The final piece of Milly's long awaited and slowly unraveled new EP, Wish Goes On, is out, and the release comes into bloom in its entirety through Dangerbird Records, depicting the band's foreseen maturation, and their superb execution of nineties shoegaze and grunge rendered in today's terms.
Star Spangled Banner, is the EP's opening track and the newest revealed from the five which comprise Wish Goes On. It's a very strong opening statement from the band, coming with an almost caustic character, distrustful of the notion of the US supremacy as it is persistently put across, especially to children. Heavy and sharp guitars blend tunefully with the mellowness in Brendan Dyer's songwriting, and through a crystalline production, soft vocals and an overarching sense of forcefulness, the way is paved for the both the milder and the fiercer directions which Milly's sound tends to take in the songs which follow.
The very gentle, Denial, captures feelings of lonesomeness in a perfect way, leading single, Star Thistle Blossom, takes the band's guitar-laden energy to the highest peaks possible as it doesn't lack in anything compared to first-rate nineties grunge rockers, while the previously unheard, Teach Old Dogs New Tricks, is another acute balance between the moody slowcore and slacker rock candor. Another melodious ode to desolation, closer Birds Fly Free concludes the five song set to oneiric high note.
"Wish Goes On signifies a new beginning," Brendan Dyer says writes about the new EP. "It marks the transition from Milly being primarily a solo endeavour to a full on collaborative and living being. The songs serve as an example of time passing, new passages, and ideas to wish for. It is an acknowledgement of all that I've experienced in the past few years but stepping forward with new energy.. accompanied and supported by the best people. The guitars are big, the lyrics are heartfelt and true, and the future is looking bright. It's everything I have collected over time and emphasized on, via the lens of my closest contributors. We have become one single unit on Wish Goes On."
Brighton's Sloe Noon consist of Anna Olive and Dennis Mielke, a couple of five years, releasing their self-recorded debut EP, Embassy Court, on April 9th, 2021. The seven-song release draws its title from the seafront building at their hometown were the songs were conceived.
Underwater (I am blue), one of the EP's darkest moments, is also a representation of the existential character which the band's songwriting maintains, and also a leveled unification of mellowness and fuzz, dwelling in the more shadowy side of dreampop, reminiscent of genre staples like The Sundays and The Jesus And Mary Chain.
"The verses describe that feeling of wanting to dissolve into somebody else, so you don't have to feel the way you feel anymore, depending on others for emotional stability and the self-loathing that comes with that," Anna Olive details the track's deep sentimentality. "The chorus was written after someone said to me 'what as small world we live in', but I felt really overwhelmed with existential angst that day, so it just expresses that momentum of feeling totally lost and small by invalidating that statement."
Musing on themes of anxiety and depression, the track, much like the rest of the EP, brings forward a distinguishable and purposeful young act with an eloquent approach.
"Concepts of underwaterness and drowning are the imagery for these dark feelings, especially since I’ve always lived by the sea this holds greater symbolic meaning." Olive concludes: "Towards the end of the song it gets harder and harder to breathe and finally there is one last breath before going under."
After three fantastic originals and punchy cover of a post punk standard, it feels very safe to say that Inked In Red, the impending album by Georgia band, Vision Video, is going to be one of 2021's most forceful debuts.
Siren's Song is the fifth track revealed off the album, and one of those pieces which appear firmly grounded in the real world, undeterred by the band's highly stylized aesthetics and their relatively sensationalistic take on post punk.
"Siren's Song is a track that Emily [Fredock] and I co-wrote, and therefore has separate meanings for us both," reveals the band's own Dusty Gannon. "On Emily's behalf, the song was about a failed relationship, and the desire to recover that relationship. For myself, I framed that emotional landscape as a metaphor for my strange, recurring desire to go back to a warzone or be in emergency situations. Once you've been through something like a war, or worked as a first responder, other things in life can be pale in comparison, so the allegorical 'siren' in the song is that strange voice in my head that tends to pop up to say, ‘You need me. You belong here.’ I think this song is fundamentally about looking at something you know is not good for you, but being seduced by its undeniable allure."
The entirety of Inked In Red releases on April 16th, 2021.
Brooklyn-based act, No Kill, is the solo project of Jamie Cogar whose first album, Gold Chorus, is expected out on May 21st, 2021 through Substitute Scene Records. First single and video, Swooning, previews No Kill's perfect implementation of influences, solid production and overall sense of glimmer and warmth, placing the act as one of the brightest new ones in current shoegaze pop.
“It’s a song about desire,” Jamie Cogar comments on Swooning. “It’s about vulnerability, irreverence, and the power games people play with one another.”
Candid and densely structured like a traditional pop song, Swooning becomes an engaging shoegazer by way of its fine embellishment, the rich, yet, subtle textures in its production and its neat use of reverb, overall recollecting the sway of acts like Beach House, Asobi Seksu and The Raveonettes.
The single comes with a video of correspondingly lush and colorful visuals, directed by Matthew Conboy.
As a self taught musician who still plays by ear, and who admittedly taught herself by playing guitar along with nineties grunge on the radio, Cogar passes that frankness which inherently inhabits her creative core on to her songs, and the outcome is vibrant.
