Week in Pop
Comprised of members from Veiny Hands, we present you Tampa’s own GLOVE with a listen to their single “Pleasure Intellect” featured off the Florida group’s upcoming debut album available later this year from BUFU Records. Rod Woolf, Brie Denicourt & Michelle Primiani accentuate the vibrant aspects of the post-punk & new wave scenes of yesterday through the a contemporary lens that updates the retro vibe with a current era attitude & aesthetic. Catch the synth poppers playing Charlotte, North Caroline February 3 (venue TBA) & February 4 in Atlanta, Georgia at Collect on Sunday. GLOVE introduced their debut single “Pleasure Intellect” with the following exclusive reflections:
“Pleasure Intellect” is about the struggle of time flying by in your mid twenties and trying to find something worthwhile to hold onto. It’s our ode to fleeting moments and a non promising future. So we might as well dance.
Soccer Mommy’s upcoming album Clean is available March 2 via Fat Possum and we present a listen to the single “Cool” that lives up to the title name while offering narratives that could have their own premium cable program counterpart. Sophie Allison spells out the intricate interpersonal character layouts from the vicious anti-hero Mary & subsequent actions & plots that offer exposition from the greatest Nashville-based growing-up story worthy of it’s own television serial.
Following on the heels of “Safe” from 2017, London’s ARLO presents a listen to the confessional & percussive pop of “Homecoming”. The passions build in rising emotive rhythm sequences that underscore the importance of taking better care of the self, spirit & surrounding yourself with loved ones who nurture and lift you upward.
“Homecoming “is admission in its purest form. It’s me admitting the truth to myself and promising myself to get better. It’s me saying come home, we love you, we won’t judge you. No one will ever love you more than your family and friends. So why not surround yourself around them.
Minneapolis duo Moodie Black dropped the single “Lips” ft. Ceschi from their upcoming album Lucas Acid available April 6 via Fake Four Inc. The Midwest outfit pushes past the binary confines to paint perceptions that break the molds of conventions where dream textures & ambiance are brought to new gritty post-industrial avenues.
Candace presented the world with the visual for “Rewind” filmed in Super 8 by Martha Weir & edited by the group’s Sarah Nienaber that combines performance footage from coastal settings combined with scenes from ferris wheel to wooden roller-coasters. Featured off the upcoming album New Ruins available March 2, the trio of Sarah Rose, Sarah Nienaber & Mara Appel share their sonic visions of sound & visions that feels like a time & place portal to those vague recesses of your favorite songs & films from the vaults of memory (that contain all of yesterday’s beloved classics).
Watch the Ace Que video for Negash Ali’s sensual-centric single “Tantra” ft. Fjer off the upcoming album The Ascension available February 16. Produced by Matias Saabye Kjoedt, the effervescent rhythms provide the canvas for Negash & Fjer’s expressive duet as Ace delivers the hypnotizing visuals to complete the intimate experience.
You will be hard pressed to find anyone as honest & real in the entire industry like Phem. Continuing an unstoppable streak of remarkable proliferation, Liv Marsico presents a listen to one of their most personal tracks yet with “Blinders” that delves deep into personal narratives of identity, sexuality, desire, dreams & an unparalleled creative volition. Embracing the ether of an ever-changing & developing series of inspired styles; Phem surveys the intimate scope of the self from addressing concepts of queerness & the eternal quest to feel comfortable being the person that they want to be. This is the sound of Phem breaking down the proverbial “Blinders” on an unflinching mission to find herself. Find this and more off the upcoming EP available on Valentine’s Day.
In honor of Valentine’s Day, Jay Som dropped the new single “Hot Bread” courtesy of Amazon Music. Melina Duterte’s own exclusive approach to music construction creates those feelings that extend outside the areas of easy definition where heartbreak & hope operate as opposing helices.
Portland’s Moorea Masa shares a view of the new Ursa Major video for “I Can’t Tell” that reflects on sublime & intimate frequencies expressed in the most ineffable manners of expression. The recalled ambiguity of body shape contours are told in ways that hone in on those special & private moments where two shared hearts feel practically part of the same being.
