Week in Pop
Australia’s Emily Hamilton, oka San Mei just released the electric visions of “Wonder” available today from LXVI Records. Developing home-stitched songs from minimalist means to collaborating with producer Oscar Dawson to create a radical underground radio type of radiance; San Mei creates the sound of running in time to the a blood rushing arrangement & heart beat percussive directions of an inspired, unbound volition. In Emily Hamilton’s own introductory words on “Wonder”:
The new single “Wonder” captures the classic butterflies moment when someone unknown to you captures your attention and you’re not sure why. It’s about that person becoming a mysterious daydream to you, wondering who they are, what they’re about, and that feeling of not knowing if you want them to become anything more than some intoxicating illusion.
Yours Are The Only Ears delivered a listen to the new evocative single “You & Bobby” from the highly anticipated debut album Knock Hard available May 11 from Team Love Records. Susannah Cutler continues to demonstrate a unique ability to resurrect crystallized moments from the past that are organic & holistic in their conveyance & lyrical portraits that instills a kind of reflective thought that is hard to describe.
Indian Agent presented the world a listen to the new EP All I Sea (courtesy of Homeskillet Records) that offers more meditations of healing for our natural world that moves musically with the elements of earth, fire, water, wind & the motions of the planet. The hymn of “If You Saw the Fire” brings the audience along the group’s spiritual synergy session in Sitka, Alaska with the talents of OCnotes, Nicholas Galanin, Zak Dylan Wass & Jesse Hughey that guide the listener across psychic expanses of land & infinite outstretches of oceanic splendor.
Chicago’s Courtesy have been busy putting the finishing touches on their upcoming HEY cassette available May 4 via Moon Glyph, offering a listen to the signs of tomorrows that are soon to arrive with “Futre Gap”. The group creates a collection of intriguing percussive reverberations & elongated chat recitations that stretch from the moment of the present toward the future offerings of the infinite unknown.
Shilpa Ray follows up 2017’s Door Girl album with the upcoming Nihilism EP available May 16 via Northern Spy as we are treated to the new single “Shoot This Dying Horse”. Tales of discontinuity from the weary & dusty trail are told in a style of evocative & theatrical Americana that gallops between sunset & sunrise with a sleepy, sincere yet removed delivery. Look for Shilpa Ray on tour from May 16 through June 14.
With Big Sam’s Funky Nation releasing Songs in the Key of Funk on May 4, you are invited to enter into a wealth of electro-funk with snazzy brass & vocoder special of “Buzzin'”. Sending upward a plethora of fun tailored styles, the collective creates something so rich, wild & vibrant that it could have only come out of New Orleans. In Big Sam’s own introductory words:
By playing on these streets [New Orleans], you learn how to work your craft and entertain an audience. You can go to Julliard and Berklee all you want, but they won’t teach you how to rock a stage. It comes naturally in New Orleans.
Check out the majestic visuals for the single “Goods / Gods” from Hearts Hearts, directed by Rupert Höller. The group of David Österle, Daniel Hämmerle, Johannes Mandorfer & Peter Paul Aufreiter make sentimental synth pop that is set on a variety of breathtaking locales that exhibit gorgeous interior & exterior architecture.
Kevin Max presented a listen to the new single “Eurorail”, mixed by the Kieran Kelly that takes the listener on a pensive & reflective ride on the rails of thought. The track emulates the intimate processes of mind racing affections that synchronize with the motions of the tram as feelings & hopes spring upward from the depths of the unconscious that reach for a materialized realization of heart-held dreams.
Deal Casino provided a listen to their new sentiment soaring single “Paper Planes” taken from their forthcoming Isadora Duncan EP arriving May 18. The Asbury Park, New Jersey group designs their own intriguing sound collages of dissonance that exhibits the pangs of desires that revolve around wanting everything all the time & even more.
Portland artist Frankie Simone delivered the single of strength, care & perseverance with “Love / Warrior” featured off the upcoming Infinite Companion EP available May 28. The track brings inclusive taunts of come out, come out that offers an invitation for all outcasts to emerge from their hiding places & domiciles to band together as a collective force to be reckoned with.
