Parcels - Overnight (from Hansa Studios, Berlin)
Parcels, the Aussie fivesome known for their disco-pop bangers, recently released Live Vol.1 as a follow up to their 2018 self-titled debut album. Among the classic studio recordings made in Hansa, Berlin is “Overnight," famously cowritten with Daft Punk and carrying the same funky vibes off of the iconic French duo’s Random Access Memories. If you’re familiar with Parcels, you know they have a knack for transporting their listeners back to the groovier days of the ’70s. I wasn’t alive yet, but tracks like “Overnight” feel like the rainbow that bridges the generational gap between us all.
The recent turn of weather is a reminder of the New York City summer looming over our heads, and with quarantine, the uncertainty of what that summer looks like. Before self-isolation, we could rely on the routine of heavy heat like clockwork. Everyone knows some iteration of what I’m talking about; when Friday finally rolls around and the murderous sun has set, you hit play on a track like ”Overnight” and start to get ready. It’s a reminder of late nights spent out with friends, in your best outfits, dancing at halogen lit bars like Mood Ring or Friends and Lovers, skin sticky with the humidity, and the pulse of too many people packed into too small of a room. The bathroom line might be long but the possibility in the air is electric. Under the flashing lights, the silhouettes of your friends are bobbing up and down to the beat. One catches your eye and smiles, teeth glowing blue-white. Another is across the room, leaning over the bar with cash in hand. "Do you want anything?" they mouth over the heads of strangers. There is the laughter of shared inconvenience, of worries saved for another day. It may be hot and loud, but with the right music and the right people, there is a feeling of fullness; a promise of life, playing on repeat.
— Shasha Léonard on May 22, 2020Local Opener - I Hope All of My Friends Live Forever
Local Opener’s new track is an all-around good vibes tune, the kind that makes you want to roll your windows down and crank it up as you soar down an interstate. “I Hope All of My Friends Live Forever” begins with a Fleet Foxes-esque vocal harmony before ushering in the full band. By the time the chorus rolls around we’re at an early ‘60s rock concert, with sing-along energy. The chorus itself demands to be sung by a crowd: “I wanna have fun again / I want all of my friends to feel the same / I want to have fun again / I hope all of my friends live forever.” Such a simple, resonant truth. A brief guitar solo continues the early-Beatles atmosphere before another verse that invites us all to choose happiness. “Wasted half of my life just being blue” croons the lead singer, adding “I’m trading in all of my gloom for sunny days.” Interestingly, the tune ends with a few contemplative improvisational bars in sharp contrast to the first three or so minutes, insinuating that choosing happiness isn’t always as simple as all that. Not simple, but certainly worthwhile.
— Mikhal Weiner on April 23, 2020Mackenzie Leighton - Paris Girls
Mackenzie Leighton is the friend you call up when you finally book that flight to Europe. She’ll take you down dark, cobblestoned alleyways to smoke-filled underground jazz clubs and give you that authentic Parisian experience not found in Lonely Planet guidebooks. You start to think that maybe after a week of observing the breezy elegance around you—and splurging on a bottle of expensive perfume—you’ll have acquired that coveted French elegance by osmosis. Leighton is here to tell you that’s not how it works. You can take her word for it, too. The California-born singer-songwriter moved to Paris after graduating from NYU and is still chasing that infamous je ne sais quois that Parisian women claim as their birthright. “Paris Girls” is a swinging jazz-pop number with a waltz feel in the verses. Leighton’s navigation of agile melodies makes her sound like a smoother Nellie McKay for a modern young audience. Unapologetic electric guitar remains prominent throughout the song, transporting you to the front row of that smokey Paris jazz club ‘round midnight. Until it’s safe to travel again, this track should hold you over.
— Karyna Micaela on April 23, 2020Nick Hakim - QADIR
Quiet power and gentle ferocity—these are the reigning forces in the soundscape of "QADIR," the first release off of Nick Hakim’s upcoming LP, Will This Make Me Good. In addition to being the first release, "QADIR" was also the first song that Hakim wrote for the record. It’s an homage to his late friend who passed away in 2018 and for whom the track is named. Hakim conjures a sacred spirituality on this track by retaining a delicate balance between a heavy bass over a lightly driving beat, replete with acoustic percussion, and a haunting flute weaving in and out of a wide keyboard sound that holds down rich harmonies. Above all this, in a realm all its own, Hakim’s echoing vocals gently whisper truths in the manner of a prophet: “There seems to be a complexity to being kind / to your space to your temple / to your neighbors / who’ve seen the changes / We all feel change / Some of us wear masks / To hide the pain.” He is calling upon us to choose kindness and community. Surrounded by haunting background vocals on the chorus, Hakim draws us into an ethereal world that finally comes together in a mess of phantasmic voices, calling us from every side before fading slowly out into nothingness.
— Mikhal Weiner on April 23, 2020Jenny O. - God Knows Why
Jenny O.’s latest single “God Knows Why” will help you cope with a new reality. It’s soothing, sweet and true. The sound reminisces a summer day in the 70s, listening to soft rock in a field somewhere—the LA-based musician could easily be compared to a young Patti Smith. Not so much in punk, but the similarities of powerful vocals and distinct style are there. The release of this song could not have come at a better time, at the peak of the world’s questioning and current state of the unknown—adjusting to a normal that feels anything but. “I could hear just fine last night / Then I sat up and it went quiet / My right ear is gone forever / It was there and now it’s gone.” O.’s third studio album New Truth comes out June 19 via Mama Bird Recording Co.
