Silas Armstrong – So Much For Love
Silas Armstrong’s voice immediately catches you off guard. Not for any reason of unwarranted surprise, but purely because you’d expect someone who possesses control, texture, and emotion like his to already be signed to a label. ‘So Much For Love’ puts on complete display the stylistic capabilities and range of Silas in a short but tightly packed single. His voice is definitely the highlight, with pitch perfect melodies that come to the fore in a chorus that reels you in with ease. But there’s also a rather unexpected and intriguing rap section that shifts the song into a different gear momentarily.
‘So Much For Love’ is the 4th single from Silas this year, and also the title track from his debut EP (same day release). “It’s about heartbreak but not in the way you would expect. It’s about a parent not a lover.” With electric production and a smorgasbord of influences all meshed together with pomp and restraint, it is the perfect single to announce Silas into the industry. Contemporary pop, but unabashedly unique.
5ON5 – Runaway
‘Runaway’ pushes the limits of electro-pop, incorporating bits and pieces of hip-hop and rap to elevate its experience beyond the normal scope. It’s a song for free spirits, or rather, a song to unleash your free spirit. Adding both a single edit and a party remix to its release, 5ON5’s debut single is a powerful piece of energised and eclectic commercial pop music that is just loaded with stamina and vitality. “We consider the music to be more important than the text. but this song is about a secret runaway. running away together, or from each other, or from something. on a secret path or with a secret in mind. getting free from whatever holds you back“
The song wasn’t born in an instant either, it’s a project that’s taken over forty recordings to reach the stage where the group were happy with the release. Each member has a vocal section, and a piano plus classical incorporation gives it a flair of differentiation. With a music style self-described as something as free as modern art, you can bet top dollar that 5ON5 are bound to bring more and more exciting and eccentric electronic and contemporary pop tunes to the fore.
They’re addictively catchy to the point of annoyance, but that’s precisely the kind of commercial pop that lives long in memory.
Love, Lies, and Fiction – Dream Away The Lonely (Acoustic)
Telling the age old told of the parting of ways between a relationship gone south, and a toxic one at that, ‘Dream Away The Lonely’ is an achingly melancholic folk tune filled with raw emotion and introspective feeling. It delves deep into this central theme of loneliness, particularly the pains that come with needlessly lengthy introspection when spending prolonged periods of time by ourselves. Love, Lives, and Fiction have come up with a tune that explores our choice of recollection after a breakup, our selective inability to remember all the negatives from a toxic relationship. Instead, we choose to reminisce about the good parts, wearing rose-tinted goggles and looking back with longing affection towards a love that was in all likelihood deeply problematic.
The acoustic work and vocal harmonisation is the song’s main highlight. A wonderful meshing of different guitar sounds, a bit of electric injected in for good measure, and lyricism that’s slightly soppy but wholly impactful. ‘So I’ll dream away the lonely, when I dream I’m in the only place where you and me are still in love’ . Simple, but perfectly emblematic of how a broken relationship lives only in our memory and subconscious. A song for when you’re down in the dumps and want to wallow that much more.
Maejis Mind – Dizzy
An overwhelming wave of psychedelic vitality envelopes you from the first second Maejis Mind unleashes his flurry of instrumentation that incorporates funk, dreamy soundscapes, and heavily reverbed vocals. It’s far from languid though, lulling you into a dual sense of relaxation and exaltation through a combination of more upbeat and high vitality instrumentation with more sedated and drowsy vocals. In a way, it does exactly what it’s name suggests it will do — you’re left dizzy.
The electric guitar gives the song a freneticism that’s simultaneously anxiety inducing as well as mellowing. It’s a song built in contrasts, constantly oscillating between highs and lows to keep you in the right headspace throughout. You’d be hard pressed to find a better piece of psychedelic rock in today’s landscape. The sheer height of musical talent that Maejis Mind is able to display as a solo project is impressive in and of itself. But it’s the quality of merging this together that makes him a worthwhile case to explore. Lie back and revel in the myriad of waves that he drops on to you.
Wynona Bleach – Drag
I rarely come across songs that instantly strike a chord from the first ten seconds as strikingly as Wynona Bleach does so on ‘Drag’. The Irish indie rock outfit’s latest piece has one of the best riffs all year, the kind loaded with emotion, nostalgia, and warmth. This should come as no surprise to anyone who’s had the slightest glance at their storied background and backing — supporting legends like Alice in Chains live and having been signed by the same label that’s worked with Coldplay, Death Cab for Cutie, Keane, and more. The track was mixed by Grammy nominated mix engineers Andy Bradfield and Avril Mackintosh who have had extensive careers working alongside artists including Manic Street Preachers, Tori Amos, Bjork and Rufus Wainwright amongst others.
The vocal harmonies are supple and sweet, with a bright and sparkling tinge that accentuates the over the top optimism of the electric riff behind it. As the distortion hits after the first riff, the song’s shoegaze and grunge influences come crashing in to switch tonalities entirely. But the song’s special for it’s feeling, the kind that it’s indie rock half takes centre stage to deliver. One of the best riffs and choruses all year.
Breakfast for Dinner – Say
Indie pop today has predilection for synth based production. That ethereal and dreamy quality we associate with the genre is almost wholly conceptualised through the usage of glistening and glittery synths that just exude positivity. Breakfast for Dinner find themselves in the category of artist like The 1975, with the latter’s influence shining brightly on the emerging dream pop outfit. ‘Say’, their latest track, features supple drums, glazing guitars, and reverbed and resplendent vocals.
“Say is about not wanting to hold your partner back in a relationship. I think when you care about someone else’s needs so much, and you aren’t mindful, you can accidentally put your emotions in the backseat.“
It’s a deeply vulnerable piece of pop music but the emotion comes out through the production, a glisteningly ethereal dream pop soundscape that completely envelopes you in its glassy walls. A song to unwind to.
Small Dogs – Vieques & Dark Rum
‘Vieques & Dark Rum’ immediately takes you to a place unexplored, a dreamscape that you can only imagine in your fantasy. Sitting on a beach, sipping a cold beer, and enjoying relaxing to languid and lazy tunes that just amplify your ability to lie back. ‘small dogs’ is a Brooklyn based artist & producer who has lived in London, East Africa and New York and is an ethnomusicologist as well as musician. The song just effortlessly exudes a beach atmosphere, the kind that’s brought to life by guitar work that cannot be better described than just smooth.
Perhaps interestingly, this distinctively Caribbean energy was somehow crafted in a studio in London. The steamy falsetto delivered by Kelly Vargas elevates the song to new heights, placating any worry you might have. So sip your pina colada, doesn’t even matter if you’re in a locked room with dingy lighting, you’ll immediately be transported to a sunny beach with coconuts and glistening sand all around you. There’s no better escape on a day where you’re tired and fed up with the mundane and drab city life all around you.
Martin Smith – Trouble (feat The Kingdom Choir)
Despite being an entirely areligious person myself, I find myself inexplicably and eagerly drawn towards songs with religious overtones. The genuine faith and love that musicians who avowedly sing for a higher power display is the closet I’ve come to believing that there might be a spirit or guiding presence above. Be it Indian classical musicians or Western choirs, there’s an energy that religious music is able to create that no other form can come close to matching. Martin Smith has been working in the field for thirty odd years, and he’s managed to build a style that bases itself in grandiosity and cinematic soundscapes that illuminate a feeling of faith that even a non believer can buy into.
Following a serious road accident which left him hospitalised for several weeks, Smith made the decision to become a full-time musician and the band Delirious? was born. The band witnessed immense success, gaining airplay across top charts in the United Kingdom and beyond. Their brand of Christian pop-rock clearly resonated amongst the masses. ‘I’m going to sing my way out of trouble” becomes such an anthemic clarion call that draws you in, compelling you to chant alongside Martin. It’s a majestic choir driven pop rock tune that can be enjoyed by anyone, and might just inject a bit of faith into your life.
Mid Ground X Ellen Mara – Peace In The Sky
The latest collaboration between Mid Ground & Ellen Mara is the equivalent of a heavy relaxant warped into a single four minute long neo-soul driven piece. Combining bits and pieces of r&b from the 90s and 00s with firm foundations in Jazz, the duo have put together a groovy and smooth genre bending record that makes you want to ‘be sky high’ like they call for. It’s such a moody piece of soul music, but one that’s got a whole lot of flair embedded into it.
The instrumental duo of Mid Ground collaborating alongside Ellen Mara is a combination made to match. The combination falls together like a complex jigsaw set finally coming to fruition. It’s intricate, eclectic, and immensely enjoyable. Neo-soul is hard to get right, but when all the right notes are hit and linked together seamlessly, you’re never going to be disappointed. The genre is just immediately enjoyable to any listener, it’s got a ubiquitous appeal to anyone who calls music a part of their life. And ‘Peace In The Sky’ manages to capture that energy with ease. Ellen’s vocals glide over each string of Mid Ground’s web of sounds.
Rebecca Sichon – Innocence
Innocence is a personal track. When Rebecca Sichon first penned the piece, she had just moved to Vancouver in the fall of 2020. At the time, just a nascent songwriter herself, Sichon was drowning in the deep end of her own expectations. The weight of these expectations fuelled her drive to improve, but they also took a significant mental toll on her. The entire process of writing and recording ‘Innocence’ was a cathartic experience for the artist, playing a critical role in her own growth and development.
The young singer-songwriter also just happens to be a multi-instrumentalist, adding more and more skills to her ever growing repertoire of musicality. On ‘Innocence’, Sichon opts for a ballad. The slow and progressive piece fixates her powerful and wide vocal range as the centrepiece. The song starts from a place of restrained elegance but soon transcends into a more opulent production that builds with such verve and vigour that makes it feel like the outro to a drama movie.
As far as contemporary pop goes, it’s a near perfect sequenced project that allows a blossoming singer-songwriter display to the world the full breadth of her talent. You’re not finding a better voice anytime soon.