Browsing Tag

Alternative Music

To Bloom Channelled A Manifesto of Mourning in the Visceral Post-Hardcore Anthem, ‘Daughters’

Portland’s own To Bloom delivered an absolute gut punch with their latest single, Daughters. As a manifesto of poetic grief, they waste no time in hurling listeners straight into a heady maelstrom of progressive post-hardcore where light and darkness wrestle for dominance. Every progression feels scathing by design; the poetic lyrics cut right through the mix as Bruno López-Vargas’ vocals oscillate between guttural screamo ferocity and falsetto harmonies that act like flickers of hope among the chaos.

The track is laced with intricate guitar work that drives the drama, matched by symphonic euphony in the background, while post-rock elements cascade into something raw and untamed. There’s nothing half-baked about the emotions here; To Bloom are mourning, fighting, and remembering, all at once, as they process the pain of witnessing someone’s decline and the grief left in their absence. Yet, there’s something uplifting woven into the DNA of the track: a belief that even inside sorrow, community, and memory can become lifelines.

Born from the long-standing creative partnership of López-Vargas and Kevin Merrill Payne, and fuelled by authentic Latin grooves and bilingual lyricism, To Bloom have manifested a rare identity in a crowded scene. Their DIY ethos, bolstered by Portland’s own Logan Candelaria, Nolan Plummer, and Cory Wolfe, keeps the spirit honest, raw, and utterly magnetic.

Daughters is now available on all major streaming platforms, including SoundCloud.


Review by Amelia Vandergast

Nick Cody & The Heartache Explored True Wealth with Melodic Grace in The World’s Richest Man

Through another scintillating collaboration, Nick Cody & The Heartache eased their fanbase into the bosom of their mind-expanding melodic magnetism once again in their latest single, The World’s Richest Man, featuring acclaimed cellist Liz Hanks. A cerebral yet effortlessly accessible take on alternative easy listening, the track is delicately punctuated with mellow staccato guitar licks, elevated by hymnal backing vocals carrying gospel timbres into the composition.

Liz Hanks’ cello brings profound poignancy to the arrangement; rather than spilling grandiosity over the sentimental serenade, the cello lends a divine air to the humble session in everyman blues. The World’s Richest Man dismantles barricades of perception, inviting fresh illumination upon familiar notions of wealth and value. By transporting listeners into tonal bliss, it becomes a sanctuary of melodic introspection.

Leeds-based Nick Cody is renowned for sharp lyricism and incisive social commentary wrapped in rich melodies. His Green Eyed Records initiative champions “creativity through collaboration,” previously hosting revered artists such as Jon Gomm and Martin Simpson. With high praise from Jim Glennie of James for his unpredictably innovative songwriting, Cody continues to craft compelling narratives woven through soundscapes that act as clarion calls for kindred spirits.

The World’s Richest Man is now available on all major streaming platforms, including SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Beasts of No Nation Spoke Their Vibrational Truth in AfroFusion Firestorm ‘You Can’t Talk in My Language’

If Avery Jacob’s vibe could be weaponised, it would be stronger than a nuclear threat; thankfully, he’s all about using his infectious charisma to alchemise rhythms into embodiments of pure upraising resonance.

If pictures can speak a thousand words, You Can’t Talk in My Language should be considered a literary masterpiece for the way it conveys what it means to live with pride and the kind of positive defiance that refuses to dilute the aura of your being to be easily transcribed by people who aren’t on your wavelength. It isn’t about exclusion; it is about protecting enlightened vibration.

If you love Melt Yourself Down and how their sax redefines the African funk lines, every part of your anatomy will become a soft spot for Beasts of No Nation. I know I can’t be the only one who feels their soul expand in the presence of Jacob. With his new collective, his energy is more powerful than ever.

Of course, no review of ‘You Can’t Talk in My Language’ would be complete without mention of the ludicrously endearing music video, which sees a Martian learning how to vibe with the collective. To be fair, he’d probably have more of a chance of fitting in than most of the people in society who make radiating light seem like an idiosyncratic oddity.

Denver’s Beasts of No Nation, a ten-piece AfroFusion collective led by visionary artist Avery Jacob, fuse Afrobeat, hip-hop, jazz, soul, and rock into a sound that channels the urgency of protest with the power of groove. Their electrifying live shows have already built a reputation for creating immersive experiences rooted in Pan-African pride and spiritual resistance. Their debut album, Welcome 2 ViBERiA, is set for release in the autumn and promises to awaken, move, and remind listeners to hold onto their own spark.

You Can’t Talk in My Language is now available on all major streaming platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

KØCAZE Summoned Sensory Darkness in the Avant-Garde Alt-Pop Hymn, Cîmes et Souvenirs

KØCAZE seduced darkness into sensory cinema with their latest single, Cîmes et Souvenirs. The composition defies its own quiescently tempered physics, washing over listeners in waves of unsettling Avant-Garde synergy. The timbres feel as though they have always belonged within you, coming home to reconcile the haunting, hymnal, and harrowing atmospheres deep within your soul, bringing with them a barrage of grace, bruises, and beguilement to ensure you won’t forget hearing it for the first time.

Belgian duo KØCAZE, formed by classical artist Elsa Verhoeven and instinctive self-taught musician Olivier Jacqmin, craft music born from creative collision. Operating from Liège since 2020, they initially debuted in a full-band formation before transforming into their current stripped-back but emotionally potent aesthetic. Their forthcoming EP, D’Or et de Sang, produced by Ben Chisholm (Chelsea Wolfe, Blood Moon) and mastered by Alan Douches, digs deeper into the veins of dark pop and neoclassical atmospherics, balancing intimacy with vast emotional landscapes.

Entirely sung in French, Cîmes et Souvenirs confronts grief, memory, and inherited identity, enveloping the listener in a shadowy soundscape of piano, vocals, and delicate menace. If you’ve ever needed a sonic mirror to face your darkest depths and rediscover your own hidden sanctuaries, KØCAZE have provided the reflection.

Cîmes et Souvenirs is now available on all major streaming platforms via this link. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

London’s True Being pulled us from polarity and put us ‘Back on Track’ with his alt-pop jam

True Being took us back in time with their latest single, Back on Track, which reminisces on the less polarised and partisan days when we could see the world in full colour instead of through the divisive prism of black and white.

What it will take for people to get back there isn’t quite clear, but Back on Track is certainly a step in the right direction. The quirky alternative single which plays with mystical eastern rhythms and playfully polyphonic electro-pop layers is an efficacious reminder that things haven’t always been this way, and there is no good reason why they are engrained in our modern cultures the world over.

The London-based artist makes a habit of holding a mirror to the absurdist facets of our world through his assertion that artists have a role to play in the shaping of our future to take the power away from Musk and his kin, politicians and celebrities. He’s been likened to LCD Sound System, Nick Cave, Talking Heads and John Grant, but all reminiscences in his flamboyantly eccentric sound are incredibly fleeting.

Stream Back on Track on YouTube and Spotify.

Review by Amelie Vandergast

Indigo Hush’s ”Drugs Are For The Weekend” is a sobering story of love and addiction

The rush of the crowd, the smoke filled energy of the party combined with the feeling of being a part of something special. This is the vibe that most of us feel when we could go out, before quarantine days of course. Indigo Hush is a new act on the scene that paints us a picture of how it feels when the party all ends. This is reality.

With a dark & moody energy, ”Drugs Are For The Weekend” is a song that should warn us of getting a bit too deep into the party scene. It has a bleak undertone and Indigo Hush hits the nail on the head with his experiences and ultimately delivers a commendable track with a haunting beat that is executed perfectly for the song.

Drugs Are For The Weekend” is a sobering tale from new Indie Electro artist Indigo Hush as he takes us on a journey through the chipped paint walls of the local club featuring fake friends, showing us how it feels to like someone but only to lose all feeling of attraction when the drugs get a bit too much. Designed for the weekend, temptation takes over and the artist methodically and painfully accepts his fate, concluding that it isn’t really worth it.

Stream this and more from Indigo Hush on his Spotify channel.

Review by Llewelyn Screen

Mindmassage – And Forever: A Transcendental Aural Adventure

If you can’t depend on a track by an artist titled Mindmassage to take you on a transcendental aural adventure, I’m not sure who you can rely on to alter your state of consciousness. There’s little use in trying to whack a genre label on their eclectically indulgent sound, simply let the layers of Funk, Hip Hop, Electro and Pop wash over you. As the lucidly orchestrated track unfolded, hints of 90s nostalgia started to hit, acting as an aural mode of transport to simpler sweeter times.

In addition to the velvety smooth vocals, the elements of spoken word contained within And Forever made the single infinitely more hypnotic. It seems fitting that Manchester-based producer and hypnotherapist would give you John Cooper Clarke vibes.

You can check out Mindmassage’s fourth single And Forever for yourselves by heading over to Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Furnichure – Cotton Candy Covered Sky: Another Alice in Wonderland?

Come and Go by Furnichure

This is the first single off Furnichure’s “Post Urban” debut album which was first released on December 2017. With a little peak as to what the full album will hold for the listening audience that are in waiting in earnest to experience the unending exuberance which Furnichure’s music work with gladly offer them; this song is relatively a mid tempo ice-cool song.

The nice sweet melody which was born out of the coordinated obeisance of the harmonized sound that comes off from those guitars, bass and drums set that was played in the song can paint you a beautiful scene of two young hearts in sync with the magic their silhouette mirrors.

Without at any time sounding neither sizzled nor over dragged, the artist interestingly managed to keep his vocals in check and in total control. Everything about this song is well put and on point. The lyrics are quite short but not lacking any of the ingredients that makes its uniqueness glaring.

The ability of this artist to creatively deliver such an amazing song that’s capable of taking his music audience in a pretty slow adventurous journey to almost feel their body collide in cathedral of many celestial bodies, and many more is the reason while Furnichure deserves to be called ‘captain fantastic’.

This is a slow cool song with some nice lines, and very well mastered sound.

-Lilian-Debrah.