— Bailee Penski on April 23, 2020Syd Silvair - The Moth
Paging everyone in pop music: if you don’t know singer/songwriter and escapist Syd Silvair yet, you will feel her enchantment soon. As a skilled tarot reader by day, Silvair is endlessly inspired by the deck. On her latest single, “The Moth,” she conjures up a world of swirling disco and art-pop while reflecting on the aspects of The Magician tarot. “I find that my own feminine nature tends to attract people who are looking to take advantage of it,” mentions Silvair, “I’ve connected deeply with The Magician tarot card in an effort to take the power back, to nurture on my own terms.” And keep her power she will, as “The Moth” is Silvair’s own omen of empowerment to remind us that for every bit of tenderness there is an equally potent fierceness. Inspired by the feminine mysticism of Stevie Nicks, her songwriting is unsparing, bold and centered. Silvair’s velvety voice calls out messages of the rich visuals that inspire her, shimmering atop lush and groovy rhythms. Her melodies are undeniably catchy, like a golden spell. Syd Silvair invites you to step into her sphere as her upcoming tarot-inspired EP Reverie makes its way into our realm and emboldens our inner realities with the spirit of her music.
— Deanna DiLandro on April 22, 2020Genevieve Stokes - Running Away
Genevieve Stokes’s newest single “Running Away” is a dreamy rumination on the intensity of new love. The singer-songwriter’s dynamic crooning vocals cut through the simple production of piano and sparse harmonies as she sings, “couldn’t see you coming / I was always running away / you hit me out of nowhere / will you stay?” Stokes explores the uncertainty of young love and how terrifying admitting your feelings can be. Drawing from her longtime inspiration Regina Spektor, the 18-year-old from Portland, Maine perfectly expresses the emotional turmoil of adolescence without falling into melodrama. She details the continuous loss of innocence as we grow older with precision, “And I'm nothin' but the things that I tell myself / Lie and think I'm / special just like everybody else / But somethin' in the water has been tempting me.” “Running Away” is the newest single off of Stokes’s upcoming debut EP out this summer.
— Corey Bates on April 22, 2020Andrew Bird - Capital Crimes
Andrew Bird has been a leading voice in the folk/bluegrass realm for over two decades. Like the best songwriters of the genre, he has a compelling ability to stir the mind and heart towards a feeling while exhibiting strong mastery of an instrument (the violin in his case). "Capital Crimes," albeit on-the-nose, is a closer view of capital punishment and the plunge of human compassion. His latest full-length album, My Finest Work Yet, is heralded as one of his best records (staying true to the title) in part because of his tasteful command of political commentary and soft folk musicianship. His latest single,"Capital Crimes," is a faithful echo of My Finest Work Yet. The track passionately incriminates a broken system that has no "sense of shame" in its method of determining who lives and who dies. This 6 minute, 30-second song raises a heavy hand in aggressive musicality, breaking from lyricism altogether around minute 4. The exaggerated pizzicato for the last 2 minutes of this track makes it an unmistakable Andrew Bird listen. Check out "Capital Crimes" wherever you stream.
— Hannah Lupas on April 22, 2020Laura Marling - Held Down
Laura Marling surprised everyone earlier this month when she announced her new album, Song for Our Daughter, was coming out much earlier than expected, and she dropped the first single, “Held Down,” right away. Lyrically, the song deals with a disappointing communication breakdown between two people that are healing at different speeds: just as one is finally ready to be held down, the other runs away (and, in this case, leaves only a short letter). “And I just meant to tell you that I don’t want to let you down,” Marling sings in response to the letter, massaging the regret of her own inaction with cool vibrato. But for a song about separation, the emotional impression of “Held Down” is one of measured optimism by the end. Maybe it’s that we can tell Marling has learned a lesson from her misfortune (“Seen or unseen, say what you mean”), and that the loose confidence in her vocals and guitar work tells us she is going to be okay. But I suspect the real comfort comes from the solidarity and empathy in Marling’s all-lady backup chorus, who by echoing Marling’s words throughout seem to say, “You’re good, you’re okay; we got you.”
— Karl Snyder on April 21, 2020Maya Hawke - By Myself
In her whimsical single "By Myself," singer-songwriter Maya Hawke crafts a dreamland as a means for self-reflection. Hawke sings of "honey that ran out of me," of playing "caliban in bed" and talking "in rings," nonsensical to the naked ear, meant only for her to understand. These surreal images make up "a secret message to myself, that I hope I'll receive someday soon," says Hawke. "It's about projecting ideas you have about yourself onto other people." Through the song, she suggests that the real answers can be found by simply looking in the mirror. Accompanying the track is an equally as eccentric music video that stars Hawke as a cowboy angel floating through space, dusted with vintage headshot charm. With Grammy winner Jesse Harris putting music to her lyrics, you can expect her record to be brimming with leisurely folk-pop and world music elements. Blush will be released on June 19 via Mom+Pop.
— Ysabella Monton on April 21, 2020The Beths - Dying To Believe
In 2018 The Beths, a New Zealand quartet largely unknown to American audiences, released what was simply one of the strongest debut albums from an indie rock band in recent memory with charmingly little fanfare. Slowly but surely, audiences’ ears perked up as they toured dutifully. Slated to open for the gargantuan tour featuring Green Day, Weezer, and Fall Out Boy, expectations for the pop-punk torchbearers were high, lest they fall victim to the seemingly inevitable sophomore slump after such an impressive debut. “Dying To Believe” mitigates any doubts, however, slotting right into place with Future Me Hates Me but still refreshingly energetic. The opening guitar riff could soundtrack the title sequence of the next installment of Power Rangers, and bandmates pop out to deliver their signature call-and-response backup vocals like Muppets peeking out from behind a curtain. Dynamic while staying composed and loud without ever being in your face, The Beths’ application of jazz school perfectionism to the melodic earworms of bubblegum-pop-punk implies a nearly endless well of absolute bangers.
— Daniel Shanker on April 21, 2020