In case you missed it, indulge your senses with gobbinjr’s new visual for the intimate new single “fake bitch” featured off the upcoming album ocala wick available June 8 from Topshelf Records. The food aesthetic provides a simile stand-in for all those confrontational modes of conversation that are hard to sometimes deliver to those that deserve it the most.
Safariari presented the Torkelsen Remix of “Hey” that works in sparse piano notes & understated rhythms. The keys & organic percussive components entertain odd atmospheric sounds that move joyfully together in an enriched form of unison that will bring light to the mind’s eyes & ears.
A Festival, A Parade brought the big, chilly & sobering new single “Cold Shower” featured off the upcoming Stay Away From Me EP arriving later this year. The group stirs an organized clamor that descends like a storm from the heavens that causes all within earshot to take heed & caution.
Rock out to the visceral violence found on the new single “Dehumanised” from Bad Breeding, featured off their just released Abandonment EP from One Little Indian Records. The Stevenage group creates cataclysmic & delightfully economic & cathartic creations to help us all get through this weird thing called life.
Sweden artist boerd recently released the Static mini-album via AnjunaDeep & shared a listen to the new single “VOID” ft. vocals from Ellen Arkbro. Following up work for the Comorbid Records imprint, the Stockholm artist Bård Ericson makes meditative music that conjures up environments in the imagination’s eye with a ear for healing arrangements that elevate the spirit.
Sea Moya presents the Tilman Ruetz & Elias Foerster visuals for “New Past” that were filmed in Montreal, Canada. Everything from funky analog screen tests & jam sessions are embraced in a warm & tranquil manner that presents the audience with a privy view inside the group’s creative world.
Check out the Christopher Good video for “Better Than You” from Petal’s forthcoming album Magic Gone available June 15 from Run For Cover Records. Watch as Andreina Byrne transforms the entire world as a studio of their very own with a DIY pop art aesthetic to compliment the best thing since The Undertones emerged on the scene.
NYC’s KYOSi shatters & scorches the earth with fine style via the single “Mid July” that operates on a creative electro-etched arrangement. The fellow founder of The Thesis Group continues to work on creating imaginative & evocative expressions that feature largely untouched vocals that course through an intricate array of rhythm sequences & synths with a sincere, urgent & sentimental edge.
Chastity presents a flashy & arty look at the video for “Children” featured off the debut album Death Lust available July 13 from Captured Tracks. From visuals of youth in revolt in the face of imposing authoritative forces; Chastity brings an emotively charged sound that springs from the depths of dystopian instincts of today & tomorrow.
Watch the lyrical video for “To You“ from Sarah P.’s debut album Who Am I edited together from Fifty Shades Freed footage. Sarah’s survey of intimacy & affection is elaborated upon with a cinematic sparkle that underscores the intricacy of the human connection with somebody special.
Tiny Fighter shared their new single “New Century” that embraces the processes involved with embarking upon new beginnings. Therese Karlsson delivers honest truths of wisdom that depict cycles of change & growth that feels refreshingly real & earnest.
Cris Quizzik of DeltaFoxx presented an epic playlist titled the most beautiful music ever played by or for robots featuring a plethora of legends from Boards of Canada, Plaid, Tycho, Thundercat, Frank Ocean, Aphex Twin, Nine Inch Nails and so many more. The Brazil-based artist casts a tribute to the artists that have contributed to elevating the aesthetics of everything electronic music can be and so much more.
LALUME presented a look at the isma gane ambient collage video for the weather-cycling “Storms”. Kaleidoscopic visuals materialize in experimental & abstract fashions that collect together in patterns to match the bubbling percussion & ethereal vocal delivery.
Flour Flour shared a listen to the lovely new single “Become Animal” that works in economic ways with a rolling engine twang. The Bay Area group spins a song that creates the perfect road companion for road trips that rolls with the heart of a wandering beast in search of shelter & sustenance.
