Browsing Tag

Indie Dream Pop

Mayshe-Mayshe sung an ethereal art-pop lullaby in her latest bedroom pop single, Indigo

Posted on 2 November 2022

Ahead of the launch of her sophomore album, the Yorkshire bedroom pop artist and producer, Mayshe-Mayshe (Alice Rowan), has painted the airwaves in ‘Indigo’.

With a sense of spirituality in her artfully hushed choral vocals as they meet the dreamy art-pop melodies weaved on vintage synths and the skittish yet absorbingly organic percussion, the ethereal allure of Indigo shouldn’t be underestimated. Lyrically, Indigo inspires the listener into embracing the uncertainties of life and reminds them that there is always another side to exhaustion and ennui.

Indigo may be technically lo-fi, but Mayshe-Mayshe created a feat of indie dream pop that could easily rival Warpaint, Beach House and Deer Hunter. It comes as no surprise that many of her fans return to her anxiety-quashing sound time after time.

Mayshe-Mayshe’s album, Indigo, will release across all major streaming platforms on November the 11th. Indigo, the single, is now available to stream on Spotify and YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

Orbit 17 is star roving in their intricately spacey electro-indie-rock single, Helium

Posted on 21 October 2022
Waves on Wires (EP) by Orbit 17

The ethereally talented Los Gatos, California-residing indie artist, Orbit 17, weaved another feat of transcendently intricate electro-rock with their latest single, Helium, taken from the Waves on Wires EP.

With Hendrix-style solos implanted into a dreamy spacey tapestry, authenticity evidently wasn’t hard to come by for Orbit 17, who will undoubtedly be a hit with fans of Beach House, Radiohead, Slowdive and Grandaddy.

Lyrically, the single reflects on the friends we have made along the way but left behind or outgrown. Without a hint of bitterness, Helium vocally rekindles the fond memories while the instrumentals act as an abstract reflection of the isolation that is all too easy to succumb to. In every conceivable way, Helium is a stunning release with the capacity to give you the heart-in-throat feels.

Helium is now available to stream and purchase on Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Robert Jameson delivered cosmic pop catharsis in his latest single, Stay Awhile

Posted on 28 September 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTtuBbBRp0E

Taken from his first full-length album, Robert Jameson’s seminal dream pop single, Stay Awhile, is sure to appease any fans of My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive. But this colourful burst of sonic bliss, which comes with psychedelic hints of The Zombies, takes a slightly jazzier trip back to the alt-90s.

The signature bleeding vocals are there, but the cosmic pop factor is heightened in the complex time signatures of the warm synths and jazzy piano keys. His composition skills that allow the layers to envelop you in all of their kaleidoscopic magnetism certainly make it easy to Stay Awhile. Rarely do I hear a lead single and feel inclined to indulge in the album from a previously unknown artist, but Robert Jameson’s affable innovation makes it all too tempting.

Stay Awhile was officially released on September 21st. Check out the visualiser on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

MidAmerican Elevator are dream-pop love fools in their latest single, Ivy

Posted on 27 September 2022

Ethereal enough to give you goosebumps, the Chicago indie-rock band MidAmerican Elevator’s latest single, Ivy, is an idyllically evocative masterpiece through the entwining of Cranberries-Esque vocal harmonies and artful percussion that chimes through the relentlessly mellifluous guitars.

Lyrically, Ivy captures the retrospective turmoil of realising that things weren’t as they seemed due to the misleading actions of a protagonist that couldn’t keep up the façade of charming perfection. Ivy makes it clear how much aural evolutionary room stands between The Cardigans’ Lovefool and this twilight-lit spectre of sweet naivety that the world would be infinitely more insufferable without.

Check out MidAmerican Elevator’s latest single, Ivy, on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Kablamo traverses the otherworldly in their post-punk-y indie release, Unnatural

Posted on 21 September 2022

Kablamo self-proclaims their debut self-titled EP to be personal, genuine and, at times, indulgent; I can fully attest to the indulgence being universal once you slip into the seminal single, Unnatural.

Unnatural unravels through dreamy guitar melodies, glassy synths and ragged post-punk basslines beneath the dream pop vocals which mellifluously breeze through the sentimentally heartfelt release, which all too readily imparts the emotion. An evocative response to the kaleidoscopic colour of Unnatural is non-optional.

