Browsing Tag

Ambient Rock

Tim Miscavage ethereally distorted grungy indie rock in his latest standout single, All the Work

Posted on 17 December 2023

Tim Miscavage’s latest single, All the Work, is an intoxicating foray into the realm of introspective rock, where Miscavage not only writes and performs every element but also infuses his music with a raw, authentic energy.

The single begins with a hauntingly ethereal distortion which brings swathes of quiescence to Korn’s iconic Freak on a Leash basslines. However, Miscavage takes this inspiration and transforms it, weaving ambience and contemplation into the song’s fabric. The result is a piece that is both reflective and lamenting, yet undeniably gripping.

What sets All the Work apart is its ability to gently persuade the listener, drawing them into its depths without overwhelming force. This subtlety is the antithesis of the rock tracks that have evidently inspired Miscavage, yet it’s this very contrast that makes the song so affecting. The track doesn’t just play; it breathes and evolves, taking the listener through its layered composition.

His vocals, too, are a standout feature. They convey a sense of earnestness and vulnerability that is rare in today’s music scene, further enhancing the introspective nature of the track. The production is equally commendable. It strikes a perfect balance between clarity and distortion, allowing each element to be appreciated without losing the raw, unpolished edge that gives the track its character.

All the Work was officially released on December 5th; stream it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

tuesday nite has made their ambient indie rock debut with the harmony-driven single, following after me

Posted on 1 July 2022

The harmony-driven ambient indie-rock duo, tuesday nite, came together during the pandemic through a shared love of tiny desk concerts, even more compact harmonies and indie contemporaries, such as Pinegrove and Phoebe Bridgers.

Now, they’re here with their debut self-titled release, featuring the lead single, following after me. If Mazzy Star and Vanessa Carlton met in the alt-90s middle, the convergence of evocative style would undoubtedly emulate the same radiant warmth in following after me.

The yearning love song stridently triumphs in depicting the bitter lows and the highs that leave a perpetual need for that co-writer in our lives to make a return. In every conceivable way, the unpretentiously expressive single floors you with the fluency of its expression. Debuts this impressive don’t come along every day. Get them on your radar.

Following after me is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Abandon The Fall drop new instrumental melodic rock ‘Memories’

Posted on 31 March 2021

When we reviewed Abandon The Fall’s ‘Enemy’ single back in August 2018, Amelia Vandergast likened them to Linkin Park’s ‘Hybrid Theory’, saying ‘the vocals are stripped back and left emotionally bare around the resounding instrumentals’. In the case of ‘Memories’, from new EP ‘Infinite Seasons’, Abandon The Fall have taken that a step further and provided an instrumental track bereft of vocals altogether. It’s not, however, bereft of power or melancholy, that same electronic-meets-metal vibe that was there on the debut coming through across the track. There’s definitely that Linkin Park feel at times, but with thundering kick drums aplenty behind the shimmering, echoey guitars, there’s touches of Enter Shikari and 30 Seconds To Mars in here too. It’s a potent, powerful track with no loss of emotiveness from its instrumental-only nature.

You can hear ‘Memories’ on Spotify; check out Abandon The Fall on Facebook.

Review by Alex Holmes

Darling Overdrive sprinkle some magical songwriting ‘Stardust’ with new EP ‘Cosmic Autumn’

Posted on 23 March 2021

Denver’s Darling Overdrive describe themselves as ‘rekindling the fire of late 20th Century Rock & Roll’. ‘Stardust’ initially has a little bit of a Goo Goo Dolls feel to it, opening up with some gently picked clean guitar over closed hi-hat sixteenths, before building, holding a little suspense before rocking out on the chorus with some nice staccato guitar chords and drum fills.

It’s reminiscent of The Calling, Hoobastank, or Lifehouse, that subtle blend of rock that’s an absolute shoo-in for acres of epic radio play right through the summer. That’s no criticism, either – it takes a very special kind of songwriting skill to maintain rock & roll credibility whilst generating mass-appeal, and to hit that perfect niche without falling into overblown Guns n’ Roses balladeering pomposity or Nickleback cheese takes some doing. Darling Overdrive seem to have done that effortlessly with ‘Stardust’, and the second track on the ‘Cosmic Autumn’ single ‘Surf’; top notch stuff.

Hear ‘Cosmic Autumn’ on Spotify; check out Darling Overdrive on Facebook.

Review by Alex Holmes

heyiloveyou has dropped their conceptually narrative Post Rock EP ‘Everybody’s Got 2 Sides’

Posted on 9 January 2021
https://heyiloveyou.bandcamp.com/album/everybodys-got-2-sides-ep-2020

If prizes were handed out for the most conceptually evocative release of 2020, it would go to Croatian Experimental Post Rock artist, heyiloveyou, for their 2-track EP ‘Everybody’s Got 2 Sides’.

It’s a nuanced nod to the multi-faceted nature of our personalities with Side One a depiction of melancholy-tinged contemplation and side two an experimental electronic rock traversing of intensely urgent despair. When I say ‘experimental’, I mean Fantomas-level experimental with caustic noise replacing lyrics but saying all that there is to say all the same.

With Okay, the artist paid ode to the agony of being told that you no longer matter through silence instead of words. The experimentally ambient track drives you through the sweaty shaky trepidation of realising that the love which held you together is being withdrawn to the tune of voicemail answering messages.

Needless to say, we’re all too excited to hear what kind of subversive alchemy heyiloveyou serves up next.

You can check out the latest release from heyiloveyou by heading over to Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

UK Alt artist 8udDha bl0od has released their enticingly chilling ambient soundscape “The Lost Pleiad”

Posted on 4 August 2020
https://soundcloud.com/william-orpen/23tauri/s-R5rzoOZ8wR6

Aural enigma 8udDha bl0od has unleashed yet another enticingly chilling soundscape on the airwaves with their latest release “The Lost Pleiad”.

It takes an unholy amount of talent to create an experimental track which offers instant magnetic appeal, but that’s exactly what 8udDha bl0od achieved with his ambiently beguiling single. The tones may have bordered on celestial but didn’t mean that 8udDha bl0od had to hold back on his almost Machiavellianly mischievous ingenuity.

From start to finish, The Lost Pleiad was mesmeric and all-consuming. Around the inventive electronic effects, you’ll find sporadic offerings of angularly picked guitar strings and tranquil pools of reverb which will convince you to hit play time and time again.

There’s no adjective more fitting for The Lost Pleiad than stunning. As always, we can’t wait to hear what 8udDha bl0od has in the pipeline.

You can check out 8udDha bl0od’s latest single for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Alex Nekrasov – Miss Grey: Sax-Led Ambient New Age Jazz Rock

Posted on 11 April 2020

Soundscapes don’t come much more amorously arrestive than Denver-based saxophonist and producer Alex Nekrasov’s latest instrumental single “Miss Grey”.

In the captivating layers of Miss Grey, you’ll find futuristic electronic Pop beats under the sensuously hypnotic alto sax and guitar solos which unravel with a fair serving of theatrically expressive magnetism.

Miss Grey may fall into the realm of Ambient New Age Jazz Rock, but once you’ve hit play on Alex Nekrasov’s latest release, you can expect the entirety of your consciousness to be consumed by this euphorically elevating single.

You can check out the official music video to Miss Grey which premiered on March 20th via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

8udDha bl0od – 7h3 RA<3 A7 7h3 3nD 0f 7h3 W0rlD

Posted on 23 March 2020
https://soundcloud.com/william-orpen/rav3

Up and coming Brighton-based Alt Rock artist 8udDha bl0od are being incredibly prolific with their releases in 2020.  And their experimental culturally-rich sounds couldn’t have hit the airwaves at any better time.

As the fabric of our society becomes even more confusing, we can at least take great comfort in the fact that tracks such as 7h3 RA<3 A7 7h3 3nD 0f 7h3 W0rlD exist which can take you on kaleidoscopically colourful aural trips

There may be ambient and light melodicism in 7h3 RA<3 A7 7h3 3nD 0f 7h3 W0rlD but the depth of the sound and the extent of the ingenuity ensures you’re hooked into the transcendentally electric arrangements which come with a fiery psychedelic kick.

You can check out 8udDha bl0od’s absorbingly track out for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Soul Natural Remedy – Don’t You Know: Kaleidoscopically Distinctive Psych Pop

Posted on 13 January 2020
https://snrmusic1.bandcamp.com/track/dont-you-know

Under the influence of the Beach Boys and Frank Ocean, California-based artist Soul Natural Remedy released their own sun-soaked melodically kaleidoscopic soundscapes.

Their standout single “Don’t You Know” from their self-titled EP, is slightly more eccentric than the tracks offered by the aforementioned artists. But that’s all the more reason to fall in love with their effervescent tonally diverse sound.

Their approach to Psychedelic Pop is something which we definitely won’t be forgetting in a hurry. The vibrato on the vocals, the consistent tonal fluctuations, the sweet sentimentality in the lyrics, the archaic magnetism, they all play their part in making Don’t You Know the perfect track to turn to if you’re looking for a little sunny catharsis.

You can stream and download Soul Natural Remedy’s latest single for yourselves by heading over to Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Made Of Stone – ‘Never Again’

Posted on 26 December 2019

L.A. – based ambient rockers Made Of Stone open their self-titled EP with the cosmic ‘Never Again’.

Comprised of Sophia Médina (vocals), Chris Lewis (bass), Alin Glogovicean (guitar), Sammy Velick (drums) and Lucian Lee (guitar/synth), Made Of Stone are firing on all cylinders. The band’s influences shine through on this track, but at no point do they overshadow their own sound that is laden with originality and verve.

‘Never Again’ is a song that displays the paranoia of entering into a relationship with someone who you fear is not 100 per cent committed. The ethereal guitars introduce us to the listen, and almost mirror the sorrow within Medina’s vocal. They echo out endlessly, creating an eerily beautiful, numinous timbre. Velick’s sturdy drumming forms the foundational rock that ‘Never Again’ rests on. Medina somehow creates a broad, vast expanse of space with her vocal alone. It flows over you, blanketing the metaphorical plateau that is painted by the instrumental ambience.

We are being taken on a journey that is personal and emotional, that is shrouded in the celestial aura of the earthly elements created through the music. The bridge just before the final chorus seems to pull this all together, as Lewis’ bass comes into its own. ‘Never Again’ transports you through time and space, leaving you orbiting in the atmosphere.

I’ve not been moved by a song in a long time, but Made Of Stone just changed that.

Review By Alicia Carpenter