Browsing Tag

Indie Soul

Tre. Charles melded soulful undertones with resonantly mantric vocals in his ambient indie dream-pop single, Lately.

Posted on 15 March 2023
https://soundcloud.com/user-927736750/lately-2/s-0bEGiubGPfS?in=user-927736750/sets/tre-charles-currently-ep-demo/s-vyUjqvhKQ7t&si=b3399ccd97c44b2398eab32ecc2c9458&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

I’ve been around the shoegaze and dream-pop block a fair few times, but the latest single, Lately., from the alt-indie artist, Tre. Charles, is a strikingly crystal-clear cut above the rest.

With his soulful vocals bleeding into the choral amalgam of trip-hop, Avant-Garde RnB, ambient electronica and indie rock, the quiescently powerful release is a feat of unparalleled consoling alchemy.

Staying true to his brand of soulful undertones, resonantly mantric vocals, and evocative crooning, the East Coast-born artist orchestrated an efficaciously disarming hit that will make your soul as perceptible as the one poured into the lyrics.

Any fans of James Blake, Frank Ocean, Sampha, and Moses Sumney won’t want to miss out on this reverb-drenched opportunity to form a connection with the award-winning D’angelico Guitars-sponsored artist. We’re officially stoked for the upcoming EP due for release in 2023.

Lately. will officially release on March 15th; hear it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Gothenburg singer-songwriter The Moniker painted a future we all want to embrace in his celestially soulful single, Someday

Posted on 2 December 2022
https://soundcloud.com/the-moniker/someday/s-ZRC2WdxLgEa?si=6ec15790cef14465bc77dab09efd5b97&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Gothenburg, Sweden singer-songwriter, The Moniker, used his optimism to look to a brighter future, where pure souls such as the one pertaining to his single, Someday, can experience more than just ephemeral bliss from fleeting connections.

He’s been elevating the Scandinavian music scene for the past decade since the launch of his debut album, Oh My God! It is more than about time that he started illuminating the airwaves in the UK with his secular gospel soundscapes and vocal range that rings with celestial beguile. If Purple Rain by Prince has the capacity to drive you to the brink of tears, Someday, with its resonant longing for meaning, will tip you right over the emotional brink.

The reverb-swathed production oozes class as it sweeps through the cinematic crescendos, leaving you more immersed in the shimmering orchestration with every progression.

Someday will officially release on December 2nd. You can hear it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The 80s legends, The Immaculate Crows, exude pure soul in their psych-tinged indie single, Another Day Gone By

Posted on 15 November 2022

Surrender to the pure soul in The Immaculate Crows’ latest impeccably impassioned single, Another Day Gone By, which features Jessica Shipley on lead vocals and Daphne Mae as the backing harmonist.

The melodically caressing single was written by The Immaculate Crows founder, songwriter, guitarist and producer Bruce Neilsen, when he was priming for an eagerly anticipated comeback after their phenomenal success in the early 80s.

Sharing similar lyrical propensities as Lou Reed’s Perfect Day, the mellifluous indie single gives you a ravenous appetite for life by reminding you how sweet it can be when you embrace the most beautiful facets of existence, such as the incandescently sweet piano score against the psych-tinged guitars in Another Day Gone By. Remaining lucid while this perfectly poised score is in motion is easier said than done. You can’t help drifting away with the compassionate soul.

Another Day Gone By is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Art Crimes Band painted in metropolitan soul in their latest jazzy synth-driven single, Neon Skyline

Posted on 10 October 2022

The Art Crimes Band have been lauded as Cork’s most promising new band; their latest single, Neon Skyline, affirms just why so much hype has been amassing around their soul-driven indie synthwave sound. If you can envisage Nina Simone’s vocals fused over The Midnight’s soundscapes, you may get a fair way to imagining what the Art Crimes Band have stirringly amalgamated in Neon Skyline.

To the tune of seductively jazzy sax, shimmering synths and ambient funk dripping rhythms, Neon Skyline metropolitanly unravels around the timeless female vocals that could have been recorded at any time in the last century, but they fit right into the juxtaposing classic temporary timbre of this artfully consuming serenade, which calls out into the cruel cold world to make it infinitely more accommodating and less alienating.

Neon Skyline is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Spener blurred the lines between indie-rock and neo-soul in his compassion-driven single, Dial Away

Posted on 21 September 2022

North of England-born, Barcelona-based artist Spener blurred the lines between indie-rock and jazzy neo-soul in his slickly smooth seminal single, Dial Away.

I’m not entirely sure what is more enamouring in Dial Away, the euphonically consoling soundscape or the lyrical compassion that extends a sense of unconditional empathy that is scarcely found elsewhere to the listener.

While the mainstream media leaves us inclined to believe that artists like Amy Winehouse only come around once in a generation, Spener blows that notion out of the water with the sheer visceralism of his down-to-earth candour that can easily become addictive through his hook-laden vocal lines.

Dial Away is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Canadian originator, Ethan Mark opened his jazzy neo-soul in his album ‘The Concept of You’

Posted on 23 June 2022

After teasing us title single from his 2022 album, The Concept of You, we eagerly awaited the full length of Ethan Mark’s sophisticated psychedelic-soul experimentalism.

With the opening single, The Unravelling of Every Day, equally as sublime as the openers on your favourite 90s Shoegaze albums (surely, everyone has some of those!), it is instantly affirmed what kind of production the Canadian artist constructed. One that is defined by its quiescence and the ability to hold your attention through the jazzy indie-soul juxtapositions.

Track 3, Gunslinger, is a trippy ethereal masterpiece, colourful enough to rival the fantasy-like escapism in tracks from Cosmo Sheldrake. Reminiscences fall by the wayside in the boundlessly experimental world music title single which breaks the monocultural mould with the percussion and throws in some flamenco guitars around the RnB grooves.

Not that The Concept of You has any skippable tracks, but special attention should be paid to Weight of it All. The lofty intricate work is a sublime pool of lyrical vulnerability, Avant-Garde ambience, and quintessential folk escapism. It is gravitas sonically personified.

Here is what Ethan Mark had to say on his album

“The Concept of You, and the upcoming album, came about from a challenge from my partner. She, a listener of neo-soul and jazz, challenged me to pare my usually elaborate and busy musical style down to something more organic, soulful, and pretty.

The result was a series of love songs encompassing many facets of love. The title single refers to her, the sepia-toned memories of summers, the roots we have put down together, and the love for home.

These themes felt especially important after a long period punctuated by isolation, introversion, and cabin fever. It’s accentuated by nylon guitar strings, cascading violins, gentle pianos, and the frailties of harmonised vocals.”

Concept of You is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The JB Project spills vibration-raising soul in his indie psych single, ‘Hole for the Sun’

Posted on 17 February 2022

The JB Project (Justin Beaver) has picked up his trusty sunburst Fender Strat once more to lay down another dynamically psychedelic soft serenade. His latest single, Hole for the Sun, is just one of his constraintlessly constructed recent releases that allow emotion to flow organically. With the warmth that spills from his over-driven chords meeting the emotions pouring through his almost dream-like indie vocals, there’s no denying that Hole for the Sun delivers a transcendent touch.

We couldn’t help but adore the sheer ease of it. Hole for the Sun teases visceral grungey build ups before bringing even more catharsis and soulful humility. With the experimentalism to rival Pavement paired with the colourful accordance of the Beatles and the lyrical panache of Elliott Smith, it’s only a matter of time before the multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter and producer breaks into the mainstream with his unapologetically authentic sound. You don’t need his bio to tell you that he has a deeply emotional connection to music. Or that his MO is diluting negativity with his positivity-radiating sound. It is affirmed in seconds after you hit play. We can’t wait to hear what is lurking in The JB Project pipeline.

Hole for the Sun is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Leo breaks through the heartbreak in his indie-soul single, Helicopter Leaves

Posted on 16 January 2022

If you like your RnB fed through plenty of wobbly tape echo delay, the up and coming artist Leo’s latest single, Helicopter Leaves, is exactly the kind of hazy indie RnB pop catharsis you want to delve into. In sentiment, Helicopter Leaves is a bitter-sweet release that explores the memories and emotions shared with an ex, but Leo never bows to the melancholy; he keeps the tone as bright as his infectious optimism.

It was a bold move to try and make it with Leo as a mononym, but based on Helicopter Leaves, he has the right amount of talent and soulful warmth to do exactly that. If anyone is this generation’s answer to Jack Johnson, it is the 24-year old Massachusetts-hailing singer-songwriter that entrenches his work in his deep spirituality and determination to connect the dots that nature leaves creatives to play with.

Helicopter Leaves is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Spotlight Feature: KAIS is stripped-back and spiritual in his latest acoustic indie-soul-folk single, Healing

Posted on 12 January 2022
KAIS

KAIS bared his spiritual soul in his latest release Healing. The Canadian Cyprus-based singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer allowed his acoustic single to explore the deep significance of the messiness of our existence and our ability to clean up through bleeding, breathing and healing.

It is thanks to artists like KAIS, that the conversations around trauma have moved past idiomatic ignorance. Remember when we were all under the impression that PTSD existed solely in the minds of those that had experienced war? Thankfully, we now see it as a common experience; every ego-blow and mental scar imprinted leaves us with the option of carrying trauma or moving past it, and that is exactly what Healing forces you to reflect on. It’s enough to make you step in front of the mirror and check for scars that have been pushed into the subconscious.

With KAIS’ effortlessly artful vocals atop the acoustic guitar strings and nothing else to get in the way of the evocative impact of his lyrics that find a meta way to resonate as confessional, it is easily one of KAIS’ most powerful singles to date. As the perfect example, “fall from grace at god’s own pace I’m travelling through the fire, victim of desire” leaves so much more between the lines than your average lyrical confession for the way it alludes to the conflict between our situational emotion and desire.

For KAIS’ fans enamoured by his new venture into psychy indie-soul-folk, stay tuned for his upcoming EP that is due for release in February 2022. Healing was officially released on December 19th, 2021. It is now available to stream on Spotify.

Connect with KAIS to keep up to date on his new releases on Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Kiani Alexandra – want u worse: prime your RnB pop playlists

Posted on 7 July 2021

Up and coming RnB artist Kiani Alexandra has released her soulfully-rendered latest single, want u worse; it’s packed with infectious pop potential, but you’ll fall just as hard for the lyrics as you will for the addictive melodies.

The lyric “I know you want me bad, but I want you worse” deserves a Grammy in itself. That’s just one of the clever vocals melodic hooks that appear in this high-vibe danceable earworm that explores some of the darkest emotions we will ever face in a way that leaves you instilled with euphoric emotion. Calling Kiani Alexandra an ingenious artist could never be considered to be hyperbolic.

want u worse is now available to stream and download on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast