Browsing Tag

NYC Pop

Brenna Carroll gives us the best of her emboldening soul in her live single Like I Do

Posted on 28 March 2022

Brenna Carroll oozed NYC soul in her single, Like I Do, which features on her EP, loungey pensive soul-pop EP, Living Room. Straight away, the melancholic poise of the mellifluous single grips you as Carroll harmonically grooves through the lyrics that use stark and jarring imagery to get to the root of spurned affection aftershock.

It’s always a bitter-sweet acknowledgement – that someone will never see your real value and then search for more in someone else – but Carroll added plenty of saccharine soul while keeping the level of emboldening conviction level for the duration.

You can check out the live recording of Like I Do from Brooklyn, NYC by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Bearbot break free in their latest electro-pop single, Loose Leash

Posted on 18 March 2022

The New York electro-pop singer & producer duo, Bearbot is set to unleash their first EP as a reformed outfit. After producing five albums and touring through NYC’s most notorious clubs’ solo, Euna Kho brought onboard Ariana Moline. Based on the standout single from the Canis EP, Loose Leash, her glossy pop vocals were the perfect fit for the cathartic sonic bliss that is curated into arresting hip hop tinted grooving hooks and transcending melodies.

It was a bold and risky move to sample dog barks in with the 80s synthy notes, Thriller-Esque beats and Ariana’s airy yet ardent timbre, but it paid off massively by bringing a new context to this freedom advocating hit.

Loose Leash will officially release on March 18th; you can check it out for yourselves on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Mallaigh Ashton made the alt-90s her own with her latest dreampop single, With a Song

Posted on 4 March 2022

NYC-hailing singer-songwriter, Mallaigh Ashton, made the alt-90s her own in her indie dream-pop release, With a Song. Reminiscences of Mazzy Star are there, but nothing about With a Song feels fractionally assimilative. There’s a real sense that part of the alchemy in this track is from Ashton’s creative passion and unfiltered poetry spilling into a mic.

Her vocals get just enough prominence in the release to give the cutting lyricism on in-love-anxiety a firm hold on your heartstrings but there’s still enough synergy with the soft shoegaze guitars to give With a Song an almost phantasmal mellifluous air as it alludes to just how fragile love can make you.

As a staunch shoegaze fan, it is always daunting discovering new up and coming artists borrowing tones from the alt 90s, but the cynicism soon faded after hitting play on With a Song. Mallaigh Ashton is a matchlessly breath-taking artist.

With a Song is due for official release on March 4th; you can check it out for yourselves via SoundCloud and Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Astroblue Express invite you to let love in through their cinematic dream pop single, Welcome.

Posted on 5 November 2021

We are stoked to see the return of the New York-residing duo Astroblue Express after their trippy ethereal tones in Cotton Candy Dreams gave us a potent dopamine fix earlier this year.

Their latest single, Welcome, is an artfully composed feat of cinematic dream pop that weaves a conceptual narrative of optimism through the pulsating downtempo electronica beats. Welcome is for anyone who has scolded themselves for being naïve in the past and find themselves unable to trust in the present through fear of future pain. In its essence, Welcome is an invitation to let love in again. After being exposed to the gently layered vocals, soft transcendent crescendos and lyrics that pull you into a brighter perspective, how could you possibly refuse?

Welcome is due for release on November 5th. You can check it out for yourselves by heading over to Soundcloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Tara Perez is lost in ennui in her latest single, ‘No Feelings in the Summer’.

Posted on 12 September 2021

If you spent this summer flying solo, Tara Perez’ latest electro-pop single, No Feelings in the Summer, serves a powerful reminder that living out romantic tropes under the sun isn’t mandatory, and to expect it as a given every year is naive.

Perez soulfully demonstrates with her latest single that summer without passion feels wasted but this progression in pop narratives is a positive one for the reality it brings to the airwaves and the meaningful connections that listeners lost in ennui can make with the blissfully melancholic single.

No Feelings in the Summer is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Kalteaux – Could Have Been an Email: Anti-Capitalist Folk-Pop

Posted on 7 August 2021

‘Could Have been an Email’ is the latest upbeat folk-pop single from NYC and songwriter Kalteaux which spills the lockdown blues while enamouring you through the unifying sentiment. If Karl Marx existed in this era and released folk-pop tracks, we’re fairly certain that they’d sound a little like Could Have Been an Email.

Kalteaux may have pushed himself into a niche market branding himself as a musical comedian but his talent as a songwriter and as a radio-ready artist easily parrels his all too relatable wit that brings his psych pop-tinged colourful melodies to life.

Check out the quarantine music video that premiered on June 3rd via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Jord has released his indie dream-pop pride anthem ‘(Gay) Teenage Dream’.

Posted on 27 June 2021
https://soundcloud.com/jordan-barhydt/gay-teenage-dream-1/s-f7llP4A90nl

Following on from his chill electropop debut single, ‘Fuck, I’m Not Famous’ that hit the airwaves in May 2021, Chicago-born, NYC-based artist Jord has released his sophomore single, ‘(Gay) Teenage Dream’.

The single that was released for Pride month is a stunning feat of indie-pop with intricate shoegaze nuances found in the cutting angular guitar notes that pop around the danceable electropop beats, tender piano melodies and the deep sense of soul that won’t fail to fill your own.

Given that most queer people’s teenage years aren’t anywhere near as idyllic as the tones you will hear in the release, (Gay) Teenage Dream is a stunningly consoling single that allows your imagination to run rampant through sweet hazy possibilities.

The lyrics, “I don’t care if I’m not 17, I just want to live the gay teenage dream”, are profoundly reflective of the sadness and sense of loss felt by many members of the LGBTQ+ community as they come of age and have little affection to look back on. He’s the queer pop artist we never knew we needed.

There will be plenty more from Jord throughout 2021 and beyond. iI he isn’t already on your radar, make room.

(Gay) Teenage Dream released on June 25th. You can check it out for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Christopher Ambrose has released his Pride pop anthem, ‘To Feel Love’

Posted on 18 June 2021

NYC pop singer-songwriter Christopher Ambrose has been creating and producing for almost a decade; he’s produced tracks for the drag icon Honey Davenport (Ru Paul’s Drag Race, S.11), Robert Garcia, Jayce Vegas, and plenty more high-profile names. If you’re not previously acquainted with his energetically emboldening sound, his 2021 pride pop anthem, To Feel Love, is the perfect introduction.

If you could imagine Carly Rae Jepson, Years and Years and Ru Paul all aurally rolled into one, you will get an idea of the sticky-sweet luxurious feel that To Feel Love effortlessly exudes. The noisy synths cut across tropic pop beats to create the perfect platform for Christopher Ambrose’s upliftingly light vocals that inspire self-love and authenticity in times of uncertainty.

To Feel Love is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Dan Zimmerman kicks off Pride Month with his entrancing queer pop anthem, ‘Soldiers’

Posted on 28 May 2021
https://soundcloud.com/danzimmermanmusic/soldiers-001/s-lzWtLLTwKgs

Up and coming pop artist Dan Zimmerman has given the airwaves a taste of what he brings to NYC stages with his latest single, ‘Soldiers’. Penned as an LGBTQ+ Pride Summer pop anthem, Soldiers encapsulates the beauty and energy of blossoming romance away from heteronormative stereotypes.

Zimmerman’s explorations of lust, loneliness and loss fall into urban soundscapes that capture the buzz and the alienation felt by inhabitants of NYC and metropolises across the globe. With the same spacey, moody air as Big Black Delta and vocal reminiscences to Sam Smith, Soldiers drips with commercial potential. Zimmerman is definitely one to watch.

Soldiers is due for release on May 28th; you can hear it by heading over to Dan Zimmerman’s official website or SoundCloud page.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Super Love hit peak relatability with their alt-synthpop track, ‘Bored’.

Posted on 1 May 2021
Super Love

With their tendency to consistently switch up their sound, Super Love’s new releases always explore another facet of their expressively creative talent; their latest single, ‘Bored’, is no exception.

After the scuzzy NIN-reminiscent intro, the soundscape shifts into a funk-brandishing feat of alt-pop that allows Super Love to stay true to their NYC roots. With elements of indie-pop-rock and 80s synthpop, Bored unravels as a refreshingly relatable track that captures the frustration of lockdown boredom without ever resonating as melancholic or piteous. Instead, it speaks to listeners facing brand-new levels of boredom as they realised that the phrase, ‘only boring people get bored’, really doesn’t apply during lockdown times.

Next time you feel like you’re going to be *that* person and complain to your friends, hit play and get the compassion from Super Love instead.

You can hear Super Love on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast