This week we’ve got synth pop, ambient, alternative rock, indie rock, dream pop, and a whole lot more! So, in no particular order, here are ten of the best!
10. Danni Giddings – Ready
In her second collaboration with UK based producer Will Davidson, Australian singer-songwriter Danni Giddings moved from her primarily piano based instrumental to one characterised by hardware synths and future pop atmospheres. Sounding straight out of 2050, ‘Ready’ begins with a scintillating hyper advanced layer of synths before Dani enters. It’s incredibly charged, filled to the brim with unadulterated and unwavering energy to hype you up for a fresh day. The song’s glitzy, Nintendo-64-esque cover art goes well in hand with its sound — an aural journey that’s almost like a future beats hype song.
If you need a spike, a wake me up that’s going to get you off your feet and spiked to work or play for the new day, look no more. ‘Ready’ makes you ready, it is a fiery piece of up-tempo electropop that’s catchy and powerful all at once. Don’t sleep on the production either, it’s masterfully done.
9. Molosser – Ray of Moonlight
Just a week back, I covered Molosser’s last single, ‘Dive In’, a dark and nocturnal piece of folk music that the band appropriately dubbed ‘doom folk’. Almost diametrically opposed to this former single, ‘Ray of Moonlight’, as the name would suggest, is a more traditional piece of Americana that still maintains the idiosyncrasies and oddities that make the duo so endearing. With their signature down tuned acoustics and varied vocal intonations, ‘Ray of Moonlight’ is by all accounts an incredibly pleasurable listen from start to finish.
It’s got a unique melody to it, one that’s exemplified by the seemingly ominous acoustic work that works in wonderful tandem with the simultaneously lackadaisical and charged vocals. The highlight of the track for me comes in the first half itself, when the titular ‘ray of moonlight’ is sung in resolute silence before the acoustic returns to slowly bring the tempo back up. For fans of folk music, especially the kind that isn’t afraid to go above and beyond traditionally defined walls in the genre, Molosser would be a welcome addition to your playlists. Starting with ‘Ray of Moonlight’, a more signature folk piece, would be the ideal starting point. Check it out on this mesmerising video down below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCZVbudrOxM
8. Zeplyn – All The King’s Horses
I find it almost unbelievable that Zeplyn described ‘All The King’s Horses’ as a mere placeholder while writing it. The song sounds incredibly intentional, a masterfully composed progression that’s scenically cinematic even without the video. Part of a new wave of folk music, the kind that incorporates modern traditions of hyper pop, the folktronica single sounds like it should play in the background of a grandiose fantasy film. Zeplyn’s vocals are normally breath-taking as is, evidenced by her numerous stripped back acoustic songs and covers. But with the additional vocal layers and tunes added in the final version, it finds a wholly new niche. It’s slightly wavy, moving back and forth in your ears with an incandescence that builds and builds to a an opulent crescendo in the final section.
The chorus — ‘All the King’s horses, and all the king’s men can’t put us back together’ — stays in your head for days after just one listen. And that final section, when the percussive elements come crashing down and the volume gets taken up a notch, is just so monumental. Due to it’s almost dual genre style, ‘All The King’s Horses’ will be immediately adored by folk, pop, and electronic fans alike. But in my eyes, the anthemic feel that it creates gives it an appeal that is far more than mere genres alone. Go stream it now!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BebBaVEjcOI
7. The Illustrative Violet – Odyssey
I think Odyssey’s biggest selling point is the way they combine the catchy and pleasurable melodies and vocals of an alternative rock track with the more experimental and transcendent atmospheres of a well crafted psychedelic piece. On ‘Odyssey’, the electric guitar opens to introduce an emotively breath-taking sensuous psychedelic intro before a more easy-going alternative section takes over. Of course, it’s not long after that a masterful guitar solo comes out towards the end either. It’s a starship of a track in theme and sonic journey. The song’s inspiration comes from the divisions that happen between people and the trials they go through to become united once more, set to a soundtrack of space travel.
Their influences are clearly psychedelic, but not restricted. Combining elements of a Floyd and Tame Impala, ‘Odyssey’ is a uniquely modern and traditional piece all at once. It’s also defiantly ambitious as a songwriting challenge as the single represents one part from a concept album about space travel and humanity. Considering the record was entirely home recorded individually, you’ve got to be left incredibly impressed with the mastering on this as well. Go stream it now!
6. Linus Fenton – Hedgehog
On first hearing ‘Hedgehog’, I was confused. The song’s first two minutes are a beautifully soothing ambient jazz and acoustic based instrumental that had me expecting a certain kind of progression. But then, out of nowhere, Linus starts singing in a distorted and anxious voice, ‘Oh Dear is it all true?’. As a massive Strokes fan myself, the verse being covered here (What Ever Happened?) didn’t fly past me. I started smiling uncontrollably eagerly awaiting where this composer was going to take this. And with each minute on ‘Hedgehog’, Linus takes you on a new ride that seamlessly flows from one to another. His vocal delivery definitely has a bit of Julian in it, but the instrumental backing and progression is wholly his and his alone.
