Browsing Tag

Art Pop

The UK singer-songwriter, Mea has released her sad-girl-empowering debut single, Sad Girl Vibes

Posted on 25 February 2022

The up-and-coming independent alt-pop artist, Mea’s exceptionally promising debut single, Sad Girl Vibes, is everything that it metaphorically says on the tin, and so much more for the way it puts to shame toxic positivity tropes and empowers through resonance.

The artfully vulnerable release melds the moody beats with lighter textures and sensibilities to make it all too easy to get on the same wavelength as the UK-based singer-songwriter and her trip-hoppy, indie RnB nuanced track. Any fans of Warpaint will want to pay attention.

The bruisingly honest lyrics in the earworm stand as the ultimate testament to the fact that just because someone errs on the side of melancholy, that doesn’t make their psyche synonymous with obnoxious misery. If anyone can tempt people into owning their sad girl vibes, it is Mea.

You can vibe with Mea’s debut single, Sad Girl Vibes, for yourselves by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

Go into the wild with Joseph Lothian’s chamber pop release, Glacial and Spa

Posted on 23 February 2022

The South London songwriter and writer, Joseph Lothian, has recently released his sophomore album, which is a continuation of the wild and verdant chamber pop soundscapes in his 2020 debut album, Wilderness Music.

Wilderness Music Continued (Rain, Fire), is a meditatively artful infusion of electronic folk, indie and alt-pop which focuses on the act of songwriting, with a view to how it creates comfort and value in otherwise inhospitable environments. It’s hard to argue with that sentiment. Without the icons that have defined the culture in the UK, how disparate would our streets feel? How many outliers would know nothing of experimental expression or know how it feels to find their mindset tribe?

The standout single, Glacial and Spa, is just as evocative as an Angel Olsen release with the vibrato on the vocal. Yet, within the lush textures of the chamber pop single, there’s a nuanced reminder of our roots and the fact that we were never really supposed to endure post-industrialised isolation.

Joseph Lothian’s sophomore album is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Henry Friedman De Miguel takes us around the world with the standout single, ‘Ghost Orchid Has Many Pollinators’ on his debut LP

Posted on 15 January 2022

The 22-year-old Atlanta-based singer-songwriter, Henry Friedman De Miguel, has made his official debut with the release of his LP, The Witch’s Guide to Ecology & Other Times the Earth Has Impressed Me. That may not be the most memorable name for a debut album, but the album itself is sonically unforgettable.

In the jazzy standout single, Ghost Orchid Has Many Pollinators, there’s a touch of the Doors in the psychedelically kaleidoscopic textures and hints of Jim Morrison in the vocals. Yet reminiscences are always fleeting in the cinematic feat of world music that ends with Spanish guitars and art folk harmonies after delivering beguiling Eastern rhythms against tribal drums. If you could imagine what the sex and the city soundtrack would sound like if it pulled in culture from all corners of the world and was complemented by nature-celebrating lyrics, you’ll get an idea of what you’re in for here.

Ghost Orchid Has Many Pollinators is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Alternative singer-songwriter Laura Lang shares artful introspection in her debut single, Lithium

Posted on 3 January 2022

Tennessee-based independent singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Laura Lang is fresh from the release of her debut single, Lithium. With a voice as arresting as Angel Olsen and Phoebe Bridgers and the artful baroque nuances, you can’t help getting caught up in the captivating chord structures paired with the pop-inspired melodies.

After a melancholy bleeding intro, Lithium shifts into a testament of Lang’s introspective intellect, creative imagination and ability to create an ethereally captivating soundscape from the unravelling of her emotions.

With her debut album, All Downhill from There, which promises to echo suffering, beauty and nature due for release in January 2022, saving space on your radar for Laura Lang will undoubtedly pay off. Her debut single, Lithium, is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Newfaces embraces the chaos in his glitchy EDM hip hop single, I Can’t Make You Love Me

Posted on 25 December 2021

Experimentalism has always been an intrinsic part of Newfaces’ creativity. Yet, with his latest alt electro single, the LA-based artist and producer moved into Avant-Garde territory with his glitchy serving of hip hop, Neo soul and RnB pop.

With stormy and tribal textures entwined in the artful arrangement, I Can’t Make You Love Me is touched by chaos as a reflection of torrid human emotion. While the driving momentum in the gorgeously layered single never lets any of the weight in the candid lyricism sit uncomfortably. If Saul Williams collaborated with Radiohead, the sonic result wouldn’t be all too different from the absolute triumph that is I Can’t Make You Love Me. Newfaces’ sound leaves you with no uncertainty around how he managed to garner so much hype. He’s definitely one to watch.

I Can’t Make You Love Me is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Spotlight Feature: Castle KYD pulls visceral emotional punches in ‘The Mess You Left Behind’

Posted on 1 December 2021

On November 26th, Idaho indie singer-songwriter Castle KYD brought accountability in trend with his artfully expressive single, The Mess You Left Behind. In the Waitsy intro, there is little but solemn vocal notes and the quiescent murmurs from the acoustic guitar; as the track builds up to the pre-chorus, that’s when the sharp hook digs in and pulls you deeper into the intrinsically melodic work.

The Mess You Left Behind truly is the pinnacle of contemporary indie-folk pop. His innocently sweet scorned vocals, the celestial accordance in the choruses and lyrics that prove the extent of his determination to transfuse raw emotion into art makes Castle KYD one of the most gifted artists of his generation.

We didn’t need the self-taught artist’s bio to tell us that his music is an amalgamation of desire for connection, a means to cope and a way to turn banality into something meaningful. You can hear it in every ounce of passion poured into this evocatively bruising seminal release.

Here is what Castle Kyd had to say about his latest release:

“Mess You Left Behind was written on a sleepless night, thinking about someone I lived with and had to leave because it was so toxic. In 15 minutes, every feeling, anger and blame poured out of me and formed a poem which became a song in those minutes. After months, I still miss and crave them despite their emotional abuse; I blame myself for craving that, the person who instilled a lot of hurt in me. After struggling to get over it, I’ve become paradoxical; I am the mess this person left behind.”

The Mess You Left Behind is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Take a trip with Taipei’s hypnotically Avant-Garde indietronica single, RAD I/O.

Posted on 26 November 2021
Taipei

Alt indie artist, Taipei, stepped outside of their comfort zone and broke new autonomous ground with their latest electronic art-pop release, RAD I/O, recorded at the Iconic Abbey Road Studios.

The galactically spacey feat of indietronica will officially release on November 26th, bringing with it swathes of hypnotic tonal bliss, and perhaps the most finesse you’ll ever find in autotuned vocals. RAD I/O succeeds in making the single more than the sum of all of its parts while finding intrinsic synergy between the vocals and the dreamy, psych-pop grooves.

RAD I/O is available to purchase on Bandcamp and available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

Art-soul goes pop in James Asare’s latest single, Star-Crossed

Posted on 7 November 2021

If all artists were as ambitious with their storytelling narratives as James Asare, the airwaves would be a utopia of expression that brings the world closer through shared experience and emotion. The singer-songwriter’s latest art-folk single, Star-Crossed, goes back to the roots of storytelling while planting modernist marks in the soundscape.

With Pavement-style guitars sporadically ringing in the quiescently folkish single that ambiently twists and turns through the azure melodies, Asare perceptibly made the single his own while making it as heart-wrenchingly soulful as Dusty Springfield’s You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me.

Star-Crossed is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

FiFi Zhang has released her ethereal anime-inspired art-pop single, Travel Through the Milky Way.

Posted on 28 October 2021

‘Travel Through the Milky Way’ is the bewitchingly hypnotic latest release by Shanghai-born and raised electro-pop visionary FiFi Zhang; its entrancing propensities aren’t to be underestimated. The single completely redefines dream pop with the pitch-perfect accordance that flows right through this entrancing downtempo mix.

The Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter, music producer and visual designer takes inspiration from the likes of Grimes, Faye Wong and Yaejj and her love of sci-fi and anime for her ethereal art-pop sound. As a massive dream pop fan, I just know that my playlist staples won’t feel the same after hearing how sweetly transcendent and artful the genre has the potential to be. It’s a game-changer.

The official video for Travel Through the Milky Way is now available to stream on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Laurel K Adams has released her artful country-pop crossover single, Dancing in the Eye of a Hurricane.

Posted on 20 October 2021

The 17-year-old singer-songwriter and instrumentalist Lauren K Adams has released her debut alt-county-pop crossover EP, The Introduction. The standout single, Dancing in the Eye of a Hurricane, carries the coveted gravitas of an artist that has dedicated their life to honing in on their craft, but discernibly, the melodies that her poetic lyrics breeze through are as natural as breathing. If you could imagine a hybrid of the best parts of Cohen, Stevie Nicks and Kate Bush, you’ll get close to imagining the ingenuity on offer here.

You’d be seriously hard-pressed to find another up and coming artist with such succinct talent when it comes to capturing the multifaceted complexities of the human experience. The airwaves are an infinitely better place for her debut. The motivation for it goes beyond the yearning for accolades; it stems from the far less factious inclination to empower her listeners.

Dancing in the Eye of a Hurricane is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast