Remi Wolf - Woo!
Building on the success of her 2019 EP, You’re A Dog!, Remi Wolf is back with "Woo!" showing no signs of slowing. A perfect summation of Wolf’s one-of-a-kind music, "Woo!" has it all. Funky production and stunning vocals, filled with songwriting that’s somehow deeply insightful, wildly goofy and completely relatable. The production plays the perfect partner to Wolf. Setting the mood and complimenting every move made. Refreshingly groovy and just as playful as the lyrics. A voice full of so much heart unleashes a remarkable performance from start to finish. Even as the chorus opens subdued, the seams quickly begin to burst and set Wolf free to soar. Pondering the complexities of love, only Wolf could deliver the stellar, “and I don’t know what I really wanted / and fuck I think I lost my wallet"—floating between the heaviness and the light of life. The versatile young artist is an undeniable hitmaker, each release bringing more to the table, winning over more ears. No one will put you in a good mood faster.
— Max Himelhoch on May 11, 2020Marika Hackman - send my love
Marika Hackman unveiled a dynamic, emotive, and unapologetic dose of intimacy in her new album Any Human Friend, which dropped August 9 via Sub Pop Records. Wedged right in the middle is “send my love," a track that doesn’t fail to grasp your attention. Hackman captures the biting mix of feelings that arise when something comes to an end with her poignant songwriting and swirling production. The harshness and self-deprecation ripple from beginning to end, “Are you coming home to feel alone / Did you love me tonight, or any night of our lives / It's never gonna be like it was before.” It’s an effort to put herself in the other person’s shoes and examine a turning point in a relationship that can’t seem to be undone. "Send my love" is a sort of reckoning in the aftermath of a difficult situation, which we’ve all experienced in one capacity or another.
— Meredith Vance on August 16, 2019Velvet Kove ft. DummyFresh - Hazel-Green
Velvet Kove, a 23-year-old artist hailing from Richmond Virginia, is breaking out in the Brooklyn music scene with the help of DummyFresh, a recording artist hailing from Maryland with a background in jazz and classical piano. The two have collaborated on a new track, "Hazel-Green," a song which grieves the loss of a relationship, one which is kept in the present through the small details which only exist between two lovers: waking easily, taking over Park avenue, the feeling of rain entering the apartment. As the artist sings, “You’re the woman in my dreams / I awake easily / My thoughts turn hazel green / Help me”, she is learning how to yearn for what is gone, begging for the past to become reinvented in the future. Velvet Kove and DummyFresh are both members of goodstuff, a new artist collective and record label based out of Brooklyn. With this new track, they are not only creating a name for themselves but for local New York musicians who are putting their heart into music, only asking to be heard, not unlike a song meant for a past lover.
— Samantha Weisenthal on August 15, 2019Chastity Belt - Ann’s Jam
Chastity Belt reminds us that the simpler moments in life are worth remembering with the release of “Ann’s Jam”, the first single off their forthcoming self-titled album. The comforting track progressively floats along as lead singer Julia Shapiro warmly sings about old times the group has had and revels in the meaningfulness of possibility. Chastity Belt masterfully paints the picture of youthful experiences and how things used to be, “We were driving South in your parents car / Singing aloud to scratched CDs / Feeling meaningful, thinking / This is a start / And it'll go on.” At the same time, their narrative tone isn't filled with wallowing—they point towards a hopeful kind of change, a chance for a new start. “Ann’s Jam” is an ode to the friendship that the Seattle outfit continues to share. It also reminds the listener that where your story started isn't always something to skip over or forget. Chastity Belt is officially out September 20 via Hardly Art Records.
— Meredith Vance on August 15, 2019Long Beard - Sweetheart
Long Beard, the moniker of New Jersey-based Leslie Bear, released her debut album, Sleepwalker, back in 2015 and is now back with her latest single, “Sweetheart.” The new track is an ambient, indie-pop musing in which Long Beard gives herself over to the impulse to wax nostalgic about a high school sweetheart. The song lulls you into a daydream with a warm guitar loop and rhythmic drums that lead into Bear’s breathy, alluring vocals. Bear hovers around melancholic throughout the track, singing “I think of you way too often / looking out every window that I can,” and before you know it, you’re walking down memory lane right alongside her. The dreamy melody is soon lit up by gleaming keyboard, elevating it from hazy to luminous and Bear’s breathy voice glides effortlessly with the motion. Long Beard’s lovely and lonely “Sweetheart” is the first glimpse into her sophomore album, “Means to Me,” coming out September 13 via Double Double Whammy.
— Brigid Moser on August 14, 2019Modern Nature - Séance
Bella Union signee Modern Nature create hushed, melodic folk-pop that gushes with both precision and vitality. Their newest single, "Séance," showcases the trio's delicate nature, spearheaded by Jack Cooper and supported by Will Young, Jeff Tobias, and Aaron Nevue. There are some obvious nods to White Album-era Beatles, with sprawling melodies colliding with stuttering tape experimentation, and a deep reverence for the insular blues of English Folkman Nick Drake. It's a wistfully satisfying listen that hints at the boundless promise of the newly formed band. "Séance" is lifted from their debut album, How To Live, due out August 23rd.