Soft as Snow announced the anticipated upcoming album Deep Wave available April 6 via Houndstooth delivering a look at the CGI studded visuals from Conrad Pack for “Snake”. The group’s own organic & haunted elements of cryptic audio essences are expanded into something that resembles a mind-expending computer game played on a CPU with an extreme graphics card & a beefed-up processor/RAM setup.
Copenhagen’s The New Investors presented us with the insomniac single “If Only I Could Sleep” featured off their upcoming album In Love With Everyone. The group’s subtle sophisti-pop brings the musical passages of romantic reflections that can keep one up late past bedtime & deep into those wee early hours where night becomes the dawning of a bright new day.
PBSM present a look at the visual for the title track off the Dance Floor EP that features professional dancer Adrianne Haslet. The Danish group’s upbeat sound is set to Hasset’s struggles & triumphs in the face of all odds, as a survivor of the Boston Marathon attack with a steadfast resolve to reconnect to the ballroom canvas as seen in an odyssey scored by PBSM.
Onyx dropped the throne claiming track “I’ma Fuckin Rockstar” ft. Skyzoo off the Onyx’s upcoming Black Rock album available February 16. Onyx & Skyzoo reiterate tales & insights from that celebrity life of living large & in charge in a world of glitz, glamor & adulation.
Toronto’s Alloy dropped the BADBADNOTGOOD produced track “Rumpin'” that deals in some big pluming basslines to start you weekend off proper. With restrained rhythms that make a maximum impact, Alloy brings the minerals & magic to the equation that makes for something of cinematic & strutting statement of invigorating sound.
From the group IZABO, Tel Aviv duo Cherie and Renno dropped the lively visual for “Let Me In” directed, edited & filmed by Rotem Vahnich & Gili Bachar at The Garden. The rhythms & peppy delivery create a consortium of excited elements that groove graciously in a menagerie of punctuated melodies.
Let’s Eat Grandma dropped the SOPHIE-produced new single “Hot Pink” to get your maximalist pop party started available now from Transgressive Records / [PIAS]. With brash & bold percussive elements, Rosa Walton & Jenny Hollingworth bring their own brand of futuristic R&B steez to SOPHIE’s illuminated electro-pop event.
Arriving March 30 from Topshelf Records is the grand heralding of the release Dig Yourself, the debut album from Philadelphia’s Queen of Jeans who shared the timelessly tuned track “More To Love”. The group elevates the retro-rock aesthetic upwards with echoes of the musical artifices that the Philly band brings into the equation & modern day popular discourse.
Lina Tullgren delivers the visuals made with Ari Ratner for “Fate” featured off the lauded album Won available via Captured Tracks. The intimate art of Tullgren’s music is expressed in visual ways where the b/w style accentuates the atmospheric & personal resonances of the song with subtle displays of mirrors & further visual gestures that make the narratives feel a little more near.
Ian Ewing along with SunBLVD & Strehlow present a listen to the pavement-skipping & strolling new EP Don’t Ride on the Sidewalk. The sounds of sunnier seasons transpire on the evocative energy of “Ice Creams” that melts into the chill pool spa of “Too Cool” like an uplifting meditative holiday interlude.
Producer/musician Jamie Ward along with vocalist James Stafford are Dark Dark Horse who delivered a listen to their new single “And Then We Had Nothing At All” released through Little Fanfare. Together the two blend the symphonic arrangement of synths into a rich portrait that portrays the evolution of lion-hearted expressions poured outward with a sense of earnest abandon.
For those early mornings where one collects their thoughts & goals for the day, treat yourself to Josh Jacobson smooth sailing single “Sideline” ft. Gigamesh that slides with a certain brand of serenity. For everyone on the proberbial sidelines of life, Jacobson & Gigamesh encourage all to indulge in the exchange of honest & meaningful discourse.