Hip yourself to London’s latest oddball artful dodgers HOO HAS who delivered a listen to their righteous head-ringing fist-pumper “Ranta”. Produced by the keen ear of Tommaso Colliva, every percussive progression moves with the rhythmic swagger & strut that has one foot set on the festival arena stage & the other deep in a dingy, gritty and humble dive.
Hear Peckham’s answer to Yankee-side slacker pop with YOWL’s sleepy & super new single “Warm (In The Soft White Fire of Modern Living)”. The track brings a well executed & disaffected delivery to the equation with some surprise bursts of loud & laid-back noise & hazy atmospheres that makes this a band to keep a close ear on.
Miami’s own Aaron Sheer delivered the endearing atmospheres of “U Here” feaured off the In All The Wrong Places EP courtesy of Point Records. Delivering sincere rhythms & blues, Sheer sends out expressions of fondness that reflect upon the absences of those that impact our hearts & emotions the most.
Get lost in the “Dark Places” of Maria Kelly’s latest single. The track takes introspection down intimate corridors of thoughts where fears do battle with reality with a mix of slightly detached anxiety.
Also hear Maria Kelly’s musings reflections about conversations on the atmospheric & earnest “Small Talk”. The Mayo, Ireland artist brings a meditative quality that resounds like letters & text messages unsent like archived journal passages of ancient emotional observances.
Canadian trio of siblings The Garrys delivered a listen to their single “Makeout at the Drive-In” ahead of its release May 13 via Grey Records & an upcoming appearance at Brighton’s Great Escape Festival. The band works vintage-toned arrangements & haunting harmonies that are delivered with the modern glance of looking back on nostalgic eras of classic car obsessions, rumble seat romances & the allure of beloved glamorous celluloid stars.
Goosebump’s share a look at their Neil Rankin and Kirsten Dahlin Nolan video for “Heather’s Invitation” starring Marlow the Dog as Heather off their upcoming self-titled available July 6 via Pleasence Records. The group’s Paul Erlichman & Neil draw inspiration from an Ishiguro work titled When We Were Orphans where dog-walking weirdness is coupled with car sales between the two artists. Neil from the band shared the following insights on the visuals for “Heather’s Invitation”:
The video for “Heather’s Invitation” sprang from an idea I had about filming all the banal aspects of life at the dog park and blossomed into an the far more ridiculous idea of me selling a used car to Paul so that he could be a doggie chauffeur.
Pavo Pavo delivered a listen to the single “Statue Is A Man Inside” from Bella Union that floats gently through the breeze of a late spring day. Get ready to soar with the feeling like a holiday of relaxation (as created in their vocal harmonies) & the mystery (that lies in those beguiling synths).
Lowly delivered the lovely new single “Wood” alongside the announcement of stateside tour happening in May in support of the Bella Union debut album Heba available now. The Danish group revels in a sophisticated sound that swims high in the stratosphere with synths that send the vocals of Nanna Schannong and Soffie Viemose upward even higher.
In more Bella Union news, Ari Roar presented the arcade-obsessed visuals for “Implode” from the debut album Calm Down available May 25. Roar’s sleepy-sunny day vocals & serenely strummed instrumentation are coupled with vintage video game & pinball machine affections that serve as something of an outlet for expressing inner expressive thoughts on personal growth & passing observations.
Porlolo just released the Awards EP with a listen to the country trotting title track. The track provides a sense of comfort & reflection while exploring the great wide wilderness of the world (with songs of reckoning to illuminate the journey’s long & lonesome trail).
Introducing pop mystery Michl who presents a look at the sentimental visual for “datum” that offers a look at the artist’s hometown of Riverside, California through their own eyes. The charged visuals are delivered according to the elusive artist’s own fashionable taste as they draw from their own Bolivian/Mexican heritage that highlights the places & people that have inspired them along the way. With reiterations of this earth feels better with you, Michl offers a series of romantic scenes that sees the artist & company pushing for something bigger than themselves while paying tribute to familiar stomping grounds.
Isla Craig presented a listen to the inspired title track off the upcoming album The Becoming available June 22 via Pleasence Records. Thought trails stroll between the expanses of day & night in a beautiful, baroque piece that meditates on the discoveries that arrive with growth & the sands of time.
