Browsing Tag

indie-pop

archie razed the airwaves with his latest augmented with attitude and style alt-indie hit, Mayalyn

Posted on 20 November 2023

With a voice which resonates with over 155k monthly listeners on Spotify and the confidence to create under the mononym archie, knowing that the name will become synonymous with his anthemic new wave indie aesthetic, it is no surprise to see that the 19-year-old singer-songwriter has hit razed the airwaves with his latest augmented with attitude and style single, Mayalyn.

With a vice-like grip which hits all the provocative and evocative marks, the track that starts with a saturated in delay jangly indie pop instrumental arrangement beneath his raspy croons, reminiscent of the 1975, evolves into a fiery feat of overdriven and modernised rock. With a seemingly infinite sequence of twists and turns, every progression is a revelation with Mayalyn. A revelation which paints its orchestrator as one of the most essential artists in 2023.

The classically trained Scottish singer-songwriter may only be getting started but he’s already giving every other up-and-coming act tips on how to raise the bar with lyrical ingenuity, which goes hand in virtuosic hand with his ear for a melody that will consume you when brought to life with his impassioned intensity.

Mayalyn was officially released on September 22; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Negate your way through the chaos with Midamerican Elevator’s jangle pop compass, Turn Left

Posted on 18 November 2023

With jangle pop guitar melodies reaching the epitome of effervescence under the dreamy vocal honey which tastes just as sweet as the harmonies that ensured Debbie Harry’s name would never be lost to history, the latest single, Turn Left, from the Chicago Indie Rock outfit, Midamerican Elevator is a resonant revelation.

By lyrically tracking how hard it can be to keep pace with the tumultuousness of modernity and how easy it can be to go around in circles, Turn Left speaks volumes to anyone who knows how it feels to be consumed by the franticness of society that leaves so many of us without a compass.

Between the killer chord progressions which elucidate that Midamerican Elevator will never be pedestrian at best and their capacity to fuse soul with style, they’re ones to watch out for. We’re stoked they’re back on the airwaves following the successful launch of their 2022 debut LP, Moon Ruler.

Turn Left will give indie rock fans a sense of direction on November 17th; stream the single on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Connor Fyfe has released the stickiest earworm of the year with his new wave indie track, Cars

Posted on 17 November 2023
https://on.soundcloud.com/A1cfi

After becoming the youngest act to sell out Kings Tut in Glasgow and perform at TRNSMT, the 17-year-old Connor Fyfe is already in the habit of making history with his songwriting chops that are as sharp as they are sticky-sweet. His latest single, Cars, gives plenty of clues to how his ascent has been an unfaltering upward trajectory since leaving school in May.

With a bigger-than-Blossoms synth-drenched sound that borrows from the new wave synth pop genre while ticking all the right indie rock boxes, the momentum within Cars is momentous, but the adolescent prodigy knew just when to inject a sense of fragility and vulnerability into his vocal lines to ensure it’s a track that sucker punches the emotional and rhythmic pulses simultaneously.

Co-written with the legendary Ross McNae of Twin Atlantic, Cars pulsates with commercial appeal; each intricately clever chord progression embeds the earworm even deeper while the soulful synergy between the impassioned vocal lines and synthy indie rock synthesis ensures it will deliver endless euphoria.

With the promise that there are plenty more tracks in the pipeline, don’t be surprised if Connor Fyfe is one of the biggest Scottish artists since Lewis Capaldi.

Cars will officially be released on November 17th; stream it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Jake Speikers captured a daydream of longing with his 80s-swathed new wave single, Nostalgic.

Posted on 17 November 2023

With music fans clinging to nostalgia like there’s no tomorrow, the Minnesota singer-songwriter Jake Speikers has shown them the future of 80s-integrated pop with his choral dream of a new wave single, Nostalgic.

With Phil Collin-esque drum fills punctuating the dreamy atmosphere of the release which finds the middle ground between The Midnight and Cigarettes After Sex, the nostalgic pop wheel wasn’t reinvented, but it was creatively reimagined in this impassioned earworm that captures a daydream of longing in panoramic picture that you’ll want to expose yourself to time after time.

If you can’t get enough of the DIY pop artist’s achingly sweet sonic signature, you won’t have long to wait for the release of his debut, which traverses his experiences of coming out, heartache and coming of age. We’re already invested.

Nostalgic will hit the airwaves on November 17; stream it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Laura Loh illuminated the airwaves with her latest installation of alt-pop, City Lights

Posted on 9 November 2023

Laura Loh’s latest alt-pop single, City Lights, co-produced with MUNBOI, has already been picked up by BBC Introducing; given the earworm appeal of the release from the Hampshire, UK-based singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer, the question is, can they put it down?

With nuances of ambient leftfield electronica oscillating in the atmosphere of the scintillating single which pays an ode to the magnetism of metropolises and their tendency to keep pulling us back with the promise of limitless potential, City Lights is a compellingly immersive release, which stands as a testament to how honed Laura Loh has become since making her debut. Synthesising instrumentals which stand a chance of complimenting her naturally compelling vocal range is discernibly no easy feat.

As she’s veered away from her classical vocal, piano, and violin training and jazz music background, Laura Loh has audibly moved towards commercial appeal while never letting her folky alt-pop edge betray her authenticity.

City Lights will illuminate the airwaves on November 9th; stream the single on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Lilypads found room to organically blossom in their affectingly sweet debut single, Ode to You

Posted on 7 November 2023

Lilypads set their bar transcendently high with the die-hard romanticism instilled into their debut single, Ode to You. With commercial and cross-over appeal by the smorgasbord as a result of their cultivated charm and endearingly articulate lyricism that is effortlessly complemented with the equally as affable melodicism, the tenderly refined duo is set to take the reverence for their sound far beyond the London music scene.

If your soul doesn’t stir with the dreamily accordant delivery of “I guess I never really knew just how much I ode to you”, you may want to check you’ve still got a pulse. Love songs may proliferate the airwaves, but Lilypads still found room to organically blossom as one of the premier indie pop acts of 2023.

The relaxed yet complex melodies are as innovative as they are innovative; the side serving of comforting nostalgia is a harmonious bonus element, which makes losing yourself in the gratitude of the single even more affectingly sweet. As Lilypads continue to rise, this track may well be remembered as the genesis of their ascent.

Ode to You hit the airwaves on November 3rd, stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Robin Ashcroft rocked the pop beat in her latest electrifying vindicative earworm LIAR

Posted on 2 November 2023

Radio DJs will be lining up to add LIAR to their A-lists; the hook-proliferated hit which demonstrates Robin Ashcroft’s flawless command over her dynamic vocal lines with the enliveningly immersive atmosphere of the track will resonate in your heart, soul, and rhythmic pulses.

After an intro that will pull you in as forcefully as the prelude to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ ‘Maps’ or Toxic Airborne Event’s ‘Sometime around Midnight’ the track veers into a pulsating electro-pop anthem with glistening guitars and a backbeat so strong it makes this earworm a heavyweight champion.

Those soaring with soul vocal lines and the vindicating energy of the release that will bring waves of catharsis to anyone feeling frustratedly naive for believing the fallacies that gaslighters can’t help but spin is the perfect introduction to one of Scotland’s most promising solo powerhouses.

LIAR will drip scorn onto the airwaves on November 2nd; check out the official lyric video on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast  

Jasno sharpened his hooks for his ethereal alt-pop earworm Runaway

Posted on 31 October 2023

Sink your senses into the latest synthesis of trap, dream pop, synthwave and indie rock from the Michigan-hailing genre-bending evocateur, Jasno, whose experimentalism knows fewer bounds than his talents in creating texturally sublime modernist masterpieces.

With a song structure which keeps the level of scintillation visceral through a never-ending barrage of aural curveballs to emanate the same progressively exhilarant air as the most infectious tracks from Mumford and Sons, the artist who keeps his sound fresh with each new release has exactly what it takes to go far in the industry which increasingly favours genre-fluid and stylistically uninhibited orchestrations.

If the instrumentals which are all self-recorded and produced by the artist’s fair hand aren’t enough to reel you in hook, line, and sinker, the clever confessionalism and candour will drag you into the candied gravity of Runaway.

Runaway dropped on September 15; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Anike stylised the archetypal perennial pop earworm in her sophomore release, Victorious

Posted on 30 October 2023

Following the success of her debut single, Beautiful Fate, the unforgettable electro-pop originator Anike took a year to hone her sound and sharpen her sonic signature before unleashing her superlatively stylised sophomore earworm, Victorious.

With as much experimentation in her sound as Warpaint, Cherry Glazerr, and Blonde Redhead fused with a sticky-sweet bubblegum pop sensibility, Victorious bridges the gap between two pop worlds with her synth-carved melodies and rhythmically arresting progressions. The track is an overpass you’ll want to revisit time after time for the feel-good factor which has all the euphoria of a guilty pleasure and all the gravitas of an artful pop-hooked Tour De Force.

Victorious was officially released on October 20; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Angel Sinclair came of ‘Strange Age’ in her ethereal alt-indie pop sophomore release

Posted on 27 October 2023

After coming in all melodic guns blazing in her debut release, Soldier, the Canadian alt-indie-pop singer-songwriter Angel Sinclair invited us into an ethereal realm with her sophomore single, Strange Age.

Capturing the disorientating surrealism of coming of age and feeling alien within your own skin better than Brett Easton Ellis’ novel Less Than Zero within a soundscape which carries reminiscences to the artfully quiescent air within singles from Lucy Dacus, Soccer Mommy and Torres, Angel Sinclair effortlessly succeeded in her mission to envelop you in an intimately raw atmosphere where confessionalism spills around the accordance.

She may not have reinvented the wheel with Strange Age, but she asserted her mainstream appeal in the contextually tumultuous release all the same. Angel Olsen may want to watch out, there’s another Angel reigning supreme.

Strange Age was officially released on October 13: stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast