There’s Dope“. It’s a grungy psych aural treat.

You can get your first taste of Blakk Mantra’s arrestive sound for yourselves by heading over to Spotify.

Show them some much-deserved love via Facebook.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Project Blackbird – Elevation: The Aural Protest to Bigotry We Never Knew We Needed

The mesmeric qualities of Project Blackbird’s latest single “Elevation” may never truly be encapsulated in words. Straight from the siren blares of the brass in the introduction you find yourself arrested in the soundscape which puts a twist on your average song structure.

Elevation was created as an alchemic attack on ignorance and bigotry which is so prevalent in our society… whichever corner of the globe we happen to be in. For the lyrics, quotes were taken from Michelle Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2016. Words coming from the best first lady America will potentially ever see are always going to be powerful. But when they are accompanied by an ominously dark, slightly anachronistic instrumental arrangement; they hit hard.

Any fans of Amanda Palmer are sure to love the expressive, fearless, charismatic style of the spoken word lyrics as they verse the potent words which won’t fail to resonate leaving you with the sense that you’ve just stumbled across the artist, we never knew we needed. It was about time a Patti Smith of this century emerged.

You can check out Project Blackbird’s latest single Elevation for yourselves by heading across to SoundCloud now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast