Browsing Tag

Melancholic Pop

The existential indie dance pop icon Saynt Ego augmented grief in ‘Big Mad World’

Posted on 19 September 2023

The indietronica icon in the making, Saynt Ego, strengthened the foundations that his legacy will undoubtedly rest upon with his double A-side single, Looking 4 U – Big Mad World.

While the vocals sing a bitter-sweet goodbye, the augmented-with-funk melodic lines pull you to transcendence and acceptance in Big Mad World. The chaos of the universe is efficaciously encapsulated in the hypersonic soundscape, and all the assurance you will need that you can overcome any obstacle on your healing journey lingers in the lyricism, which rings with melancholy standing alone. Within the anthemics of the indie dance-pop hit, the candour-fuelled verses are awakening poetry, which alludes to the tragedy of obsession with earthly escapism.

Penned after losing his best friend to suicide, Big Mad World tracks cosmic themes while being underpinned by the grief of knowing that the human experience can’t always be traversed with resilience alone.

Occupying a middle ground between Cigarettes After Sex and ABBA, Saynt Ego found plenty of room to assert his authenticity in the self-produced release, which was written by Will Retherford and the airwaves on September 8th.

Stream Big Mad World on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Melancholic Pop Meets Nordic Soul in Maren Davidsen’s Sophomore Single, Back to You

Posted on 1 March 2022

After garnering over 50k streams on Spotify with her 2021 debut single, Damage Done, the London-based Norwegian singer-songwriter, Maren Davidsen, has returned to the airwaves with her equally as phenomenal indie-pop sophomore single, Back to You.

Any fans of Big Thief, Daughter, and London Grammar will quickly come to be consumed by the toxic tale of love that is narrated through the melancholic-pop-meets-Nordic-soul arrangement and Davidsen’s vocal vulnerability.

The hypnotically harrowing yet hooky all the same single lays bare on the subject of heartbreak following an equally as soul-crushing relationship. For anyone that is still carrying buried relationship trauma, Back to You will hit bruisingly hard.

If you’re as hooked as we are, you’ll want the singer-songwriter and guitarist on your radar for the release of her debut 5-track EP, which will hit the airwaves this summer.

Back to You is now available to stream on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

December Fades pays a stunning tribute to the fallen with “Say Their Names”

Posted on 26 October 2020
December Fades

We all need to slip into a little minor-key melancholy from time to time when we want to be torn away from our own pensive narratives and tune into new ones to find less-odious ways of viewing the world.

December Fades’ latest single Say Their Names does exactly that. It poignantly, poetically and powerfully commemorates the lives of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd while softly, scathingly attacking the injustice which brought about their deaths. It may be a sorrowful single, but it affirms that beauty can bloom from tragedy. December Fades and their darkly soulful approach to Pop is exactly what 2020 needs, a reminder that vengeance doesn’t need to be violent or ugly. Kill them with kindness. Kill them with poetry entwined in melody.

Say Their Names was released on October 23rd, you’ll be able to check it out for yourselves by heading over to the artist’s Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Jessamine Barham – Marching On: A Sanity-Preservation Playlist Staple

Posted on 17 October 2020

After the release of her second album, there’s never been a better time to indulge in Jessamine Barham’s captivatingly devastating Alt-Indie Folk Pop sound.

The perfect introduction to her melancholically arrestive style is “Marching On” which compassionately addresses the very real fact that globally, we’re suffering from a loss of faith. Not just in a religious sense, but a loss of faith in our futures, ourselves, our leaders. The list is endless, but, as Jessamine Barham so poignantly alludes in this haunting release, it’s not easy to pull yourself out of a depressive hole, but that doesn’t mean that it is an impossibility for you to see more than just futility.

This track isn’t for the fainthearted. The directness of it may rub some salt in the wound, but just as with that tired old analogy, the salt (track) can heal after it stings.

I don’t make a habit of expressing personal gratitude in my reviews, but Jessamine Barham deserves so much more than fancy adjectives, she deserves recognition for this truly priceless record, for how candidly she approached the lyrics, for how cathartically resolving the soundscape became. So, thank you.

You can check out Marching On by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Amber Lee reflects our melancholy back at us with “Doubt”

Posted on 25 August 2020

“Doubt” is the recently released compellingly resonant Pop single from up and coming singer-songwriter Amber Lee which perfectly captures the collective mood felt over recent months.

Saying that it is hard to see past doubt may be hard. Easing into this strikingly evocative single and finding a connection definitely isn’t.

Amber Lee’s modern and stylistic take on Neo-Classic Pop complete with sonic synth lines drips with contemporary appeal. If any voice can lead this generation of Pop artist’s, it comes from Amber Lee’s larynx.

You can check out the official video to Doubt which dropped on August 15th for yourselves by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Pop artist Brianna Marie has released her strikingly atmospheric sophomore single “Losing Friends”

Posted on 4 August 2020

After a successful debut, Brianna Marie has released her striking sophomore single “Losing Friends” which captures the intensity of the emotions felt when friends become strangers.

You’ll find countless lovelorn singles about problematic romantic relationships. Yet, many artists never even think to address the torrid emotions which can manifest when we lose friends. Brianna Marie’s second single is real talk, and I can imagine that many listeners will find plenty of resonance in the moody yet compellingly evocative feat of contemporary Pop.

There is a myriad of arrestingly distinction features in Brianna Marie’s sound. The most tangible is her uniquely resounding vocal approach which amplifies the emotion in the soundscape instead of masking it.

You can check out Brianna Marie’s single Losing Friends via apple music and Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast