Browsing Tag

Indie Singer Songwriter

Warick Pond picked up the pieces with the aching soul in his single, The Wreckage

Posted on 23 September 2022

Taken from his seminal album, Open Roads, Warick Pond’s standout single, The Wreckage, carries the solemnity of Tom Waits, the contemporary Americana edge of Kurt Vile, and the mellow melancholy of the Verve.

Reminiscences aside, the American singer-songwriter puts his own authentic beauty into aching soul through the resounding quiescence of his guitars, which match the gentle outpour of visceral emotion through his Americana-tinted vocal timbre.

When an artist can create such a profoundly emotional soundscape with minimal production and understatedly passionate vocals, you know that you’ve just come across a one-in-a-million entity. Enduring the agony of hopeless romanticism fleetingly became worth it through the resonance extended by Open Roads, which captures the enduring loneliness of the human condition and how tightly we cling to connections which can turn to past tense in the blink of an eye.

The Wreckage is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Spotlight Feature: Bye Malo created the ultimate indie paradox in his sweetly toxic single, September

Posted on 16 September 2022

While some artists paint themselves as the perfect protagonists in their lyrics, the up-and-coming indie artist, Bye Malo, opted for self-effacing honesty in his latest single, September.

With the admission that he left his feelings at the door in a fractious relationship that isn’t worth wasting a wedding on, he lets the candour pour through his raspy indie vocals, which cause evocative friction against the saturated in delay catchy chord progressions.

Anyone that still believes they can fix (manipulate) ‘broken’ men will be left loving to hate the portrait that Bye Malo painted in September, which is the first single to release from his latest project.

Check out Bye Malo on Spotify.
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Review by Amelia Vandergast

Ruby Sue told her coming of age story in her bitter-sweet triumph of a debut LP, the Need

Posted on 9 August 2022

With the sweetness of Taylor Swift, the soul of Brandi Carlile, and the bite of Courtney Love, the 19-year-old Minneapolis singer-songwriter Ruby Sue released her coming-of-age debut album, The Need.

Although pitch-perfection and instrumental distinction are a constant through the 12 singles, special attention should be paid to I Remember September, which mellifluously exhibits just how fleeting youth is, and how inclined we are to cling to it through fear of the future. I can only imagine how terrifying the transition into adulthood is in this era, but everyone going through it now has a confidant in this soul-stirring debut LP.

With lyrics such as, “who will I be when I’m not young and free?” Ruby Sue proves that despite her age, she’s got more self-awareness than most lyricists. Get her on your radar.

I Remember September is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Dog Day God showed us the meaning of mellow with his sophomore single, Can’t Take Time

Posted on 9 August 2022

‘Can’t Take Time’ is the sonorous sophomore release from the Columbia, US-hailing indie artist, Dog Day God (AKA Michael Moore), who has broken away from his indie progressive rock band, Halcyon Fields, to douse the airwaves in warm saturated delay and soulfully crooned vocals.

Mellow isn’t usually an adjective easily affixed to emotion-driven music, but Dog Day God made sure his lo-fi single, Can’t Take Time, broke the mould as much as it will break your heart as the lyrics lull you into imbibing in adequately paced introspection.

Stumbling on this intimate feat of indie almost felt like an act of serendipity, but I think everyone can be accused of yearning for an unrealistic frantic pace when anticipating positive change. For anyone in a transitionary time, hit play.

Can’t Take Time is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Horatio James – they will have us: lo-fi indie just got infinitely sweeter

Posted on 5 August 2022

If you poured some sugar on Pavement or Dinosaur Jr, the result would be just as sweet as the latest single, they will have us, released by Horatio James.

With reflecting the human condition through lo-fi indie folk soundscapes as the motivation behind the singer-songwriter’s creativity, each new release is an opportunity to boost your mood and brighten your perspective. The dopamine streams are aided by the sweeping overdriven guitars, meltingly warm analog tones and his honeyed harmonies, which will teach you the meaning of expressive vulnerability.

The London-based artist is an all too refreshing taste breaker away from the superficiality that is prolific on the airwaves. For the same reason indie fans developed an affinity for the Violent Femmes and the Dandy Warhols, they will have us will leave an all too welcome synaptic imprint.

they will have us will officially release on August 5th. Check it out on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

David Wakeling looks into the future of this dystopia in ‘Living at 45 Degrees’

Posted on 24 June 2022

With the melancholy of The Verve in their best years, the folky narrative introspection of Bob Dylan and psychedelic layers not all too far removed from the kaleidoscopic textures from The Legendary Pink Dots, David Wakeling’s seminal single, Living at 45 Degrees, hits a plethora of spots.

The Anthropocene-conscious single only runs on par with Amanda Palmer’s Drowning in the Sound in terms of the wit in the metaphors, which cleverly shine a light on the ridiculous state that humanity has shaped itself into.

It’s tracks like Living at 45 Degrees which truly prove the worth of music in society. It’s something for the minority of humans that are self-aware enough to see into the futility of existence to meld into and find reason within.

The official video for Living at 45 Degrees is now available to stream via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

BREGN set the bar with his plateau-transporting ethereal indie-folk single, Summertime

Posted on 17 June 2022

Here to make me eat my words about the banality and predictability of summer singles is the singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer, BREGN, with his latest otherworldly feat of melodious indie-folk, Summertime.

With little more than strings and choral vocals to drive and structure the single, immersing yourself within the all-consuming mellifluous accordance comes with an immediate payoff.

Beyond the production that stands as a testament to BREGN’s creative originality, Summertime refuses to lyrically scratch at the surface. If Dylan Thomas himself rose from the grave and speculated on the season in relation to nature, freedom, past, future and present, I’m not all too sure that he’d be able to implant as much poetry.

Hear it for yourselves on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Whatever the question, the affable indie-rocker, Sam Scherdel, has ‘The Answer’

Posted on 17 June 2022

As stunning as The Manics’ Gold Against the Soul album, as cinematic as the Hollywood sign, the latest single from the Britpop-inspired UK singer-songwriter, Sam Scherdel, is a slice of celestial sonic bliss.

‘The Answer’ is a humbling admission of human nature, the inability to know everything, carry intellect on every subject and find absolutes at every turn. With weary yet romantically honeyed vocals atop the orchestrally decorated indie-rock score that grips with the same gravitas as Ben Folds, I think I felt every emotion on the human spectrum on the first listen (and the 5th; it just keeps giving. I might be addicted).

With exactly the same vein of magnetism as Billy Idol’s Baby Put Your Clothes Back On, hitting play on The Answer is a surefire way of giving Scherdel permanent space in your psyche. It’s beyond an earworm; it’s an ear unicorn.

The Answer will officially release on June 17th, check it out for yourselves via Spotify. 

Check out Sam Scherdel on Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Elena Louvis gave her latest indie-pop single This One’s on Me, the tender touch.

Posted on 6 May 2022

With the same tender touch as Bill Ryder-Jones, Daughter and Tom Odell, the NYC up-and-coming artist and indie record label owner Elena Louvis’ latest single, This One’s on Me, is a masterfully raw feat of downtempo indie-pop.

With the neo-classic nods, her vulnerably glassy vocal timbre and the immersive yet stripped back and meditative production, the mournfully humble single hits the evocative spot with bruising precision. The confessionally honest lyrics which spill the ink on idiosyncratic regret are so intimate and personal, yet, at the same time, the sentiments are universally recognisable.

This One’s on Me will be available to stream from May 6th. You can check it out for yourselves via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Spotlight Feature: Tim Jackson reached the pinnacle of tender tenacity in his alt-indie single, An Unusual Time

Posted on 26 April 2022

With his standout single, An Unusual Time, taken from his sophomore album, Litter in the Park, the London-based singer-songwriter Tim Jackson, proved that the most consoling tracks don’t evade the grittiest facets of our existence, they encompass them and deliver us from them with pure transcendent panache.

An Unusual Time is so soothing it’s practically medicinal for the way Jackson contends with the unrelenting uncertainty in all of our lives with infectious ease. Sure, there’s been no short supply on exports of lockdown-inspired singles, but Jackson’s Elliott Smith-Esque vocals and tender tenacity are something to behold time and time again. There is as much nuance in the endlessly unravelling lyricism as in the mellifluous complex time signatures that bring an organic dynamic to the indie alt-rock meets jazz sanctum of a soundscape.

Here’s what Tim Jackson had to say about An Unusual Time

“This song is something we can all relate to after several years of once in a lifetime events; it speaks to the sense of bewilderment I was feeling when I wrote it. The title is both lyrically straightforward and cheeky, given the odd 5/8-time signature.”

Litter in the Park is now available to stream in full via Spotify.

Keep up to date with the latest releases from Tim Jackson via Facebook.

Review by Amelia Vandergast