A soothing introduction, an exciting interpolation of a classic, an annoyingly catchy midsection, and a beautifully fading acoustic outro all within six and a half minutes. It’s a progressive gem that’s filled with little oddities that will perk your attention. But by no means is it the kind of experimental that’s going to take you several listens to appreciate, it’s composed so fluently that it’s immediately pleasurable.
5. Watasino – Sayonara
Coming from Okinawa Japan, Watasino is in my eyes a name to look out for in the futre of lo-fi music. Made and mastered in his home in Tokyo, ‘Sayonara’ is a thoroughly fresh and funky piece of instrumental hip-hop that incorporates a childlike ‘sayonara’ vocal utterance scattered sporadically through its runtime. It’s masterfully mellow, the ideal kind of lo-fi music you’d want on your playlist in the dying hours of the day or even deep into the night.
With a wonderfully mellow acoustic backing and an almost frog like percussive, it’s got a real head knocking feel to it. Written in a Japanese bedroom, Watasino hopes that his interpretation of modern lo-fi hip-hop can touch global audiences. If ‘Sayonara’ is any indication, that dream could be realised sooner rather than later.
4. Third Girl From The Left – The Mountain and the Wave
Third Girl From The Left is exciting. Dark, intimate, experimental, and even ominous at times, her music roots itself in avant-pop and folk rock sounds. Replete with heavy and thundering guitar riffs, ‘The Mountain and the Wave’ is a sonic journey unlike most. It’s got an allure to it that’s strangely intoxicating. The song’s inspired by a little known Greek myth called the Tyro, exactly the kind of oddity you’d expect from a tune this off field.
The track, which was recorded in her home studio is carried by a thundering bass and organ. Interestingly, it also features a signature field recording, which in this case was a motorbike revving in the key of E. Combine all that together and you’ve got a powerful instrumental that doesn’t just creep up on you, but jumps on top of you, grabs you by the feet, and powers you forward. A little bit of mythology and folksy singing makes the song just that little bit more ominous to listen to. All in all, an absolute delight of a record that will be adored by fans of more experimental music.
3. Alice Pisano – Open Up
Sometimes, all you need is a jolt of positive pop music to make your day. Alice Pisano’s latest single, ‘Open Up’, is unabashedly optimistic — the kind that will have you running down a street screaming its chorus at the top of your lungs. ‘Open Up’ has been written by Alice and produced with Troy Miller (Emeli Sandé, Jamie Cullum) with additional production by John Foyle (Years & Years, Maisie Peters). The single isn’t too complicated, but it is an example of how pop music, when done right, can put a smile on anyone’s face. Honestly, I’m surprised a song this addictively catchy and well produced isn’t already on the charts.
Regarding the single Alice says, “I wanted to write an uplifting love song, both lyrically and musically… something to get people moving and in a good mood. I kept the lyrics quite simple, like I wish love was! ‘Open Up’ is about finding someone who feels like home, someone you can truly be yourself around. A safe haven, after all the broken hearts and disappointments.”
To me, the song is made by its opening minute. Starting soft, the beat opens casually with Alice singing in an inviting fashion to take you alongside the song’s journey. Around the half-minute work, the bridge kicks in and the production starts to ramp up till a resoundingly upbeat crescendo kicks in. It got me all kinds of nostalgic to music in the early 00s. A track that’s guaranteed to make you just a little bit happier in your everyday.
2. Moonroof – Sweatshirt
Sweatshirt is a song that’s as enjoyable as it is relatable. It’s about longing, about those little things we leave behind in relationships that make us reminisce, and about letting go and moving on from that which we can’t leave behind. It’s got the nostalgic energy of a teenage movie, that kind of unbridled emotion that comes through in each lyric. While it might seem overly sentimental at times, I’m sure everyone has experienced precisely the same emotions that Moonroof brings to life on this record at some point or the other.
A little bit of indie pop, a little bit of pop rock make the song what it is. The opening instrumental, which sounds almost classical in composition is my favourite part. When the guitar hits and Dave Kim sings ‘she got that 1975 sweatshirt, we fell in love and I’m still a little headhurt ‘, you instantly know the kind of sentimentality the songs bringing. And then on the chorus, the song almost shifts to a pop-punk vibe. I’m so glad to be living through a resurgence of pop rock and Moonroof’s ‘Sweatshirt’ is a more than welcome addition. It’s the kind of song you want to bang loud in your room when you’re feeling that extra emotion.
1. Lenny James – Make Our Move
Lenny James has a voice to remember. On his debut single, ‘Make Our Move’, he showcases his capability to pen down and perform tunes that are born to capture a large audience. The song sounds like it was meant for a stadium, it’s got that thundering sing-along anthemic energy infused into every lyric and every progression. Recorded and released alongside an acoustic version of the same, you can tell that the track has been composed with a keen attention to detail. It’s also a sign of the times, a tune about escapism, freedom, and the yearning to escape both the physical and mental limitations that the virus has brought onto all of us. A much needed reprieve.
Lenny has been working and writing songs with Starwood Management (Michael Kiwinuka, The Kooks) and Danny Yates (BBC Radio 1&2, Warner Brothers) to produce his debut album dropping in 2021. If this song is anything to go by, you can bet your dollar that you’ll be hearing a lot more of Lenny James on the charts soon. Catch an early ticket to that bandwagon by streaming ‘Make Our Move’ now!
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