We Are Radio Signals is the latest single and album opener off the third installment of BIG GREY SUN, the copious project by productive musician Death Hags which is being released gradually.
This time around the artist achieves a more graspable, easier to take in sound which at first glance compares to sixties pop and soul pop, and comes with a guitar-driven outlook, ultimately bringing forth qualities close to shoegaze, grunge and twee pop. Those extend to the rest of the album which isn't lacking a sense of experimentation, but it's has been the most straightforward of the bunch thus far.
Death Hags covers a wide range of sounds and styles in a consistent manner, displaying her apprehension of both pop and underground music's history, together with a unique ability to adapt and transform effortlessly as a creator.
Generic synthwave has been a bit of an annoyance lately, with mundane productions keep piling up within the genre and its nearby styles, but this has never been the case for Californian producer Lucy In Disguise who collaborates with Atlanta's System96 for the new single, Level.
With a mellow approach with verges on chillwave and hypnagogic pop, the new track is a sharp mixture of sounds, and a presentation of both act's instrumental savvy. It comes off both upbeat and leisurely at the same time, conveying a sense of all around ease and contentment.
"The song was recorded mainly with hardware synthesizers including the OB-6, Sub Phatty, and the Arp Odyssey," LID's Steven Romeo lets us in on the track's production which is undoubtedly of the highest grade.
Bram Stalker is a heavy rock duo from Italy whose sound draws from noise rock, hardcore and stoner metal, resulting into a hard hitting mix full of intensity and grit. The band consists of Andrea Maceroni (vocals, bass) and Jacopo De Marco (drums), and their latest single, Dormant, is a collaboration with Nick Oliveri of Mondo Generator, Queens of the Stone Age, and the great Kyuss.
Bram Stalker's history with Oliveri goes back to 2018 when the band opened for him, and the two sides eventually ended up playing the QOTSA classic Millionaire live together. Later on the two joined forces and came up with the massive punk rocker, Dormant, a fine presentation of the spunk which defines Bram Stalker.
"The track talks about violence from the police towards civilians," the band describe. "It is inspired by Cucchi's story, a true emblem of abuse of power and office games."
The elevated audiovisual experience which the upcoming Nous Alpha record is shaping up to be, is once again detailed through a new track and video, the rather trippy, Golden Lemon, the third single from A Walk In The Woods, expected out in full on May 7th, 2021 though Our Silent Canvas.
"Two musicians living close with nature, collecting sounds and impressions, documenting their process, turning the experience into electronic music. I was intrigued by the idea," describes director Ployz.
Golden Lemon presents a brighter part of Nous Alpha, once again, giving emphasis to the act's instrumental finesse and their expertise on the utilization of synths.
"It’s a great example of how we pull from different genres and elements to form our own electronic style," Christopher Bono (Ghost Against Ghost, Bardo, Nous) and Gareth Jones (Spiritual Friendship, Grizzly Bear, Depeche Mode, WIRE) describe. "The driving accompaniment was influenced by old Motown riffs and the beautiful, anthemic ambient melody pulls from shoegazer and ambient traditions. Gareth channelled the brilliant idea of pulling out the Leslie 122 speaker in the OSC studio. This track is a great example of how we used it. Listening deeply you can hear the swirling, grinding bit of dirtiness that gives off the wonderful Leslie vibe."
It's always heartening to observe a favorite act being in a consistently creative state, especially when the quality of that creativity looking like it's peaking as well. This is exactly the case for Kraków Loves Adana and the world they've built around their latest album, Darkest Dreams.
The band's new single, Everything Dies, is a steeped in darkness electronic reworked version of Love Isn’t Dead which was part of the canonical album.
"Everything Dies is the epilogue to Love Isn’t Dead and in a way also to Darkest Dreams," comments singer and producer Deniz Çiçek. "Fears, hopes, dreams may die but when you’re ready eventually make room for a new chapter. So farewell, this is just another beginning."
With a new arrangement and the same lyrics, KLA get to push a key part of what has become their most gloomy and somber work to date into an even darker territory, completing their vision in truly satisfactory way.
With a great title and a dynamic, propulsive dark sound, graphic designer Kevin Grady's project, Black Plastic, prepares to put forward his sophomore release, following the acclaimed self-titled debut from 2016. Club Grotesque comes out April 16th, 2021 through Cleopatra Records, and the dark electronica of first single and album closer, Bite, offers some irresistible stimulation for darkwave audiences and beyond.
"Club Grotesque grew out of a genuine sense of darkness and dread in what has been one of the hardest years we've experienced," Kevin Grady comments on the coming album. "Because of that, we doubled down on the beats—sometimes all you can do is dance it all out, even if it's by yourself in your bedroom. It's not goth, but it's definitely dance music for vampires."
Bite features the vocal of synthpop artist André Obin, while the album is a pretty guest-heavy one altogether, with Richard Butler (The Psychedelic Furs), Robert Calvert (Hawkwind) and Jason Corbett (ACTORS) also being parts of Black Plastic's new material.
