Strawberry Launch - Crystal Eyes
Each day this week, New York-based psychedelic indie-pop quintet Strawberry Launch offers insight on tracks from their debut self-titled EP. Follow along as different members offer insight to the background and songwriting process of four tracks in their own words. Photo by Will Montgomery.
I wrote this song one Summer as just a random instrumental. I was bored at home most days and wanted to experiment more with recording my own music since that’s basically what I’m in school for. It wasn’t anything serious and there’s really no deep meaning for the song, I was just messing around with a couple chords and layered a bunch of stuff on top of it. It sounded very glittery to me, which is why I came up with the name. We started playing it in Strawberry Launch when trying to write new songs. At first, it was tricky to try to implement it into a full band, but I’m so happy with what it turned into; it’s probably my favorite track on the EP and super fun to play live. — Matrianna, Strawberry Launch
— on August 17, 2021Maya Elise & The Good Dream - Going Nowhere
"Going Nowhere" opens with a cute, whimsical riff that delicately catches your attention from across the room. It’s a song drifting through the air at an open mic that makes your thoughts stop in their tracks, ears hanging on what happens next. Warm bass introduces gentle support, leaving plenty of space for the sparkling fantasies painted by Elise’s voice. Meandering through the mundane, the lyrics call out a desire for a grand adventure. Whatever shape it takes doesn’t matter- as long as it’s extravagant and far-flung. Light harmonies fill out the space between reality and the fantastic dream-world the lyrics strive to manifest. As with the best fantasies, the track closes with a momentary reconciliation with reality before taking off into the air again. The track is a sweet taste of what is sure to come with Maya Elise & The Good Dream’s album, Songs for the Breakdown, due this summer. Until then, let the new music video for "Going Nowhere" transport you to Maya Elise's whimsical world. Photo by Bradley Jacob Cox.
— Allison Hill on July 2, 2021S. E. Webster - Bad Thing Comin'
Occasionally, an idea comes to you. It’s not necessarily a good idea, but it’s also not quite bad enough to dismiss it without mulling it over. It calls up a compulsion to indulge in a fun kind of self-destruction. It’s one where, if you play your cards right, there’ll be no real harm done and you’ll gain a fun story to tell. S. E. Webster's "Bad Thing Comin'" is an anthem to those kinds of worldly interactions. Filled with jangly rhythm guitar and tastefully heavy percussion, it’s lighthearted but with a bit too much drive to be called "jaunty." Playful lyrics push and pull with the instrumental backing, creating an attractively sauntering irreverence that you can’t help but tap a toe to. Guitar riffs buck and roll in between verses, getting their own word in edgewise. The track is a vivacious, exciting opener to S. E. Webster’s latest EP, Romance At A Distance, and it’s guaranteed to make you sway in your seat (if not outright get up and move!). Photo by Luke Armitage.
— Allison Hill on July 1, 2021Kala Boti - Shining
With “Shining,” Amsterdam-born and Lancaster-based artist Kala Boti delivers a song perfect for sunbleached summer days. Like the love child of Anderson. Paak and Michael Kiwanuka, Boti’s soulful voice, funk-influenced, treble-heavy guitar riff and a bass groove are a match made in heaven, while the Afrobeat-inspired percussion and the song’s catchy melody are guaranteed to have the track stuck in your head. Paired with the instrumentation’s joyful feeling are lyrics of hope that a loved one will come back once the sun is shining—a line fitting of both heartbreak and hope that captures the feeling of countries opening up post-pandemic. For a musician whose first release was in the second half of 2020, Boti’s production and songwriting skills are like those of a veteran and promise a bright (no pun intended) future. Boti plans to release his latest EP this summer, and you don’t want to miss out on what this talented artist is going to bring.
— Sofia Soriano on June 30, 2021Tiberius b - Tears into the Sun
During lockdown in the UK, Tiberius b’s debut EP, Stains, was born while the London-based artist moved to the Welsh countryside to care for their grandmother. While living there, the singer and producer had an artistic discovery contemplating the loss of relationships, heartbreak, sexuality and isolation. The melodic closing track "Tears into the Sun" captures the loss of near and far relationships throughout time.
Woven through the layers of synth-pop beats and guitar, the artist’s echoing vocals ask the listener questions like "How come we cannot drift away from it?” and "How do we have fun?" The song allows you to feel the heightened complexity of their drifting, emotive questions about those near and far from them. "Tears into the Sun" will certainly leave a lasting, euphoric effect as you reflect on the artists' questions unveiled. Photo by Dexter Lander.
Good Morning TV - Human Comedy
With Beatlesque mellotron synths, chorus-heavy guitars and a punchy, picked bassline, “Human Comedy” is a psychedelic indie rock jam for basking in the sun. Coming from French quartet Good Morning TV's debut album Small Talk, the track lives up to their name, providing a good dose of joy and calm. The song evokes the feeling of being a kid and riding your bike home at sunset, luminous and free. The drums, courtesy of Hugo Dupuis, lay the foundation for the song’s groove with tight fills and slightly open hi-hats. Lead singer Bérénice Deloire’s ethereal vocals elevate the track into a magical reverie, reflecting the chorus lyrics: “You realize suddenly, it’s all smoke and mirrors.” The dream built during the song ends with a solo that begs to be heard live, with the energy of a room packed with sweaty people dancing together. Photo by Antoine Magnien.
