Liza Anne - Bad Vacation
Right in time for warmer weather is Liza Anne's third release this month: "Bad Vacation." This track displays Liza's style in its finest form. It's spunky, gritty-rock in indie-pop makeup. "Bad Vacation" perfectly strikes the balance between the genuine relief and high-voltage anxiety intrinsic to summertime sadness. "I wanna lay out / I need a way out" about sums it up. Comparing an old lover or friend-turned-enemy to something as annoying as sand in ice cream feels like a near-perfect analogy, as the people we'd rather forget tend to be more pestering than piteous. That might sound forthright, but Liza Anne isn't mincing words in this song. Being freed from her long, bad vacation makes her "in love with the feeling." This track is lots of fun and brimming with life. Her classic tongue-in-cheek tone takes a backseat to the boppy melody and triumphant chorus, making "Bad Vacation" a great, colorful summertime listen.
— Hannah Lupas on April 13, 2020Papooz - Figs and Gorgonzola
Never failing to create a bright and breezy scene, Papooz's newest release “Figs and Gorgonzola” is a crisp spring day in Paris. The French duo paint a picture of nostalgia chronicling the time spent with lovers, babies, orchids, and views of the park. It’s bittersweet, acknowledging the growth in a relationship, but missing the spark there used to be. Just as figs and gorgonzola are two distinct flavors, they still mesh together and “melt in your mouth.” The relationship described in the song is experiencing a lull or a difference, but nonetheless it continues to work. This moment of relatability is transformed into a sweet sound you’ll want to sway to. Ulysse Cottin on lead guitar and vocals sings: "I still love you but I wanna / Get back to the old days when we glowed in the dark / I'm hooked on forever / It's written on my heart."
— Bailee Penski on March 10, 2020Dirty Projectors - Overlord
There's something a little daunting about the concept of Maia Friedman's angelic voice singing the word "Overlord" several times in two-and-a-half minutes, but the reality is actually much better. For their first single in two years, Dirty Projectors comes back with a sunny single reminiscent of a radio single we might hear in the Summer of 1998; Friedman's beautiful voice singing over a simple acoustic melody, while still tackling tough topics. "Overlord" kicks off with an inner dialogue plea appropriate for, and thought by so many through the seemingly endless election year, "Please don't yell at the train / just get aboard." The politician wants us to all strap in and stay quiet. Never mind we all might be feeling afraid. Other common desires between citizen and candidate are addressed, but for listeners, the relatable subject matter never becomes tense. Friedman makes us feel like we're sitting with our friends over a cup of coffee while endlessly lamenting possible outcomes to a crucial election and facing its potential reality because we know "Those who stay behind / will be left on the shore," and, as she continues in the chorus, the elected leader will inevitably ignore our concerns by begging us to believe "Good outweighs bad / as we approach perfection." Dirty Projectors are currently on tour.
— Taylor Hodgkins on March 10, 2020The Avalanches feat. Blood Orange - We Will Always Love You
With releases that span at most 16 years apart, Australian band The Avalanches take their time carefully crafting music that feels both grounded and out of body. And their newest single “We Will Always Love You” is just that. The track begins with a sample from Smokey Robinson, tripped out and mixed to introduce a cosmic energy to the song. Additionally, Blood Orange (aka Dev Hynes), contributes soft lyrics that are delivered in both spoken-word and Hynes’ gorgeous falsetto. The hook samples the iconic “Hammond Song” by The Roches, pitched higher for a haunting feeling that takes you floating out of your body as the track comes to a close. "We Will Always Love You" will keep you cozy, contemplative and hopeful through these remaining winter nights, as we prepare for the fabulous spring weather we've all been waiting for.
— Julie Gentile on March 10, 2020Ellis - Embarrassing
Contemplate the nuances of shame with “Embarrassing," the second release off the self-proclaimed emo dream-pop artist Ellis’ new album, Born Again. In this deeply confessional slow burn, the Ontario-based artist turns her gaze inward to address the feeling of embarrassment, deviating from the beaten path towards a much harder truth; sometimes we feel shame because we should. This synth-forward, dreamy track is no pity party, it’s a promise to be better in a remarkable coming to terms with accountability. Making concessions like “maybe you were right when you said I love to play the victim” Ellis displays a maturity and self-awareness beyond her years. Despite its vulnerability “Embarrassing” is full of defiance and strength, using a feeling we so easily look away from or blame others for as a tool for growth and self-forgiveness. The purposeful drumbeat and unhurried guitar move steadily towards a power ballad climax and in the closing refrain Ellis repeats in her honey-sweet voice, “some things should be embarrassing” over and over as a reminder not just to herself, but to her listener as well. Born Again is out on April 3 via Fat Possum Records, and be sure to catch Ellis on her North American tour while you can.
— Shasha Léonard on March 9, 2020Hamilton Leithauser - Here They Come
“All of the songs on my new record are about people. Individual, real people. Some are strangers I’ve met, but a lot are friends”, explains Hamilton Leithauser in a teaser for lead single “Here They Come” before the song’s official release. That video would lead us to believe that the friend is actor Ethan Hawke (who, upon hearing the song, turns off the stereo and bludgeons Leithuaser with a chair), but in truth it doesn’t matter. Hawke, or whomever the song’s subject truly is, may or may not have hidden from his problems in the darkness of a movie theater, but “Here They Come” is a song for anyone who runs at the first hint of difficulty. Yes, you. The track is an excellently executed return, a chance encounter with an old friend who is just as excited to see you. It features all the hallmarks of a Hamilton Leithauser classic—the lightning-fast classically influenced fingerpicking, Leithauser’s own strained yells, and of course that unmistakable piano sound—but perhaps the most Leithauser-like quality of all, keeping the familiar sound fresh, is his unbridled bandleader’s joy, a smile behind every syllable.
— Daniel Shanker on March 9, 2020Núria Graham - Marjorie
Two packs of cigarettes down, half-Catalan and half-Irish singer Núria Graham peaks into the past on the title track of her latest album. A slow-burning folk ballad warped by airy, chiming guitars and soaring synthesizers, "Marjorie" is built perfectly for dramatic moments of introspection. Keeping watch for a lover as the night draws in around her, Graham lovingly connects the dots between her and the grandmother she never met. Despite being permanently separated by a gulf of time, she pulls herself closer to Marjorie as she chews through painful, intergenerational deja vu; "we seem to be making the same mistakes," she sings out, in the chorus of one of her most direct and powerful vocal performances to date. A window-gazers dream, "Marjorie" pushes a revitalized Núria Graham to new heights.
— Phillipe Roberts on March 6, 2020Blue Canopy - 656
Blue Canopy is the newest project of Portland-based musician Alex Schiff. "656" is Blue Canopy’s first-ever release, and it is a single that will be appearing on the band’s forthcoming album Mild Anxiety dropping April 17. "656" is high-energy, its full-bodied sound inspiring motivation in all of us. However, a closer listen reveals a somberness lurking behind the track's spirited instrumentation; its lyrics describing “crippling anxiety” and the defeat of an ending relationship. New York City, a place where finding solitude in hardship is historically difficult and Schiff's former home is the backdrop of "656". In this sense, the tone of the song is not mismatched to its message, but rather, its most clever feature. "656" highlights a frustration that every New Yorker harbors at some point; that despite what you’re going through in your personal life, the city’s pace does not slow. Think of it like crying on the subway—it won’t stop a performer from dangling on the rails with their speaker on full blast.
— Brittany Cortez on March 6, 2020Orion Sun - Coffee For Dinner
Promising a chimerical energy to her upcoming album, Hold Space for Me, singer Tiffany Majette known as Orion Sun introduces us to the new era with the single, "Coffee For Dinner." The track brings up the chaotic vibe of the internal war going on within the self of a 2020-living human being. Evoking her childhood dreams of being an astronaut, the Philadelphia-based artist wants you to feel like you're looking at Earth's mayhem through a collection of dark clouds and that is exactly what "Coffee For Dinner" delivers. The song also reminds you that what you see and the truth are two separate things that many times barely touch. Breaking the barrier of the suffocating world with her voice (to paraphrase the artist herself), Orion Sun builds up the universe she wants to make music in. Hold Space for Me comes out March 27 via Mom + Pop and her US tour starts in late April.
— Giulia Santana on March 5, 2020GUERRIÈR - Baby, It’s Okay to Worry Sometimes
“Baby, It’s Okay to Worry Sometimes” is an anthem for the age of anxiety. The verse kicks off with a man’s bass-baritone register, “Darling I / I need to talk to somebody / So they can take a look inside." For a second, it sounds like it could be sampling early Johnny Cash. Cue bait and switch: GUERRIÈR picks up the trailing vocal (“Inside my mind,”) without skipping a beat, a seamless transition from folk to pop. GUERRIÈR is the stage name of Tyler Alfred Guerrier, a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer based in Orlando, Florida. His fluid approach to genre creates sounds that feel fresh and beguiling. As the beat drops around the 1:30 mark, a third, female voice is introduced, and with it, a new dimension. Her airy vocals layer atop GUERRIÈR’s ear-warming ones and a series of delicate harmonies follow, “Inside my mind / There’s something off / Cause I am not where I belong." Stay tuned for an EP this year.
— Corinne Osnos on March 5, 2020Waxahatchee - Lilacs
In a breath as fresh as spring, Waxahatchee shares “Lilacs,” a windows-down dealing in a tangle of intrusive thoughts and a glass half empty, half full look at self-sufficiency and love. The track begins with a jangly, quiet groove, blooming into a chorus that contends that the process of coming to love yourself doesn’t have to be lonely, “if I'm a broken record / write it in the dust, babe / I'll fill myself back up like I used to do” and sweeping into the admission of being better with another with anthemic resolve, “I won't end up anywhere good without you / I need your love, too.” “Lilacs” is the second single released in anticipation of Saint Cloud Katie Crutchfield’s fifth record as Waxahatchee, out March 27 via Merge Records.
— Emma Bowers on March 5, 2020