Hailing from Portland, Oregon Clara Baker's music expresses a strong sense of being in touch with nature and herself. Her newest single "Doubt" is her first release since her 2015 LP and is the lead single off of her second album Things to Burn produced by Shane Leonard (Field Report). Within "Doubt" is the sound of a troubadour, one that sings songs around campfires as people listen in, eager to hear how the storyteller has woven a tale into a melody. As a folk artist, Baker has mastered the lyricism required to tell good stories above a rich musical landscape. "My mama brought me up with on faith / my daddy brought me up with facts / I go to pray at the altar of the certainty I lack." There is a sacredness to "Doubt" in it's hushed tones and stringed instruments that prays tribute to it being anchored in the religious. As Baker reflects on what she taught from her upbringing she is learning not to run away or despise the doubt that comes along with faith and but rather see both as valid and worthwhile. Things to Burn is out March 8.

Originally from Oklahoma and Texas, indie-folk-rock band Wilderado carry their roots deep within them. After releasing three EPs in the last three years, the band has garnered well-deserved attention and has since played festivals like Bonnaroo and Austin City Limits. Within their newest EP Favors is an rock gem called "Sorrow" that possesses special musical and lyrical qualities. Nevertheless, this acoustic version shows the bare bones of the song, exposing new levels of vulnerability. Opening up with steady guitar picking and frontman Max Rainer's dynamic voice, the song tells of having a relationship with a deep sadness that then affects other vital relationships. "Let’s talk sweetly like all our love is false / Like we can stick around I’ll say too much/ I’ll let you down with sorrow’s touch," Rainer confesses. While melancholic in nature, the sweetness of this acoustic version uplifts the song as a whole. If this is your first introduction to Wilderado, "Sorrow" is bound to make a lasting first impression.

Calling themselves “the missing link between indie-rock and classic country,” Neighbor Lady released their debut album, Maybe Later this past May. It features the single “Oh Honey," an upbeat and sassy track about a fight between two friends over the same guy. The Atlanta-based band is comprised of Emily Braden, Jack Blauvelt, Meredith Hanscom and Andrew McFarland. Braden is the singer-songwriter of the group and “Oh Honey” is based on a real friendship breakup. “Oh honey, what’s all the fuss about,” asks Braden, slightly condescendingly but mostly playfully. Complete with a catchy opening drum fill and an infectious piano driven chorus, Braden unleashes her true feelings about the futility of friendship feuds. The rest of the record alternates between indie rock infused with moments of bedroom pop to twangy, country inspired numbers that showcase Braden’s powerful vocals and the band’s desire to breakdown genre barriers. Oh, and be sure check out their music video for “Oh Honey,” which was shot entirely by the band on an iPhone 8.

A Long Sleep, Jenny Hval’s most recent album, was released this past May off of Sacred Bones Records. Off of the record comes a song which questions what we know about the indie/ambient music coming from the Norwegian artist. "Spells," from beginning to end, manages to ebb in and out of itself, both clarifying and mystifying the sonic landscape that the work dwells in. The song manages to cast a spell over its listener, manipulating their emotions with the wide variety of instruments used throughout. Hval’s use of layering creates a piece that is at atmospheric and infused with a sweet pop twinge, allowing the piece to walk the line between the experimental and the mainstream. With an airy mixture of piano, trumpets, saxophones and percussion, the production of the work is a perfectly mixed potion in a deep and overflowing cauldron of sound. The chorus could come off as foreboding, but instead is delivered as a kind promise to the unknown ‘you’ in the song “We will not be a awake for long / We’ll meet in the smallest great unknown.” With "Spells," Hval is transfixing her listeners, while creating an experimental song which allows the listener to dig into the meaning of the work, while also being a spacious and exciting rhythmic bop.

California duo Bogan Via craft earwormy soundscapes that evoke the glitz and grit of LA, serving it up up with a healthy dose of irony and realism. Their newest single "Videos" is a thick slice of base driven dream pop, packed with nuanced melodies, bittersweet piano lines and slinky club beats. The breathy vocals of Madeleine Miller convey the innate emptiness hiding under the songs surface level imagery, supporting the pointedly dark production from male counterpoint Bret Bender. As their songwriting has evolved, Bogan Via have proven to have a real knack for playing with the Top 40 format, flipping it on it's head and authenticating it through their conscious approach to songwriting, creating something that is both highly accessible and truly unique to their experience.

Happy Single Release Day to Good Night Gold Dust! The indie electronic quartet hails from Mankato, Minnesota and consists of members Laura Schultz, Colin Scharf, Zach Arney and Michelle Roche. Across GNGD's repertoire, guitarists Schultz and Scharf switch off on lead vocals, providing dynamic emotional texture from track to track. Prior to the release of their six-song EP, It Could Have Been You, the group gifts us with the gorgeous single, “In Water.”  Schultz takes the reigns on “In Water,” opening the song with the simple yet confrontational line, “You’re someone new / You’re someone different.” “In Water” is about what Schultz describes as "identity formation... How we change and how we keep changing.” She’s both delicate and fierce as she delivers the song’s poetic verses, exuding influences from the queen Björk and indie rock goddess Karen O. The song explodes in the last chorus as syncopated 808s drive the crisp guitars and cosmic electronic sounds home. In a magnificent choir of carefully layered harmonies, Schultz’s sings over and over again “It's changed and still changing.” Lean into the changes and let Good Night Gold Dust take you away with this unique and dreamy soundscape.

When Ciaran Lavery is accompanied by a string section and gentle harmonies, as he is in the original version of “Wicked Teeth,” the horrors he depicts are hidden beneath a layer of gorgeous production. But here, in a solo session backed by only the sparsest piano chords, it’s impossible to miss lines like, “I see you sharpening your claws / I can feel them in my sleep.” There is no less beauty in such a simple arrangement, rather the beauty is in his ability to confront his deepest fears alone, utterly exposed. “I could never stray from you,” he nearly whispers, addressing the powerlessness one might feel in an unhealthy relationship or at the hands of personal demons. As the song progresses, he finds his footing and becomes bolder in his piano playing. The questions of the first chorus — “Would you sink your wicked teeth? Would you lock your jaws down tight?” — sound almost like a challenge in the second. Sink your teeth in, lock your jaws down, even that can’t stop him.

John Isaac Watters, the vocalist of Rainstorm Brother, used to work as an architect. When listening to the careful arrangement of “Fire You Light,” the second track on the folk-rock duo’s new EP, Part One, it’s easy to understand why. His vocals are a little bit The National, a little bit Modest Mouse and a lot of vibrato, acting as the foundation around which all the other instrumental sounds are built. Classic elements of crooning folk merge seamlessly with experimental synths and percussion that evolves into something almost orchestral, leaving the listener with a song entirely in its own genre. The opening synth, which can best be described as a violin being played backwards, sets the tone for the unconventional mash-up of sounds, but with a traditional structure and a time signature fans of indie pop will be familiar with, “Fire You Light” will appeal to a wide-variety of listeners.

Brooklyn indie-pop artist Sedona aka Rachel Stewart releases her new single "Same Sky" today. Its sultry and jazzy elements compliment Sedona's standout voice that recalls 90s pop star greats. The song is Sedona's second released track following up last single "Call Me Up" which too showcases an eclectic artist that's bringing back everything we loved about the 90s. As a rising star in Brooklyn, it only makes sense that Sedona has a style of her own that matches the uniqueness of her sound. In "Same Sky" hear a twist on a romantic and lovelorn pop song that's tied together with spacey synths and enveloping background vocals. Sedona's debut EP Home Before Dawn arrives next summer and we're looking forward to more of her well-crafted jams. (Photo by Leona Johnson)

Brooklyn's Cape Francis is out with a new single titled "Nobody" off of his upcoming record. The song lives in a realm that is light yet pensive giving it a special kind of power. Kevin Henthorn talks about the background of the song telling us that "living in New York City can be incredibly overwhelming, especially coming from my home state of Maine. Living here, it feels like there's always someone else in a 30 foot radius of me at all times. Even if they're in a different apartment, through the walls, someone is always there. More and more I've been feeling the need to get out, which is why  "Nobody" is a song centered around escapism." The need to feel alone whether in your thoughts or physically is universal and speaks to who we are as human beings, needing both social interactions and solitude. In a genre that Henthorn labels as post-folk, Cape Francis finds themselves giving us the reflective nature of a folk song, with the modern and intricate sounds of the indie world. Be sure to check out our Buzzsession with Cape Francis that be on the look out for more music to come! 

The members of Vern Matz are self-proclaimed Radiohead fanatics, and the influence of Thom Yorke’s softer side is evident. “Systematically Gone” lets the listener revisit the sweet dreamlike state evoked in Radiohead’s “High and Dry,” but singer Danny Belgrad himself evokes the art rock heroes of a decade prior. R.E.M. sang, “Sometimes everything is wrong / Now it’s time to sing along,” and Belgrad channels Michael Stipe (quite convincingly) to describe a character singing away the toughest moments of their life, their “factory hours.” The subject’s stubbornness has left them “stuck on shore,” and vague questions like “Is it too much? / Will you ever stop?” convey an utter bewilderment with the decisions that they have made to take them so completely off course. With “systematic” echoes and jarring drum fills, the choruses, though still sweet, are frantic in a way that suggests the whole system itself is breaking down.