Week in Pop
The Sea and Cake dropped “These Falling Arms” inspired by Julee Cruise’s iconic classic “Falling” that doubles as the theme from “Twin Peaks”. Feature off the upcoming new album Any Day available May 11 from Thrill Jockey, Sam Prekop & company continue to create the expansive environmental soundtracks for the spaces & domeciles that desire to dwell in for a blissful eternity.
Introduce yourself to Canton, Ohio’s Fijimacintosh wowed-us with the electro-melodocism of the sweet-swimming new single “Nocturnal Exclipse” ft. Robb Bank$. Featured off the upcoming debut release Satellite Crash available today, the cousin of Trippie Redd is touring with Smooky Margielaa & expanding the aesthetic possibilites of autotune to further head-lifting atmospheres.
Vlad Holiday delivered a listen to the single “Children” that resonates with an echoing ambiance that moves like the turning pages from nostalgic photo books held close to the heart. The Greenwich, Village by way of Bucharest, Romania artist delivers the sound and creative cadence that could be played at any outdoor festival & enchant all the trees & inhabits nearby with a sound that transcends thought, feeling & the concept of time.
Berlin based LALUME brings more of their Norwegian x Australian ethereal electro pop with the visuals for “Phaethon” from Lâle Teoman for River Run Productions featuring cinematography from Jacquie Manning. The song’s mystical nature is transformed into a pop parable that takes the audience to mesmerizing fantasias that transcend time, space & earthly sentiments.
Gabriel Black delivered a look at the self-directed & animated visual made with Brendan Cunningham for “Jump” ft. Sofi De La Torre that illustrates the lyrics & narratives further. Utilizing a primitive crayon & pen approach, everything from isolation to incidents are exhibited with an escapist undercurrent heard between the emotive delivery & the guitar strings.
Off their upcoming release Crocodile, Breakfast Muff delivers the water-wading visual for the title track. created by Alice Smith & Jimmy Gage The trio sport fish framed adornments for their faces amid a colorful & creative backdrop of cut-out waves with the looming threat of a cartoony croc that inspires some of the group’s most surf-bound arrangements & riffs.
Check out the Josh Gilligan & Brett Warren video for “Small Talks” featured off Liza Anne’s recent album Fine But Dying from Arts & Crafts. Liza showcases a variety of party scenarios that eschews the cheap communication of chopping-the-breeze that seeks a substance that is beyond the cheap chats that prevent us from pursuing greater things in the world.
Me Nd Adam provided a look & listen at the lyric video for “Something About You” that illustrates those vague qualities that catch our fancy about those special someones in our lives. Through an electronic aesthetic, Me Nd Adam brings all the enamored sentiments that sail upward toward great heights amid an array of power chord & key arrangements.
Emily Ritz of Yesway announced the upcoming debut solo album Pattern Recess available April 27 with a look at the visual from Camila Falquez & dance moves organized by Colombian choreographer Lobadys Perez featuring the focused motions of the Periferia Dance Company. Ritz song of apprehensions & requests for one to open their heart & lower their guard for experiences of affection are displayed through expressive dance moves that are coordinated to everything from Emily’s earnest delivery & the minimalist electronic punctuations of rhythm.
From their new Crossroads EP, TIDES delivered a listen to the single “Don’t Let Me Down” that paints love song vignettes of evocative & earnest tidings of adoration. Dan & Innocent build a boundless foundation that gently rocks with a feeling that resonates as real with the precision of love notes folded into paper-plane air-mail deliveries.
Baba Sonya delivered the misgivings & second thoughts that plague the mind on the powerful new single “Jeremiah”. The duo of Rachel Gawell & Mike Costaney share an economic mix of expressive arrangements that bridge the strings with subtle electronic rhythms that draw out a host of subtext & colloquial thoughts that speak to the conversations that are left unsaid between those that we care the most about.
Pascal Babare presented a viewing of the Alex Badham video for “Native Birds” featured off the forthcoming album Endless Room from Dusky Tracks. The artist is seen dancing along to the hand-claps of their jovial song (complete with some prime brass additions) while having a ball around the rural territories with a four-legged best friend following them about from sunrise to sunset.
Helena Deland provided a viewing of the visual for “There Are a Thousand” off the recent lauded EP Altogether Unaccompanied Vol. I & II available now from Luminelle. Deland’s own earth-lifting sound is scene sung as if it were a karaoke number by fan that offers a host of emotional levels of performance that further underscores the inherent power of Helena’s music.
As the world begins to realize the greatness & grandeur of Sophie Allison’s beloved new album Clean, we present a listen to a new take on the Soccer Mommy single “Your Dog” (SΔIN’† Remix) that treats the track with an applied drag/witch-house style ambiance. The moods & emotions are distilled into the electric ether that reaches for those in-between spaces between the material realm & that strange pull of the paranormal.
Fresh from performing at SXSW, Look Vibrant presented the Max Parr video thriller for “Last One To Survive” featured off the upcoming release The Up Here Place available March 23. Featuring Ben Mayer Goodman, Robert Alexander & Olena Jatsyshyn; the cinematography from Jesse McCracken recalls everything Italian vintage horror films with a contemporary art house lens that looks back through the vehicles of analog VHS & film mediums.
From their anticipated album Beyond XXXL available April 6 from Telephone Explosion & Atelier Ciseaux; Freak Heat Waves deliver a look at the wild Dr. Cool animated video for “Toxic Talk Show”. Like something witnessed on “Liquid Television” from back in the 90s, the duo’s instrumental of cathartic dissonance is transformed into a narrative about what happens when mutant creatures are let loose in the world & into the dimensions of the cosmos & beyond the beyond. Also check out Freak Heat Waves’ recent feature in Impose Magazine’s Week in Pop here.
Those looking for some atmospheric amphitheater ambiance should check out the new single “Reki” from Monroe, NY group The Racer. The band fashions a sound that rises like the morning dew via ray beams of light from the sun, where the guitars & keyboard sustains leap from the stage & upward to the outstretched arms of an infinite sky.
Available today, experience System Corporation’s Apathy is Easy EP that offers a listen to some real musical ghosts that set out to disrupt the routines of the digital machines that have overtaken our worlds. The New Zealand group echoes affinities for post-punk aesthetics that are cast into the echoing post-industrial chambers where the symphonies of beguiling dreams are sometimes inspired.
Syracuse, Italy’s Moonshine Booze released the album Desert Road via Seahorse Recordings & offered the world a preview. The free-wheeling album spins the stylus all across the canvas with the energetic locomotion of “The Place”, to the dusty trail traveling “No Mas” that re-imagines infinite expanses of the great American Southwest as interpreted by the group’s creative lens.
Saltwater Sun are back from a 18 month sojourn with the new single “The Wire” available now from Hand In Hive. The track brings the fight or flight instincts in a mix of decisive sounds that pairs instincts with the situations that create cause for knee-jerk/snap-decisions.
Montreal artist Anemone, oka Chloé Soldevila, is readying the cassette Baby Only You & I available April 27 from Luminelle, sharing the timeless title track. A single that blends vintage psych with a French take on the European pop canon; Chloé creates a style of music that exists in a wondrous world & cool class all of its own.
Dear Nora is back with news of the upcoming Skulls Example album available May 25 via Orindal Records, sharing the gentle mind wandering single “Sunset on Humanity”. Katy Davidson continues where Mountain Rock left off with a pastoral that holds tight to the beauty of the human spirit while lamenting the more problematic aspects of our shared existence.
Pure Order announced the upcoming Sword of Elan Vital EP available April 6 with a listen to the track “Inside” ft. Prince Po & “Songs of Belial (Walking Dead)”. Comprised of Oxnard artist God’s Gift & LA emcee Nemesis; the crew brings some enlightened lyrics & rhymes with an ultra-electric production provided by Oh No.
The Dazies/Courters deliver a look at the double feature video for “Misery/High Test” from Richard TK Hawke, Michael Elliott Dennis & the Dazies’ own M. Holland. The Boston pop vignettes begin with the adventures of a bumbling superhero trying to make their way through the world while the Courters’ road-tripping visuals takes their death proof style journey up & outward to the cosmos of collective consciousness.
Harlem rising Melii takes the listener on a journey from the club to the open arid roads on the visual for “Icey” directed by YGA for AWGE. Dissing the haters with taunts & boasts about gifts from a bevy of suitors is the principle hook for a track that deals in both minimalist beats & ambiance.
Mind Spiders presents the Mark Ryan video for “Outside” featured off the new album Furies from Dirtnap Records. A strange film-short based on one of Mark’s dreams, the ambient silent thriller works like a strange-dystopian awakening that ends with Mind Spiders’ energetic number as the credits continue to roll.
OUTSIDE from Mark Ryan on Vimeo.
Leeds’ own Night Owls dropped the single for the folks that want everything with “Do You Want It All?” featured off their forthcoming Tragically Human EP available this May. The group creates an ode to greed by way of arranging a whirlwind of chords that take on the institutions & instruments of blind capitalism.
Stimulator Jones delivered more trademark smooth jams with the romantic expressions of “Give My All” featured off the forthcoming album Exotic Worlds and Masterful Treasures available April 27 from Stones Throw. Reiterations of the title’s implied promises underscores the production that grooves with that subdued & low-key kind of pop recommended for those clandestine special moments enjoyed long after the day has retired from its post.
MED & Guilty Simpson just released their collaborative EP Loyalty through Bang Ya Head Entertainment & delivered a listen to “Pie” ft Joyce Wrice with an atmospheric throwback production provided by MNDSGN. The LA/Detroit duo get nostalgic & thoughtful about the hustles & juggling acts we all do in order to get what’s ours in life.
Tiger Darrow delivered a listen to the early signs of those sunnier seasons with the piano & cello guided single “Like Summer”, courtesy of Blanket Fort. Darrow shares the sentiments of the idle games that we play during the warm days & even warmer nights that offer feelings of infinite enchantment & opportunities for ineffable sorts of merriment.
HBK Gang’s own Skipper delivered the visual for “F.U.P.M.” produced by RealFresh & Ace Bankz. The Richmond, California artist keeps the buzz from Prezidential shining strong with a polychrome stage-lit video that raps a big game about material conceits & more.
Said The Whale announced a deluxe edition of their album As Long As Your Eyes Are Wide available March 30 via Hidden Pony Records sharing a look at their SJ Findlay video for “Heaven”. The group sings a song that soars upward toward the celestial realms of the unknown with a style suited for all the expansive outdoor festivals imaginable.
Also indulge yourselves in the previously unreleased single “Congratulations” from Said the Whale that translates salutations & upbeat vibes into one vibrant & energetic pop vignette.
From the upcoming EP, Mr. Probz presents a look at the Meji Alabi video for “Space for Two”. Centered around a mannequin romance come to life, Probz presents a tale about people searching for affection in all the most random places (that mirrors the arbitrary nature of the human heart’s desires).
Watch New Portals’ video for “Inch” about the gives & takes involved in the relationships & bonds that bind. The group croons rhythms & blues over images that depicts the compromises & exchanges shared between couples in the throes of love & adoration (alluding to all the complexities in-between).
Those seeking piano ballads should check out Tall Blonde’s new EP Wonderful full of intimate reflections placed to key-curated tracks. From the title track to the closer “I Will Light up the Sea”; TB shares illuminated observations that sing directly from the heart’s eye & mind & outward toward the world.
Check out Odina’s cover of the iconic Joy Division anthem “Love Will Tear Us Apart” that transforms the track into an intimate number with added sentimentality. The post-punk pretenses of the original become muted in favor of a more chamber pop style that allows every note & utterance to resonate in a sparse arrangement.
Portland cult group bed. returned this week with the beloved new single “Replay” that tackles the reckoning & compromises made in bonds that get complicated. Featuring production from Larry Crane at Jackpot! Recording Studios with mastering by Adam Gonsalves via Telegraph Audio; the duo of Alex & Sierra Haager follow up the previous single “Fine” with a passion that grows stronger & louder every time that resonates deeply to the core of everyone who has the human capacity to feel intricate emotions.
Sunflower Bean keep on kicking out the jams with a listen to their new single “Human For” featured off the upcoming album Twentyone in Blue available March 23 from Mom + Pop. The trio continues to create a bridge between contemporary & classic pop forms while providing their own twists & styles that make them some of the most exciting groups around right now.
Detroit powerhouses La’Britney & Kash Doll delivered the Fly Visuals directed video for their ode to confidence with “Actin’ Funny”, produced by Jerry Parker. Britney & Kash deliver the tenets of being a true ride or die that rolls swiftly (yet serenely) through the sea of phonies & jealous haters while indulging in that opulent life.