Two Feet, oka Bill Dess, presented the Rory Dewar lyric video for “I Feel Like I’m Drowning” that shares sentiments that are off the deep end. With an array of textual illustrations & evocative electronic touches; Dess dishes out lyrical blues across sparse rhythms that relay feelings of being lost without the presence of a certain loved one. Catch Two Feet currently on tour in the US via the dates featured here.
Anna McClellan presents the Amélie Raoul visual for “Nail-biting Song” featured off the album Yes and No available February 23 via Father/Daughter Records. Inner narrative thought streams are taken for outdoor strolls with McClellan that surveys life in transit & motion spanning from sidewalk scenes, views into various interior events & everything that comprises a day in the life of a New Yorker. Anna’s song expands anxious thoughts to the worlds that extend from the busy bustle of the metropolis to the nautral fields where lake water edges meets the land.
Pinky Pinky delivered a listen to the super sweet & super creative new single “Robber” via Innovative Leisure. The LA trio of Isabelle Fields, Eva Chambers & Anastasia Sanchez make music that materializes from all angles, where deceptive slow verses connect song suites that invites tempos & harmonic chants that burst with a sense of spontaneity.
Melbourne duo Divide and Dissolve brings the pain with the massive new single “Abomination” featured off the album of the same name available February 16 via Dero Arcade. With an upcoming tour spanning from February 16 through March 27, Takiaya Reed & Sylvie Nehill prepare to share a visceral, no-holds-barred sound set to salvage the world from it’s self.
Virginia by way of DC’s Howard University before settling into NYC; Shenna brings the boisterous late-night visuals for electrified ultra-pop of “Magenta”. The feelings of hedonistic nights out with your crew are combined with a track that revels in the feelings that break beyond the temporal & fleeting into nights of perpetual fantasy.
Stevie Wolf offered a listen to the smooth & sincere crooning ballad “Low” that accentuates those moods of despair & uncertainty that hold us back. Co-produced by Harper James, Wolf’s emotions break in full bloom at the verse where fist clenched flurries & the fury of personal resolve elevates the sentiments upward toward edifying new heights. In Stevie’s own words:
I’ve had depression since I was 13. And it’s rarely the reeling, twisting misery often depicted. I grew up listening to emo and metal-core and those genres usually take a pretty dramatic approach to inner turmoil. But there’s not a lot of music about incipient, lingering depression; the kind where, from the moment you wake until you the moment fall asleep, you just generally feel empty and flat. Maybe you don’t even cry; you just feel tired and sluggish and don’t want to see your friends or really talk to anyone so you make excuses and cancel plans and just hide away in your bedroom. One day you wake up and realize that weeks have gone by and you didn’t really do anything. You didn’t take any risks or try anything new, and your friends feel less close to you because they haven’t really seen you much. You languish slowly while you decay.
Freshly signed to Royal Mountain Records, Everett Bird delivered a listen to “Bucket of Dark Meat” off the upcoming album People Person available February 23. Recorded with Jace Lasek, the Montreal group gives the world a song about combating anxiety with an illustrious array of ethereal audio items of intrigue of unbound bliss. In the band’s own words:
“Bucket of Dark Meat” was the first song we wrote for the album. The song is about the feeling of anxiety a person gets when it seems like everyone is being more productive than you. On the other end, the song is about suppressing that feeling with things that make you happy.
Olden Yolk of Quilt presented the video for “Vital Sign” from Shane Butler, Sara Butler & Caity Shafferf featured off the debut self-titled album available February 23 from Trouble In Mind. Winter sidewalk scenes combined with art pop performance visuals elevates the aesthetic to warm places of fascination & visceral vitality.
Watch the Bunny Bread visual for Ty’s “Eyes Open” ft. OG Rootz aka Durrty Goodz, Deborah Jordan & Pumpkin off the album A Work Of Heart available March 2 via the Jazz re:freshed imprint. The South London artist pushes for the audience & world to keep their eyes, ears & mind open as the struggle for being, expression, employment & identity in everyday life that extends beyond the hype of the headlines.
Behold the Hetta Huhtamäki & Amnon (Nono) Bikovsky video for Gregor McEwan’s intimate & meditative new single “On Her Radar”. Featured off the Berlin artist’s album A to Beginning available through Stargazer Records/Midsummer Records; meditations on togetherness, separations, new chances & new beginnings are illustrated as a melancholic stroll through the parks & sidewalks of a moody day in Berlin.
Onra has been readying the release Nobody Has To Know via the Dublin imprint All City available February 16 & delivered a listen to the new fragrances of future funk, rhythms & blues soon to arrive. “Let Me Fantasize” is the feeling of enjoying a luxurious moment out at an exotic spot in an even more swank locale while “Not Long Ago” is a virtual time warp to those recent eras of memory that recalls an overwhelming array of sensory nostalgia for the listener to digest.
Having made the move to Los Angeles from Kansas, P. Morris along with Maal A Goomba deliver a listen to “Too Chill” that follows-up their album Good Morning, I Love You. The tenets of chilling are told in ways that involve woodwinds & a host of wondrous elements to illuminate the corners of the mind & soul.
Check out the Carly Lieberman animated video for Kal Marks’ “Springtime In January” off the upcoming album Universal Care available February 23 from Exploding In Sound Records. Sci-fi weirdness runs amok in a world of strange spider creatures & a host of experiments set to the trio’s ecstatic & electrified energy.
Vienna’s own Hearts Hearts (Djoana Gueorguieva & Benjamin Kornfeld) delivered the stunning visuals from Austrian artist Gabriel Hyden for “Phantom / Island” to accompany the announcement of the new album Goods / Gods available April 20 via Tomlab. From sung expressions that span across sea, land to the hovering in the spaces in-between; Hearts Hearts illustrate the expressions & emotions of our shared world in ways of ephemeral & enchanted aspects of limitless wonder.
Performing in LA this February 5 at School Night, Cassandra Violet presents the single “X The Line” that breaks down the barriers of being. Inner accounts of personal inventory become the springboard for asserting self-actualization in an array of pop wonders that feels relevant & at times too real. Violet paints a portrait of the human condition that attempts to capture the moments of life lived in the mode of accelerated hyper-drive.
Santiago, Chile’s MAFF presented the dream droning track “Desfile” featured off the upcoming Melaniña EP available April 2. Ricardo Gomez, Alberto Parot & Victor Schlesinger create sounds that feel as if they were birthed in a wind tunnel where everything feels caught in the clutches of a cyclone that continues to keep spinning in an infinite round of rotations.
Following up 2016’s No Vacancy, Drea returns with the homeward bound single “Hometown” that underscores the notion that there truly is nowhere quite like home. The LA artist is joined by producer Kayja as they illustrate the newfound places that become more like an abode than one’s original town of origin. With reiterations of we ain’t going home, Drea creates a homecoming of purpose out of the big bright city lights where the shining rays of LEDs & neons make for something of a fireplace glow.
Kristian North announced the upcoming album The Last Rock N Roll Record available March 9 via Lone Hand & presented a look at the fire-crackling visual for “It Was All a Dream”. The DIY home-video visuals further the ambient textures of the track that makes for an experience like meditating beside a bonfire that gently sends you to blissful sleep. Catch Kristian North’s record release show in Montreal at Club Ballatou March 15 with Cindy Lee, The Pink Noise & North’s full band.
Teesside, North East England’s Llovers provided a listen to “Just Lust” that differentiates between amour & those inner fleeting urges of physiological bio-chemistry. Recorded locally at Tees Music Tech with a mixing/mastering assist from Chris McManus at Blank Studios; lusty feelings are recounted in honest that rise upward into an apex of aching & energetic feelings.
With an EP on the way this spring, Amethysts delivered the chic-beat track “Be There”. Emphasizing the importance of being present, the duo brings a message of togetherness & visions of solidarity that revolves around holding one another tight when other life plans fall through.