— Sofia Soriano on June 29, 2021juno roome - gardens
There's something about juno roome's whole aesthetic that inspires warm feelings of nostalgia. The Brooklyn-based musician uses a dreamy photo of clouds for the background of his website, leaving the visitor with an immediate feeling of familiarity; it almost seems like roome is an old friend from our past, one we may not talk to regularly, but who maintains feeling of closeness through his music.
roome's latest single “gardens” evokes multiple elements of those warm and happy memories of yesteryear. From the single's playful photo of a woman posing happily in front of a window perhaps made to look like an old snapshot, to the song's dream-like beat, coupled with roome's soft and almost breathy vocals, “gardens” is like coming back home no matter where you've been, a feeling heightened by roome's repeated and reassuring refrain of "I'll be here."
On the other side of the song's familiarity and warmth perhaps lies the very reason why the song's narrator may need a bit of nostalgic reassurance; Roome also channels a collectively relatable felt sense of anxiety, singing, "I don't want to be inside / I don't want to lose my mind," before pivoting back to a comfortable wistfulness, bringing peace back to the forefront. juno roome's ode to returning to the well-known instead of constantly feeling trapped by the unknown will bring listeners back to basics, with no sense of pretense or apologies. Photo by Ann Feletto.
— Taylor Hodgkins on June 24, 2021Eliza Shaddad - The Man I Admire
Sudanese and Scottish singer/songwriter Eliza Shaddad is building a catalogue of intricate, intelligent rock songs. Her latest single "The Man I Admire" finds her in a dream, standing in a burning home, waiting for this man to "save her from the smoke, but he takes off his shirt instead." The sincere intersection of desiring protection and mutual affirmation from a man, all the while understanding your own legitimacy and ability to protect yourself, is a subject rarely broached in feminine songwriting. Eliza executes this masterfully here. This song is an empathetic peek into the heart of a woman standing in front of a man and asking him to adore her with no caveats. It's true vulnerability, and the lyrics of the first two verses—feeling scared of the dark and being alone in a burning room—illustrate this beautifully. The theme is so succinct and yet totally complete. That's what makes Eliza's poetry so excellent.
Shaddad's first LP, Future, was released in 2018. "The Man I Admire" is one of four singles released this year ahead of her second album The Woman You Want. Pre-order The Woman You Want here, and look out for the UK-based singer on tour this summer. Photo by Flore Diamant.
— Hannah Lupas on June 24, 2021Olivia Kaplan - Ghosts
Through her deeply personal and introspective lyricism, Olivia Kaplan’s songs stick with you. The latest track from her upcoming debut album Tonight Turns to Nothing showcases her talent as both writer and musician. With fuzzed-out guitars and a bass-heavy groove providing the perfect backdrop to Kaplan’s enchanting vocals, “Ghosts” is a track you can dissolve into. The song ponders on an ill-fated relationship and the external factors that affect our loves with the wisdom of hindsight. Both people’s inhibitions are explored in the hook with a heart-rending lyric: “I’ll watch you dance with your ghosts / If you say you love me the most.” The song’s instrumentation follows the dynamics of the story being told, ending with a glitched-out solo and a haunting shadow of regret as Kaplan belts out, “I sit and blame conditions / when I could have loved you if I tried.” Photo by Michelle Simunovic.
— Sofia Soriano on June 23, 2021Talk Bazaar - caught in limbo
There’s a strange and powerful intimacy in Talk Bazaar’s "caught in limbo," the third track of his ambitious debut album oceanic. Talk Bazaar is the solo project of multi-instrumentalist Alex DeSimine, who also fronts the Brooklyn-based indie soul band Ritual Talk. Conceived and written during quarantine, oceanic boasts all the pertinent qualities that we’ve come to know of pandemic-recorded music: it's emotionally self-reflective, deeply introspective and, of course, personal. Even within the confines of his room, Talk Bazaar is not afraid to experiment. "caught in limbo" is extremely detailed and textured. Mixing folky acoustic guitar strums with intricate layers of electronic compositions and loops, the song’s style lands somewhere in between Alex G and Sufjan Stevens. While "caught in limbo" speaks to being stalled in a vulnerable and fragile emotional state, the song’s lyrics are written from the perspective of someone giving advice to another person (or persons), maybe to oneself. Fans of Ritual Talk will recognize DeSimine’s distinct hazy and soulful voice piercing through the song’s opening lines, "Of course you feel under / There's not a lot you can do." Immediately, DeSimine sets a tone of vulnerability. Then, at the end of the third and last verse, he sings, "You both are trying the best you know how," bookending the song with a powerful sense of forgiveness. Despite the devastating occurrences of the past year, whether it’s in the world or in one’s own private life, "caught in limbo" offers some healing. Photo by Sara Laufer.
— Alejandro Veciana on June 23, 2021kezia - SAPPHIRE
You know that feeling that wraps your heart (or stomach, or wherever you feel things) with a cold hand? kezia's track "SAPPHIRE" from her brand new EP claire is the clearest description of those thoughts that take you into a ghost town. As she moves through the verses, the beat follows an internal monologue of words never said, things you wish you did differently, showing that love doesn't have to last for it to feel real. On claire, the Tanzanian-American singer goes from being in love and showing it, to independent and empowered, then lonely and reflective. The tracks of claire are a direct reflection of being in your 20s in this century. "SAPPHIRE" is about the missed timing and the one that got away, but never really left your mind. What would you say if you could get one more minute? Photo by Sanny Bisquerra.
— Giulia Santana on June 22, 2021