British electro-pop/synthpop artist The Prosaics (aka A.G. Williams) have shared the video for his latest single "Frown".
The song is part of our current playlist and came out in November 2020 via DistroKid. Get your copy here.
The Prosaics preaches from a pulpit of keyboards, surrounded on all sides by towers of antique, quirky synthesisers. From here he croons his scathing critique of the world he sees around him.
The sound of The Prosaics is best described as a raised eyebrow, a disapproving glance over one’s tortoiseshell spectacles, a jog around an amputee ward, a brisk walk home in November, an explicit funeral wreath or simply as something worth listening to.
For fans of: Gorillaz, John Maus, Jack Stauber, Martin L Gore (Depeche Mode), La Roux, Nick Cave, The Smiths, Portishead, The Postal Service & Pulp.
Leeds indie rock/punk band Yard Act have premiered their new single "Dark Days".
The Dark Days/ Peanuts 7" is out now through via their own label, Zen F.C. Get your copy here.
Dark Days is another absolute gem with a locked in groove and scratching and itching guitar work. It has the feel of a classic 1979 post punk single that is part The Fall, part Sleaford Mods and part Andy Gill of Gang of Four's guitar work. The flip Peanuts is more laid back but just as essential and adds a twist of Half Man Half Biscuit.
"With 'Dark Days' I wrote the first verse and chorus hook quite fast but then I didn’t know how to finish it," says frontman James Smith. "The demo Ryan sent was ace, real sparse. The drums were really driven but the bassline felt like it was suspended mid air in the verses, like a dub bassline or something. It created the illusion that you have time to stop and look around amidst the ensuing chaos. It's like in war films when all the noise stops and you just hear the protagonist's heavy breathing whilst they survey their surroundings in slow motion. Then the chorus hit with this ‘Captain Caveman’ vibe, it reminded me of that stop-motion cartoon from the 90's ‘GOGS’ if anyone remembers that? I liked the juxtaposition of the bleak world with the cartoon bass line.
"Despite all the advances humanity has made, the threat of devolution feels increasingly possible in the modern world, and on my bad days when I’m spiralling I can’t help but get trapped in my own head envisioning this post apocalyptic future we’re seemingly headed toward, so fuck knows why I decided to watch Children of Men when I was feeling like that. If I’d fully remembered what happened in it, I don’t think I would've in the middle of a pandemic, but I did, and I actually came away feeling really uplifted by the ending. I saw hope in it, and it helped me finish the story.”
“‘Dark Days’ is the last of four singles before we start work on the album, of which none of those songs will be on," he adds.
South London indie rock/garage pop band Goat Girl have aired a lyric video for their new single "Badibaba"
The song is taken from their upcoming new album 'On All Fours', which will be out on 29th January 2021 via Rough Trade Records. Pre-order your copy here
Swedish post punk/dark wave band Then Comes Silence have released the video for their latest single "In Your Name".
The song is part of our current playlist and is taken from their fifth studio album 'Machine', which came out in March 2020 via Oblivion/SPV (EU) and Metropolis Records (US). Buy your copy here.
English indie rock/punk/alt band Home Counties have dropped the video for their latest single "Modern Yuppies".
The song is part of our current playlist and came out last week via Alcopop Records.. Get it here.
Singer Will Harrison says of the track, “Synths and drum machines were already something we were very keen to explore and 2020 provided us with an unexpected amount of free time to experiment. We dialled the disco influences up to the max and totally embraced that 70’s-cop-drama vibe for this pair of stand-alone singles. It feels like a bold declaration of who we are and it definitely gives a clearer taste of where we’re heading for our next EP.”
“The song is a comparison between the young urban professionals of the 1980s to those of today,” he adds. “It discusses the differences, the way that arrogance and conservatism have made way for self-doubt and socially ‘liberal’ political positions. Ultimately however, they are both plagued by the same condition - of constantly needing more.”
Dublin rock n' roll band Fontaines D.C. have revealed the Soulwax Remix of their song "A Hero's Death".
The remix is out now, get it here. The original version is taken from their latest album "A Hero's Death", which came out in July 2020 through Partisan Records. Get your copy here.
Manchester indie rock/post punk band Blanketman have unveiled a lyric video for their new single "Leave The South".
The song is taken from their forthcoming debut EP 'National Trust', set to arrive in March via [PIAS]. Get it here.
Vocalist Adam Hopper says: “The song harks back to five years ago when I was living in Reading while at uni. While not a bad place, I found my final year tough and was becoming disillusioned with what I was doing and where I was. I was in a rut mentally and my friends had stayed up north and I found myself feeling increasingly isolated and skint.”
“I managed to convince myself that moving back up north would solve all my problems like it was some kind of utopia and started blaming where I was for said problems. I laugh at that now and that’s what the song is about. Although the water really does taste better up north”.”
Brooklyn-based chillwave/indie pop band Small Black have announced the release of their new studio album 'Cheap Dreams'.
The 11-track record will be release on April 9th on 100% Electronica. Pre-order your copy here.
Making their way through three LPs and multiple incarnations of the band, they became a touring machine across America and overseas throughout the last decade. After five years, Cheap Dreams finds the band taking stock on where they’re from and where they’ve ended up.
The album pays tribute to Kolenik’s uncle, a passionate surfer whose attic in Long Island was used for making their first album. Shortly after the release of their 2015 album, he passed from a stroke while at the beach and a good chunk of the record is about his life and how it reflects on the band’s choice to try to live out theirs as musicians.
Check out the album's tracklist and watch the video for their new single "Duplex", below
US dream pop/electronic/synth wave duo Mint Julep (aka wife-and-husband Hollie and Keith Kenniff) have announced the release of their new studio album 'In a Deep and Dreamless Sleep'.
The follow-up to 2019’ Stray Fantasies, is taken from the album , available on March 19th , via Western Vinyl. Pre-order your copy here.
The record, "a distinctly hazier chapter of their technicolor pop venture Mint Julep", blunts the sharpness and softens the glare, striking a balance between songcraft, and Hollie’s solo material, as well as Keith’s output as Goldmund.
In a Deep & Dreamless Sleep assumes a more aerated form, exuding a heavy fog of shoegaze sensibility, though the infectious pop know-how of its precursor remains firmly intact. “Our previous material tended to be structured largely in a verse/chorus setting,” Keith explains, “but these songs are more free flowing and through-composed with a focus on mood and texture. He continues “A lot of the songs are more stream-of-consciousness than premeditated; we went with first ideas and let them guide the composition rather than planning a definitive road map-- which hopefully lends itself to creating a specific and unique emotional connection.”
In a Deep & Dreamless Sleep is a window into an intoxicatingly romantic parallel world the Kenniffs have constructed out of analog synths, masterful sound design, nectar-drenched hooks, and airy vocals that wade way out into a sea of texture. They have managed to hone years worth of date-nights into a 46 minute collection of phosphoric ambient pop which bears a sense of skillful consistency that belies the album’s casual creation.
Check out the album's tracklist and listen to their new single "Black Maps", below.
