New Music

Highline – “Believe Me I’ll Run”

February 17, 2024

Sidney based five piece, Highline, brings us their latest single “Believe Me I’ll Run” and released it February 15. The opening strums bring to mind a more subdued take on REM’s “Losing My Religion” and the rest of the track continues in a similar vein. More contemporary influences feel like the lighter side of Arctic Monkeys or Killers songs, falling into that uplifting-yet-mournful feel. The steady strum of acoustic guitar is punctuated by synth and backing guitar, dancing beautifully around singer Sam Rigney’s vocals. Speaking to the track, Rigney had this to say: “‘Believe Me I’ll Run’ is an admission of sorts that you’re all in on a relationship, regardless of whether the other person is feeling the same way.” You can hear “Believe Me I’ll Run” over on Spotify or down below courtesy of Soundcloud. Be sure to check out another track of theirs we reviewed; “Enough for You[...]

Kindsight – “Tomorrow”

February 17, 2024

Swedish band Kindsight’s latest single is “Tomorrow,” released in anticipation of their upcoming album No Shame No Fame due out in April. Singer Nina Hyldgaard Rasmussen’s vocals shine through the band’s impeccably crafted jangle pop sound. We’ve previously covered Kindsight at the blog a few times now (all here) and enjoyed what we heard then (as with this track)! Fans of Alvvays or Hazel English will find a lot to enjoy here, as would anyone who enjoys heartfelt lyrics sung with as much aplomb as Rasmussen. Speaking to crafting the track, the band had this to say: “This is one of those weird songs where 95% of it writes itself, but the last 5% is really hard to get right. No blood was shed in the process, but it cost us plenty of sweat and tears, and it might have caused Nina to forget her guitar on the train on the[...]

Mary Middlefield – “Heart’s Desire”

February 13, 2024

Switzerland based artist Mary Middlefield is a burgeoning singer-songwriter who reshaped herself during the pandemic after being a classically trained violinist for most of her life. She released her debut LP last year and is already releasing more new music, the most recent being “Heart’s Desire,” an indie cut filled with sharp daggers of unrequited love. The new single’s clean guitar melody intertwines with a hushed backbeat with seamless fluidity that feels like the quickened pulse you get in the orb of influence of your infatuation. This musicality matches Middlefield’s writing perfectly, her stanzas are filled with yearning for a crush that’s doomed because of their age difference. The new song has atmosphere and effortless flow that will sweep you into its current. Fans of Jeff Buckley, Phoebe Bridgers/boygenius, or Lucy Dacus will find lots to love on Middlefield’s new single. Listen to “Heart’s Desire” the new release from Mary[...]

Landon Conrath – “Replay”

February 13, 2024

Landon Conrath is a young artist but has quickly built both his catalog and a passionate fan base that has branched well beyond his home of Minneapolis. Since his debut in 2022, Conrath has continued gaining momentum with new single “Replay,” a livewire electropop track soaked in messy entanglements. Layered and processed vocals dance hand in hand with a romantic guitar melody as Conrath starts a fall into the memories of a past love, every reminisce causing a wince deeper than the last. He has a undeniable talent for textures, which you’ll hear as the track shifts from crooning guitar to breathy verses, perfectly placed between an electro glitch rhythm that matches the untethered torrent of jealousy, loathing, love, and lust that flood you as you run into a messy ex-love, IRL or digitally. “Replay” hits strongest as Conrath belts out the chorus “Alcohol and mental arrest, when I saw[...]

Samantha Clemons – “Spectacle”

February 13, 2024

“Spectacle” is the latest from St. Louis based singer/songwriter Samantha Clemons, a supremely talented musician whose influences include (but are not limited to) gospel, jazz, Caribbean, and soul music. “Spectacle” starts with a stunning strumming guitar with keys, with Clemons’ voice quickly taking the lead. Her words are heartfelt and dripping with emotion, always at the edge or muscling out the instrumentals but finds a way back to equilibrium without being overwhelming. As NPR’s Pilar Fitzgerald noted of her 2021 Tiny Desk submission: “Clemons’ voice is striking: secured in deep depths in one moment, then bursting like wildfire in the next. And just as complex as her range are her lyrics — the story she tells… is so beautifully imagined.” Be sure to give “Spectacle” a listen over on Spotify or Soundcloud, we think you’ll be impressed with the depth and feel of her songwriting.