Any fans of Deerhunter, Beach House, Tame Impala and Wild Nothing will undoubtedly want to sink their teeth into this paradoxically ambiently striking release.

The debut self-titled EP hit the airwaves on September 9th. You can hear it for yourselves by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Drift away with Milk Bar Gang’s ethereal art-pop lullaby, Ozzie Ostriches Dream

Posted on 8 June 2022
OPEN by Milk Bar Gang

Taken from their debut EP, Open, the Milk Bar Gang’s standout single, Ozzie Ostriches Dream, is an ethereal lullaby; constructed to subdue you into an art-pop trance.

Any fans of Nico, PJ Harvey and Suicide will find just as much to favour in Ozzie Ostriches Dream, which wears influence from the 80s new wave, shoegaze, and cosmic pop as motifs affixed to the sheer originality that has been soporifically poured into this feat of transcendent avant-garde alchemy.

The reverb on the whispered vocals, the ring of the delayed guitars and the glassy aesthetic of the track all contribute to the intricately distinctive appeal that is sure to see the duo go far in 2022 and beyond.

Ozzie Ostriches Dream is now available to stream and purchase on Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Middle Child & YHWHHH have released their semi-lucid lovesong, Meditate

Posted on 28 May 2022

If you are anything like me and you get the majority of your sanctity in aural form, the dreamy guitar-laden electronica single, Meditate, from the producer, Middle Child and guitarist, YHWHHH, will make for the perfect cosy and compassionate home.

With the vocals dripping with the Elliott Smith effect, the accordance of the choral reverb-swathed guitars, which will make any Slowdive fans’ hearts skip a beat, and the soft electronic layers, Meditate moves past catharsis instrumentally.

Lyrically, the single unfolds as a semi-lucid love song, full of proclamations of tenderly sincere affection which rival the sweet nothings that slip into lovers’ ears between consciousness and sleep. With millions of streams between them, something tells me that Middle Child & YHWHHH will be unstoppable from here on out.

Meditate is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Jess Porter kindled kindred spirit sanctity in his ethereally ambient release, Overplayed

Posted on 24 April 2022

After the successful release of his 2022 single, Patterns, singer-songwriter Jess Porter has made an ethereal return to the airwaves with his latest single, Overplayed.

The inspiration behind the single lies within an anxiety-calming connection made during a flight from the UK to Australia mid-pandemic. The nuanced message that runs through the lush oscillating vein of the ambient release is that you can always find your tribe – no matter where you are.

Having experienced a similar kind of experience just weeks before, and although I try to stay in our material reality while drawing logical conclusions, Overplayed meditatively taps into the feeling of knowing your kindred spirits are dotted around out there waiting to find you at the moment you most need them. There is so few facets of the human experience worth celebrating now. Yet Jess Porter’s kindling of kindred spirit sanctity is enough to make you waylay any human-related existentialism.

Overplayed is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Life is but a dark dream in Fox Evades’ latest indie-pop single, Strange Forever

Posted on 27 February 2022

If you ever needed definitive proof that no city breeds dark indie like Manchester, delve into the atmosphere in Fox Evades’ latest single, Strange Forever.

With a beguiling vocal style reminiscent of Jo Bevan from Desperate Journalist paired with the instrumentals that will remind you why you fell for post-punk and new wave in the first place, Strange Forever is an indulgent hit of tonal nostalgia.

When it comes to the substance in this viscerally evocative confession, Fox Evades well and truly stands in a league of their own. There comes a time in every outlier’s life when we acknowledge that we will never grow into normalcy; Strange Forever captures those cutting feelings while unifying the similarly minded with the lyrical affirmation that it’s a choice to be alone.

Strange Forever will officially release on February 25th. You can check it out for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Zara Shahzad takes us through a dream-pop descent with her latest single, Fall from Grace

Posted on 6 January 2022

London-based singer-songwriter, Zara Shahzad, has released her eagerly-anticipated ethereally sweet indie dream-pop single, Fall from Grace. With nuances of shoegaze and trip-hop combined, the 21-year-old artist broke new aural ground with the deeply visceral single that unfolds around entrancing beats and reverb-laden angular guitars. Light and dark textures weave inexplicably together, never letting the melancholy overpower the sense of strength that Zara exhibits in the vulnerable release.

Any fans of Desperate Journalist and Cultdreams will undoubtedly want to add Fall from Grace to their new wave shoegaze and dream-pop playlists.

Fall from Grace is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast