Indie pop
TRACK: Julianna Barwick ft. Jónsi – In Light
Julianna Barwick releases stunning single ‘In Light’, featuring Jónsi from Sigur Rós via Ninja Tune. The single is off Barwick’s new album ‘Healing Is A Miracle’ which is out on 10th July and will be her 6th album. It is an absolutely breathtaking masterpiece of choral sounds, shifting light and shade with the evocation of …
Track: Swansea’s Mojo Jnr make hazy bedroom pop with Miles Away
SWANSEA’S Josh David-Read might just be Cymru music scene’s latest little treasure. The nation that brought us Super Furry Animals, Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci and Cate Le Bon will have a new songster to embrace with the debut track from Josh, who records as Mojo JNR. He said: “My goal is to make great …
Track: The Brave Faces – Lots of Nights Out
Brighton’s The Brave Faces follow up their impressive debut ‘In The Dark’ (premiered by me earlier this year) with ‘Lots of Nights Out’, another pure pop indie delight. The song captures the ennui of being out with people you don’t particularly like, with a sly sense of humour and a witty turn of phrase: Lots …
Track: Sweater Curse – Close
Brisbane’s Sweater Curse have just released the fantastic single ‘Close’, which has to be in my opinion one of the most bubbly, bouncy pop hits of the year so far. ‘Close’ has sky-high anthemic choruses, a certain indie pop sensibility and enough grit and grunge to be effervescently cool. And through the bubblegum pop melodies, …
Track: Silverbacks – Muted Gold
Quirky and bubbly, angular and slightly off-kilter: Dublin’s Silverbacks have released a fantastic new single ‘Muted Gold’ that is eccentric, bold and highly enjoyable. Think of Talking Heads (maybe more Tom Tom Club), Arcade Fire and Vampire Weekend with the slightly unhinged singing and idiosyncratic guitar picking style that I always associate with the late …
Track: Sunburn – Jump the Gun
Sunburn are part of an astonishing cluster of indie bands that are bursting out of Dublin at the moment. Indeed, Sunburn have a melodic and passionate creativity that makes them as endearing and enduring as fellow Dublinites Fontaines D.C., The Murder Capital and Just Mustard, with more of a pop flavour. The shard-like guitars of …
Track: Yr Eira – Middle of Nowhere
Yr Eira have just released a delightful, thoughtful and dreamy single in the form of ‘Middle of Nowhere’ off their forthcoming album ‘Map Meddwl’ out on 15 May 2020 through I KA CHING. Beneath the hazy shimmering feel is a message where freedom from romantic entanglements is interweaved with a subtext of Welsh independence. Do …
Album Review: RVG – Feral
Melbourne band RVG (Romy Vager Group), in their second album ‘Feral’, have somehow managed to coalesce all that is great in the Australian indie scene – past and present – to produce what is in my opinion one of the best global releases in recent years. Hyperbole? Have a listen. You can detect all that …
Track: Melenas – Primer Tiempo
‘Primer Tiempo’, the new single from Pamplona, Spain’s power pop garage band Melenas, is a panacea for our weird pandemic world. It is a synth-driven piece of pop perfection that bounces and gambols along seemingly without an earthly concern, and yet antithetically, the vocals are infused with the sort of melancholia I love and appreciate. …
Album Review: Impulsive Hearts – Cry All The Time
‘Cry All The Time’, the new album from Chicago band romantically named Impulsive Hearts is an instantly adorable release that captures an indie low fi dynamic adorned by brilliantly exotic instrumental flourishes. The album is exemplified by singer Danielle Sines’s gorgeous expressive voice – loaded with yearning and melancholia, melodic and evocative that pours over …