BIRDWAR – “Tiny Door”

February 12, 2024

Portland Oregon based four piece, BIRDWAR, brings us their first single “Tiny Door” off of their upcoming full length due out this summer. The band describes their sound as a “Dinosaur Jr. meets Elliot Smith” and is certainly accurate in all of the best ways. Much like Dinosaur Jr., the guitars are the strongest suit in “Tiny Door” with plenty of layers and that gruff grunge fuzz that pervades throughout. Singer Matthew Holland’s voice is harmonious and measured; deftly weaving between the bass and guitars but still with plenty of emotion. Fans of the aforementioned bands or perhaps Pixies or Yuck will obviously find a lot to enjoy here – as will casual grunge/post grunge fans. You can hear “Tiny Door” on Apple Music or Spotify, as well as their as yet-unnamed album later this year.

Club 8 – “Just Like Heaven”

February 8, 2024

A duo based out of Sweden, Club 8 brings us their newest track “Just Like Heaven” – a follow-up to 2023’s “Sunny“ (that we covered here). Not to be confused with The Cure’s seminal hit sharing the same name, this is a slow jam more so in the realm of bedroom pop and we’re loving it. Formed in 1995, Karolina Komstedt and Johan Angergård have made their rounds through indie pop, bossa nova, and dancier tunes (with a hiatus or two thrown in). Komstedt’s voice is given plenty of room to spread it’s wings throughout the track with subdued guitar and drums – not unlike a dream-pop reimagining of The White Stripes. I’ll be honest and say that I’ve never heard of this band before today, but this really scratched an itch for something that’s pure and not overproduced. It also goes to show you that you can follow your[...]

meija x JAWNY – “Magic”

February 8, 2024

LA based Jamie Sierota, aka meija (“it’s pronounced “meija” per his social media) drops his latest “Magic” with fellow artist JAWNY. The track itself is absolutely one of the chillest tracks I’ve heard so far this year – driven by guitar and a simple-yet-effective drum beat that keeps the lo-fi groove going. You’ll also find a fun synth effect that shows up every few stanzas along with a bumpin’ bass riff. As per meija, “Magic” is very much a biographical one; the entire first verse a quick summation of the last ten years of his life. He goes on to say: “At its core, it’s a song about trying to find the beauty in the everyday. Even in my hardest times, there’s always been something good.” Between the grooviness, effects, and meija’s vocals, the way this song was put together gave me Talking Heads vibes (“Once in a Lifetime,” to be more[...]

False Corners – “Where Is My Blood (feat. Emily Backus)”

February 8, 2024

Atlanta based False Corners is the culmination of mutual love and admiration, their debut EP Shoobie shows that in each cut. The group is centered on the duo of songwriter Jack Shaw and artist-producer Damon Moon, then each of their songs features a different guest singer. The first single of the project has just released – it is the stunningly beautiful “Where Is My Blood” that features Emily Backus’ mellifluous singing which pierces the heart with radiant clarity. The songcraft on the new song is apparent and Backus’ dynamic vocal performance highlights the songwriting gift that Shaw has. The song opens with an arresting couplet from Backus with only acoustic backing, reminiscent of Neutral Milk Hotel, then lets Backus’s voice soar like a lark’s song. After the opening grips you, the verse’s sound thickens by bringing in organ, bass, and a backbeat drum rhythm. Then, Shaw seamlessly drops into the[...]

Cameron Sonnier – “Burning To Death”

February 5, 2024

“Burning To Death” is a dense, rich, rhythmic exploration of the inner self, and it marks the second single from promising Houston-based artist Cameron Sonnier‘s sophomore album Synchronicity.  Sonnier creates a reflective space with layers of textures that lay over one other, all following a rhythmic pulse that pushes its meditative beat into your subconscious. The new song’s use of guitar dynamics is irrestible – high-toned picked melodies shift into strummed percussive rhythms that create a hypnotic space that swirls into the song’s production. Thick synths buzz and burn creating an incendiary quality that seems to ignite the next slow burning tone as Sonnier’s singing echoes into the chasm of your mind, which is now unfurling in a blossoming shape due to Sonnier’s wizardry. Fans of Boards of Canada, Emeralds, Animal Collective, and Aphex Twin will find lots to love on this new track. Listen to Cameron Sonnier’s new single[...]

