Indie pop
Artist of the Month beabadoobee Unleashes the Raw and Gutting Fake It Flowers: Review
The Lowdown: If you’ve ever scrolled TikTok, you’ve heard beabadoobee’s sweet single “Coffee”. It — plus a song that samples it — has been used to soundtrack almost every clip that includes any of the following: a nausea-inducing relationship montage, a racoon (or other wild animal) doing something kind of cute, or a craft project that you will absolutely never do but bookmark anyway. “Coffee” had taken off even before it made its way onto the omnipresent app, when it was posted by 1-800-LOVE-U, a popular YouTube channel with 700,000-plus subscribers. Characterized by a soft, almost dissolvable voice, the song is just under two minutes of simple guitar chords, doughy lyrics, and pleasant feelings. It’s charming, the equivalent of a gentle hug and kiss on the forehead. If, at times, the son...
Claud Signs to Phoebe Bridgers’ Label, Shares New Song “Gold”: Stream
Earlier this month, Phoebe Bridgers launched her very own record label called Saddest Factory, and today she’s announced the imprint’s inaugural signing. The Brooklyn indie pop musician Claud (they/them) is the first artist on the roster, and they’re kicking off the partnership with a new song called “Gold”. Bridgers previously said that her vision for the Dead Oceans imprint is “good songs, regardless of genre”, and “Gold” definitely qualifies. Previous Claud tracks like “Wish You Were Gay” (not to be confused with the Billie Eilish tune) and “If I Were You” were more outwardly melodic and brisk, but “Gold” has has a resigned haziness to it. Claud’s frustration with the ending of a relationship comes through not just in their fatigued vocal delivery, but also the misty harmonies and ...
CHAI Share Sub Pop Debut Single “Donuts Mind If I Do”: Stream
Japanese indie pop band CHAI have signed to Sub Pop Records, and are now sharing their first song on the label, “Donuts Mind If I Do”. The track is the latest in a string of singles from Nagoya-based band, following “Ready Cheeky Pretty”, “keep on rocking”, and their Hinds collaboration “UNITED GIRLS ROCK’N’ROLL CLUB”, among others. Compared to their 2019 album Punk, and even their 2017 debut Pink, “Donuts Mind If I Do” has a much more relaxed vibe that might be signaling a new direction for the quartet. Instead of their usual blend of eccentric pop and giddy punk, this tune moves at a gentle sway and is stuffed with ’80s-esque synths and percussion that create a sense of dreamy lushness. The soaring harmonies are sung in the way of ’70s girl groups, but everything else about the song...
Sylvan Esso Share a Mystical Partnership on Free Love: Review
The Lowdown: At first glance, the crowd at a Sylvan Esso show may look still. Hone in on the mound of bodies, though, and you’ll see that the opposite is true: The crowd is moving unanimously. “Just imagine you’re the seaweed in Ursula’s cave,” lead singer Amelia Meath said during the band’s 2015 Tiny Desk Concert. Although she cringed at herself after sharing the thought, it was a resoundingly accurate way to describe the innate physical reaction the band provokes. Comprised of Meath and producer Nick Sanborn, the duo formed in 2013 after unearthing the power of their combined talents. Meath told her then-boss Feist, “It’s sort of electronic music and he’s going to make beats and I’m going to sing and it’s going to be massive and amazing,” according to an Entertainment Weekly interview. A...
Lykke Li Covers Gloria Gaynor Classic “I Will Survive”: Stream
It’s been well over a year since we’ve heard anything new from Lykke Li. That changes today, however, with the release of a fresh cover song. Fitting considering these unprecedented times, she has tackled the Gloria Gaynor anthem “I Will Survive”. In 2018, the Swedish songwriter effortlessly turned mournful brooding into something hot and heavy on her bluntly titled but very good so sad so sexy. It should come as no surprise, then, that her rendition of a disco classic sounds far and away from Gaynor’s original 1979 vision. That’s not to say the cover isn’t worth a spin or two, especially if you’re a fan of the way Li can evoke a very specific fragile ambiance. Hear it for yourself below, and then revisit Gaynor’s recent interview on This Must Be the Gig. Lately, Li has been surviving...
MICHELLE and Arlo Parks Collaborate on New Version of “Sunrise”: Stream
Earlier this summer, New York City collective MICHELLE returned with “Sunrise”, their first single since 2018. Today, the R&B-inspired group of mostly queer PoC are releasing an alternate version of that song featuring new contributions from British poet and bedroom pop artist Arlo Parks. This new collaboration doubles down on the feel-good warmth of the original track, breezy, sunbaked melodies and all. Its air of longing — specifically for someone who’s definitely not worth a second chance — also remains, but is further emphasized by Parks’ additional verse. Although just 20 years old, Parks has earned a reputation for brutally raw and honest songs — including perhaps one of the most devastating of the year — and she shows that same self awareness here, recognizing that she needs to ...
Anna McClellan Announces New Album I saw first light, Shares Two Singles: Stream
Indie pop songwriter Anna McClellan has announced a new album titled I saw first light, set to arrive November 20th. To accompanying today’s news, the Omaha musician has shared two new singles, “Desperate” and “Pace of the Universe”. The record is McClellan’s third full-length to date and second for Father/Daughter Records following her 2018 album Yes and No. Early on in her career, the Nebraska-born singer-songwriter was cosigned by Frankie Cosmos, which gave her profile a boost and placed her in a league of comparable contemporaries. Like Cosmos and others such as Florist and Dear Nora, McClellan makes soft, relatively lo-fi twee pop with intimate subject matter and clever lyrics. Unlike those other acts, though, McClellan’s songs have a woozy and whimsical swing to them that’s distinctl...
Micachu and the Shapes Change Name, Announce New Album: Stream
Micachu and the Shapes, the noisy indie-pop band led by Under the Skin composer Mica Levi, are back. They have renamed the group Good Sad Happy Bad — taken from their 2015 full-length of the same name — and have announced a new album called Shades. It’s due out October 16th via French label Textile Records. Shades is Good Sad Happy Bad’s fifth studio album to date and their first new music since releasing the Taz and May Vids EP in 2016. According to the record label, Good Sad Happy Bad have shuffled their musical duties on the 12-track full-length, with Raisa Khan taking on lead vocals, Levi playing playing guitar and electronics, Marc Pell on drums, and CJ Calderwood contributing vocals, saxophone, and recorder. To coincide with today’s announcement, Good Sad Happy Bad have also sha...
Japanese Breakfast and Crying’s Ryan Galloway Form BUMPER, Share pop songs 2020 EP: Stream
Quarantine has been somewhat of a double-edged sword. While it’s put great distances between close friends, it’s also forced people to find new ways to connect. Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner and Crying’s Ryan Galloway, for example, live just three blocks away from each other in New York, but haven’t been face-to-face in months. But while they’ve been separated, they’ve also been working on new music together under the moniker BUMPER. Originally, Zauner had reached out to Galloway simply to contribute a guitar line to her forthcoming Japanese Breakfast album. “I just wanted to work with people that really inspired me creatively,” she told Rolling Stone. “We worked together and made something that was totally out of the realm of what I would usually make. I realized that Ryan had...
Hinds and CHAI Form a “UNITED GIRLS ROCK’N’ROLL CLUB” on New Song: Stream
Whether you think Hinds are the Spanish CHAI or CHAI or the Japanese Hinds, there’s an undeniable kinship between the bands. So even though they live in different corners of the world, it was probably only a matter of time before the two bands joined forces. Today, they’ve released their oh-so-fitting collaborative single “UNITED GIRLS ROCK’N’ROLL CLUB”. The trilingual track (Spanish, Japanese, and English) sees the eight musicians reveling in the joy of collaborating with fellow female artists. “Because we have been fans way longer than in bands,” they sing together. “And now the music has more power in our hands.” In a joint statement, the bands said, “‘UNITED GIRLS ROCK’N’ROLL CLUB’ is a song that screams GIRL POWER. You might be from different countries, different languages, but at the...
Seraphina Simone Channels Her Inner St. Vincent on New Song “Hollywood $$$”: Stream
Seraphina Simone began writing original songs as a way to transform her childhood musical upbringing into a canvas for the inevitably life-changing experiences of adulthood. While the rising indie pop artist doesn’t have a stack of albums under her belt just yet, she does have an impressive range of influences she draws from, including Bat for Lashes, Human League, Blondie, and Lorde. On her newest single, though, Simone channels her inner St. Vincent to create the dark alt-pop hit that is “Hollywood $$$”. This is the second song Simone has released so far, following her debut single “Cherry <8”. While that track earned her digital hype via tastemaker playlists, it’s “Hollywood $$$” that sounds like a verifiable breakout hit. Perhaps its because Simone makes a sharpe critique of the ver...
Perfume Genius Performs “Whole Life” on Colbert: Watch
On Thursday, Perfume Genius delivered a #PlayAtHome performance of “Whole Life” on The Late Show. Despite not actually broadcasting from a proper TV studio, the artist born Michael Hadreas still held viewers captive, thanks to some dramatic lighting and his magnetic body language. The whole thing was shot in a dimly lit room in Los Angeles with longtime collaborator Alan Wyffels. Hadreas can be seen performing in front of a projection screen rolling footage of collapsing water towers. Between that imagery, the song itself, and Hadreas’ body and shadow dancing in tandem with one another against the screen, it all felt somewhat poetic. You could almost say that the emotive potency of Perfume Genius is so powerful it transcends quarantine borders. Watch it for yourself below, and then revisit...
