Absent City - Ticker Tape Parade
"Ticker Tape Parade" by Absent City is one of those soft pop-rock numbers that would sound right at home soundtracking a partly cloudy beach day or the lull that strikes in the middle of road trips. The song has that oddly small Midwestern town vibe, like it found fun in itself in a place where there isn't much else to do but look inside yourself and pull out the pretty parts that make your day memorable. The vocals are shrouded in some kind of demurity reserved for indie singers and songwriters.
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I sat in a prairie throwing tennis balls into the spacious abyss for my beloved German Shepherd pup to fetch and bring back to me. I was home for the semester thanks to COVID, and this was my life now. Remote learning. The great outdoors was now my campus. The further I yanked my arm back to hurl the tennis balls yards away, the harder my dog ran to please me and bring me back the one thing I could never get tired of momentarily losing. I watched him gallop on four legs to the ball, but I never lost sight of his furry mane and sunny disposition. He stayed in shape this way, and I could always cuddle him. I was just a boy and he was just my dog and we were just stretching out the last few rays of sunlight on a beautiful fall day before it was time to go home and listen to "Ticker Tape Parade" by Absent City and do it all again tomorrow.
— Mustafa Abubaker on October 21, 2020
Oracle Sisters - From Kay's to the Cloisters
Parisian space-folk trio Oracle Sisters have been dropping chic, glam nuggets since their inception earlier this year. Their heavy-eyed licks and stormy vocals have already drummed up an impressive collection of notable champions in the press world. Comprised of Lewis Lazar, Christopher Willatt and Julia Johanssen, the band employs a stripped-down approach to their productions yet manages to convey a lush and original sound that conjures up the late-night, ephemeral vibes of the Paris underground. Their latest single, "From Kay's to the Cloisters," is Oracle Sisters' most sparse affair to date, indulging their deep love for the Scottish folk tradition. The expansive arrangement allows the group to flex their visceral storytelling muscles, furthering their moody aesthetic with little more than an acoustic guitar and crisp vocal.
— Mike Olinger on December 2, 2019
Alara - Bringing You Down
The far-out sounds of indie singer-songwriter Alara are cast in an alluringly rosy glow on “Bringing You Down.” Her second single of the year is a dreamy, 80s-inspired slow jam that feels as glittery and ephemeral as a high school prom. Lovely and emotional, the track is lush with spacey synths, soft, throbbing drums, and Alara’s soothing vocal lulling you through the melody. Evocative of Lana Del Rey, her voice is warm and sensual, and listening to every crooning “ah” feels like you’re falling under a love spell. Because of this, the song feels dreamy even when the lyrics tell a more sobering story: “You were just a child / Life kicked you around / And what you’ve kept inside / Is what’s bringing you down.” Thoughtful and darkly romantic, “Bringing You Down” precedes Alara’s debut EP, Dying is Half the Fun, which will be released early 2020.
— Britnee Meiser on November 27, 2019
Soccer Mommy - yellow is the color of her eyes
Soccer Mommy’s second single of 2019, “yellow is the color of her eyes,” masterfully captures the deeply private and lonely experience of realizing you are losing someone. In many ways, Sophie Allison’s performance will be familiar and comforting to fans: in the guitar work you’ll recognize the twangy echoey charm of her special brand of shoegaze-infused Americana, and her lyrics are still sprinkled with memorable, offbeat metaphors (“eyes like clementines,” the “sun feels like yellow”). At the same time, in some ways, this track taps into uncharted emotional territory for Soccer Mommy. Allison says the song came out of “a time when I was on the road constantly and I felt like I was losing time—specifically with my mother.” So, lyrically, there is no time for ephemeral feelings here, like jealousy or the thrill of a crush. Instead, all seven spacious minutes are spent diving deep into the types of feelings we too rarely talk about: the acute discomfort of regret, and the powerlessness of confronting time’s cruel disregard for our human schedules. She even tells us why she needs to open up: “I could lie,” she sings, “but it’s never made me feel good inside.” As listeners, we can benefit from her cathartic outpour too: in it, she not only showcases the impressive emotional maturity of her songwriting in new ways, but also implicitly urges all of us to stop telling “tiny lies” to ourselves about impermanence.
— Karl Snyder on November 25, 2019
Tanya Vora - Dusty
Expansive singer-songwriter and producer Tanya Vora perfectly captures the repressed urgency and unpredictability of falling in love on her new single, “Dusty.” Atmospheric and chill, the track has a groovy melody with a catchy, lo-fi beat, and subtly evokes the kind of desperate physical longing that comes from wanting to know every single part of someone else, but not being sure if they feel the same way. The cool, r&b-inspired arrangement is nostalgic and fresh, emphasizing Vora’s unique and surprising instrumental through her clear, intimate style of production. The track’s tempo embodies love’s inevitable volatility; you think you know where things are headed, and then, out of nowhere, it changes. What begins as a quick, pulsing exploration of intimacy slows down to something moodier and more sensual, and every moment is intoxicating. Vora’s honest lyrics emphasize that feeling: “Lie next to me / Let me feel your love / I’ve been sick of you / I’ve been needing you / And my days have turned to dust.” Ultimately, “Dusty” contains all the excitement and emotion of early love while sparing you the pain of potential heartbreak, because you already know it will never leave you.
— Britnee Meiser on November 22, 2019
Tennis - Runner
After spending four months off the grid on the Sea of Cortez, Denver pop-duo Tennis have returned with “Runner,” a retro new jam off their upcoming album, SWIMMER, out Valentine’s Day 2020. Born from a guitar riff that was written and recorded in a fisherman’s cove where the musicians had just an acoustic guitar and drum sequencer, “Runner” is the first track Tennis wrote for the new album. Singer Alaina Moore’s sweet soprano voice soars above Patrick Riley’s catchy guitar hooks, synth filled melodies, and prominent drum beats that pulse steadily throughout the song. Congruent with the themes discussed in their 2017 LP Yours Conditionally, this romantic track delves into the disconnect between what Moore feels and what she believes she should be feeling given her faith. She sings, “Every little bead of sweat / Feel it running down my neck / When you look at me like that / Feeling like we can't go back / If I become a pillar of salt / I'll know that it was all my fault.”
— Dana Schwartz on November 22, 2019
golda - Wish I Was Someone Else
Elusive and ever-experimenting with sound, singer golda shares a delicate narrative about dissatisfaction with identity and the road to healing on her new single, "Wish I Was Someone Else." The track opens with soft strings that bleed immediately into an exposition about feeling trapped by the past. Lyrics like "hereditary fear" and "side effect of my immigrant family" breathe life and specificity into the song–sharp and personal details that tread heavy on the heart. Confessional feels like a fitting description of what golda is allowing us to experience here. The production balances crisp guitar while also possessing a deeply urgent bassline that carries the track start to finish. Complacency has plagued the singer since she was young–internalizing everything from her surroundings and erasing her ability to make choices for herself. The entire mood of "Wish I Was Someone Else" evokes a feeling of urgency that comes to a crescendo towards the end that lyrically desires for an easy out–to become someone else–but instrumentally feels richly optimistic. The LA-based artist releases her debut EP this November with tracks smooth, introspective, and essential to have on repeat.
— Julie Gentile on November 21, 2019
The Districts - Hey Jo
The Districts can easily be seen as a welcome addition to the trend of Philadelphia indie rockers who play a little more noisily than their Brooklyn or LA contemporaries. They’re in good company with bands like Hop Along and Restorations, who shout over as many as three guitars at a time but use a brighter emotional palette than anger alone. “Hey Jo,” the first single from their upcoming album You Know I’m Not Going Anywhere, is a more delicate song, more coming-of-age than teenage angst. Singer Rob Grote explores his falsetto as he confronts bucked expectations, asking a friend, “How’s Los Angeles? Have you seen any stars? Does the sunshine get old?” Those opening questions are symbolic of the larger confusion within the song of, as Grote explains, “relationships unfurling amidst the dysphoria of the modern world.” “We are all imperfect products of the natural world,” he continues, “and more specifically, products of our own mind.” You can almost hear the strain in his voice, not accustomed to singing so high, so quietly or so tenderly, as he addresses his own internal struggles and tries “to be something more perfect, gentle, and beautiful.”
— Daniel Shanker on November 21, 2019
Adam Melchor - I Choose You
LA-based singer-songwriter Adam Melchor’s “I Choose You” proclaims an all-encompassing love. The song is an off-kilter, technicolor daydream for your ears—full of raucous voices. It wobbles through perfectly depicting the absent-mindedness that can accompany the obsession of new love as Melchor sings, “used to always say I was good with people’s names / now I’ve forgotten everyone’s and you’re to blame.” Produced by Ethan Gruska, Andrew Sarlo, and John Debold, the track is layered with elaborate sounds that never drown out Melchor’s sweetly melodic voice. Both the production and lyrics are a celebration of the knot in your stomach you feel when you like someone so much you can barely breathe or think whenever you're around them. Melchor leans into the idea that love is a game of chance, and finding your one person is as much luck as it is anything else, “I choose you / out of billions of people / we got it down to two.” ”I Choose You” rounds out a busy year for Melchor—having released his sophomore EP Plan On You in the spring followed by the single “Joyride” this fall.
— Corey Bates on November 20, 2019
Frances Quinlan - Rare Thing
Frances Quinlan is such a singular force—in her lyricism, in her guitar playing, and of course in her voice—that Hop Along’s identity and sound are inseparable from hers. The group even started as her solo project until she was eventually joined by her brother, drummer Mark Quinlan, and now a full band. The evolution of the band’s sound from then to now is astonishing, though not totally unforeseeable. Elements of a track like 2012’s “Laments” hint at the beauty of 2018’s “Prior Things” or the infectious groove of the same album’s “Somewhere A Judge.” But Quinlan now returns to her solo roots, releasing “Rare Thing” as the first single from her upcoming true debut solo album, Likewise, due out in January. And it should come as no surprise that the song is, without a doubt, a Frances Quinlan song in every way one might expect. Every member of Hop Along played on the track, and guitarist Joe Reinhart was heavily involved in its production. “Working with Joe on this made me able to better see that the guitar is just one vehicle,” Quinlan said of the alternative sound palette, “There are so many others to explore.” True to form, Quinlan sings about a microscopic moment, a dream about her niece, and follows her train of thought through her unmistakable brand of snarling poetry, managing to “stay small by making giants out of strangers,” before reaching her cathartic conclusion: “I have to stop myself and admit I am happy.”
— Daniel Shanker on November 18, 2019
Chris Rovik - Dama
Chris Rovik’s newest single “Dama” burns slow and steady with the grief of a future that will never come to fruition. The Brooklyn-based artist chronicles the swirl of thoughts that accompany the end of a relationship with lyrics that are devastating in their specificity, “keep me tucked away somewhere deep inside / take the child’s name that I gave to you when you were mine.” The production is heavy, dark and full without becoming burdensome. The persistent drums and driving bassline from collaborators Jonny G and Moah respectively are grounding in their consistency—allowing the rest of the track to flow in and around while still staying cohesive. The use of harmonic vocal layering creates a disorienting effect that feels like walking through a thick fog. “Dama” stays true to the droning alt-rock sound that Rovik cultivated in his debut EP Let Go, which he released earlier this year.
— Corey Bates on November 18, 2019