Pretty Bitter – “Roadkill”

February 5, 2024

Grab those ear huggers and let the D.C. based Pretty Bitter catapult you into a joyous scorcher of a new song they are calling “Roadkill.” The new indie-rock single is an ecstatic blend of break neck rock a la Charly Bliss and Marnie Stern mixed with the pop sensibilities of Hole or The Cranberries. Drummer Jason Hayes will make your chest sweat with a frenetic rock beat jammed with tongue wagging fills while Chris Hayes bites into that ceaseless rhythm like a pitbull with fraying guitar work that ignites and sizzles as it flies by. The lead songwriters Em Bleker and Miriam Tyler harness that electric impressionist energy and bend it to their wills, creating verses that flip the sonics from contrasting gut punches to a sumptuous neon tangerine that carry their joyous spirit and feminist-bent lyrics. Fans of Julia Jacklin, Sylvan Esso, and Passion Pit should let these indie[...]

SAVAK – “Will Get Fooled Again”

February 5, 2024

“Will Get Fooled Again” is the latest single from SAVAK‘s upcoming March 1 album Flavors of Paradise. We wrote about this Brooklyn group back in January here and obviously haven’t changed our mind much. The track itself is packed with a ton of sound; I heard dark and moody synths; pounding drums; rollicking guitar; and thudding bass masterfully mixed together into something inexplicably catchy. Fans of Pinback, The Dismemberment Plan, or REM would find a lot to enjoy here – very guitar forward indie rock. The song itself speaks to a quote attributed to The Who about “never getting fooled again” and addresses the insecurity and inevitability that we probably will. More on that (and some interesting facts about seahorses) below: “Despite the complexity of our interconnections, maybe there’s something we can learn from the simple and beautiful behaviors of seahorses (mentioned in the last verse). They go through a long and[...]

JEEN – “Pour Your Heart”

February 5, 2024

“Pour Your Heart” is the newest single off of JEEN‘s newest album, Gold Control. Based out of Toronto, she has been on an absolute warpath with this being her fourth album within the past ten years. Practically being neighbors and having some real bangers, it should come as no surprise we’ve written about her a few times –including the lead single off Gold Control, “So What.” We enjoyed her then and the continue to do so. My initial comparison to Bully or boygenius stands true – with “Pour Your Heart” JEEN leans into the grunge-tinged vibe that has slowly been gaining in popularity again. This is a well-crafted track showcasing JEEN’s vocal range and some awesome layering of guitars that veers into delightful dream pop territory. Be sure to check out “So What” and the rest of Gold Control on Spotify or Soundcloud.

Joyer – “Star”

February 3, 2024

NYC/Boston based Joyer is the combined talents of brothers Nick & Shane Sullivan, and they just released their new indie/slowcore single, “Star.” The new cut has a wash of layered guitars that shift the tint of the track, each wash feeling like a filter that the song is passing through to get to your ears. Those layers work like sliding wave forms that align for a moment of clarity before passing back into dissonant relation with one another, creating that dispersed guitar sound that feels like wandering in a memory. “Star” uses that slowcore sound adeptly, with the Sullivan brothers pairing their sound with nostalgic daydreams. Here is Joyer talking about their new song; “Star is kind of a slice of life of the summer I was having when I wrote it. It has small fragments of different days. Some boring days at home mixed with bits about camping on[...]

amph. – “Engraved”

February 2, 2024

Artist Anthony Carl Fritz has been dropping new music under the his moniker amph. over the last year and the latest, “Engraved,” is a guitar driven alt-rock melodic jam that is sliced from modern life. Fritz writes about love’s ability to break the slow strangle of modernity, and how far one goes to keep their other half from sinking into that miasma. Fritz’s lyrics resonate with the shared experiences we have while his fuzzy warm guitar melodies manifest that fulfilling love with full guitar tones. The picked guitar phrases in the verses merge into a churning bloom of layered big guitar sound in the refrain effortlessly. The chorus is well crafted hook that plays into the light composition of the verses, letting it roll over you like a swell of a rolling tide. Listen to “Engraved” from amph. now on Spotify and Apple Music. amph. · Engraved