— Mike Olinger on August 13, 2019Cuco - Do Better
Three years ago, nineteen-year-old Omar Banos was making beats and writing love songs in his bedroom just for fun. Now, he’s known as Cuco, a dream-pop artist with a unique blend of hip-hop and Latin jazz influences who’s currently riding on 3.5 million monthly Spotify listeners. “Do Better” is the closing track off his debut, Para Mi, an album lush with catchy drum loops, cool guitars and breezy Spanglish vocals, but this song’s infectiously smooth beat deserves singular recognition. A groovy bass and jazz-inspired guitar line create a head-bopping beat that nicely compliments the percussion, a tight but muffled drum loop that emulates a vintage style of recording. The track crosses genres and cultures as it seamlessly weaves English and Spanish lyrics with soothing ahhs as Banos sings about the universal language of love. Conversational in tone and smooth in cadence, Banos’ leisurely vocal delivery perfectly offsets the intensity of the lyrics: “Baby I’m gonna do better for you / Because I love you with my heart.” Breezy and cool, “Do Better” is a summer love song that will bring out the romantic in all of us.
— Britnee Meiser on August 13, 2019Lune Rose - Can’t Be Sure
Although it is only her second single, Lune Rose’s “Can’t Be Sure” is a sweet and mellow soundscape masterpiece. The dreamy alt-pop track narrates a long-distance relationship and the uncertainty it brings. In it, Lune Rose struggles to understand what her partner is thinking when their only interactions are through a telephone. In a voice so calm it’s almost eerie, she sings, “when I’m guessing all your emotions, I can’t be sure that this is real.” Although the narrator is unsure of where she stands, Lune Rose’s vocals are steady, echoing mystically throughout the song. “Can’t Be Sure” is at first carried by a few melancholic guitar strums but it soon expands into something cavernous, with each sound magnified and pulsating. Lune Rose is delicate, absorbing, pensive, and profound and although “Can’t Be Sure” is teeming with bewitching noise, it somehow emulates the lonely silence on the other end of a phone that we all know and fear. This hopefully only the beginning for the emerging artist, who is set to release her debut EP this fall.
— Brigid Moser on August 13, 2019Common Holly - Central Booking
Indie noir artist Common Holly’s newest single, “Central Booking,” is an immersive exploration of pain through dark and dreamy soundscapes. With a fusion of unique sonic elements and an arrangement that skirts traditional form, it’s the most experimental track the Montreal-based group has released so far. Delicate, reverberating guitars set the tone, supported by sparse but strong percussion and synths that sound like spaceships floating through the night. Edgy and vulnerable, the arrangement shifts from uneasy and otherworldly to hopeful with the gorgeous addition of urgent strings and classical piano, allowing you to ruminate in fear and discomfort long enough to set a mood but not long enough to make you feel like you’re drowning in it. Beautiful, ephemeral harmonies and a sweet vocal melody keep your attention fixed on the vivid lyrics, which evoke emotional pain through the description of the physical: “With a trash can full of blood and hair / You had to get yourself out of there.” Powerful and soft, “Central Booking” is the first single from Common Holly’s upcoming LP, When I say to you Black Lightning, due October 11 via Barsuk/Solitaire.
— Britnee Meiser on August 12, 2019Lykke Li - Neon
Neon lights shine the brightest at night, and love isn’t entirely different—those moments alone in the dark when everything slows down, are a relationship in its most intense state. This vulnerability is captured by Lykke Li's "Neon." Her latest EP still sad still sexy is a compilation of reworks and tracks that did not make it onto her last record and as she has described, hit harder long past when she's written them. With production from Kid Harpoon, Li’s lofty vocals and rapturous lyrics like “I'm down to get bruised” are the perfect recipe for sad, sexy, and subdued electro-pop euphoria.
— Ysabella Monton on August 12, 2019Boot - Heaven Is A Place In Queens
Boot is convinced the grass is greener on the other side. “Heaven Is A Place In Queens,” the opening track from the debut EP by the Brooklyn band is a gentle modern folk song about big little dreams. Singer Benjamin Carbone’s dreams are realistic—plummeting Millennial homeownership rates especially in a market as expensive as New York City notwithstanding—in their details, from hyperspecific references to individual intersections and exact down payment percentages all the way to wondering whether or not hypothetical children, once grown, will want to live in the old family house or rent it out. It’s a clever way to combine his past and his future, illustrating how the former informs the latter. Even when the song picks up, first with a steady stomp-and-holler folk beat and then with a frantic psych-rock energy, the unmistakable tenderness with which Carbone speculates ensures that the idyllic future he envisions is always at the forefront of this impressive debut.
— Daniel Shanker on August 9, 2019