Parallel – “Blister”

Earlier this week, post-punk quartet Parallel released their stunning new single “Blister,” the first track from Flooded, their upcoming sophomore EP out later this summer. Influenced by bands like Slowdive and The Chameleons, the Oakland, California based group maintain a “dedication to an authentic and reflective sound, devoid of distortion and rich in clean tones drenched in chorus and delay,” as well as a “commitment to sonic purity and intricate songwriting.” Follow up to their debut self-titled EP released back in 2022, Flooded will explore “the intense fluctuations of emotions such as desire, rage, and despair, framed by moments of dislocation.” 

“Blister” is an absolutely mesmerizing coalescence of shoegaze, coldwave, and post-punk, soundtracking a “haunting exploration of loss and the promise of possibility.” It is seamlessly layered and perfectly balanced; the sharp steadiness of the guitar melodies lay the foundation for the evocative nature of the hazy, echoed vocals. The lyrics explore, in the band’s words, “the duality of desire,” both its “destructive and generative aspects,” and this is absolutely heard within the track – more specifically, towards the close. The guitar strums are like a thousand little knives, cutting at the dark expanse the track has worked to build, bringing nuance to the tension-filled final lines: “an ending, enraptured.”

Flooded is out 7/10. Pre-order it here. 

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Swiss Portrait – “Worries”

Earlier this week, Swiss Portrait – also known as the solo dream pop project of Michael Kay Terence – released his gorgeous new single “Worries.” The track is the second single from his upcoming sophomore album out later this year, and the latest from the Edinburgh-based artist since his wonderful debut album The Crippling Pain of Happiness released last summer. Recording, mixing, and producing everything in his bedroom studio, there has always been an equal emphasis on craft and intimacy in Terence’s work, resulting in a uniquely expansive, ethereal, and gorgeously endless sound that has become his signature. 

On “Worries,” perhaps our favorite track Swiss Portrait has ever released, Terence gently interrogates his past, “drawing emotions from a period in his life where he needed to support the people around him while feeling immobilized himself.” It’s a gorgeous amalgamation of both dream pop and jangle pop, blending the nostalgia of the former with the upbeat tempo of the latter; the guitar is pensive, yet bright, the bass and percussion steady like dual heartbeats. As is the case with many Swiss Portrait tracks, the lyrics are simple but poetic, relaying the depth of Terence’s concern. “As time wasted it’s not/ When it’s for you,” he explains, the gorgeous guitar melody that follows a confirmation of his utmost devotion. 

“Worries” is out now. 

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Superfan – “Twilight Living”

Superfan is the solo indie pop project of Los Angeles based artist Kali Flanagan. Later this summer, he will release his debut album Tow Truck Jesus, which will address topics from identity and relationships to navigating the complexities of adulthood, all expressed through an ironically pathos-heavy “deadpan” delivery as well as instrumentals brilliantly on the line between soft dream pop and gritty, guitar-based rock. As Flanagan’s voice evolved through Hormone Replacement Therapy, the creation of this album became “a reflection of his personal journey, addressing themes of desire, dysphoria, and self-acceptance with poignant lyricism;” in this regard, ultimately Tow Truck Jesus will be a “testament to the universal journey of self-discovery and growth.” 

“Twilight Living,” his most recent single following “Sewn Up and Handsome,” “Your Desire In Food,” and “75 Germany,” is a bit more upbeat, leaning further into grunge and a bit of shoegaze. Written “during a state of disassociation following a minor car accident,” the track has a slight hypnagogic aura underneath the gritty guitars and propulsive percussion, which mirroring the esoteric lyrics. All of this results in a track that brilliantly represents the re-gaining of self after circumstance as well as the simultaneous killing of said ego: “Give me confirmation there’s a human in this/ It takes strength to remember how to forget,” Flanagan asks, the instrumentals expelled like plumes of exhaust fleeing the scene; “I want to be anonymous,” he concludes.

Tow Truck Jesus is out 6/28. Pre-order it here. 

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Butter Bath – “My Love” (feat. Jermango Dreaming)

Earlier this week, Butter Bath – aka the psychedelic dream pop project from Sydney-based multi-instrumentalist Toby Anagnostis – released the stunning single “My Love,” featuring fellow dream pop artist Jermango Dreaming. From his bedroom studio, Anagnostis is meticulous when it comes to his compositions; directing all parts of the process, his music is a “sincerely raw and undiluted insight into his psyche,” with songs that, in their impeccable production, gorgeously maintain their intrigue (his 2021 EP Spectator is still on perpetual rotation for me, and I wish I could hear his single “You & Me” for the first time again). He explained the motivation behind the new track with Jermango Dreaming: 

We’re two friends who’s music projects have intersected at various points – playing shows together, signing to the same label a few years ago and playing around in the studio. We figured it was high time we put out a song together.

As is the case with both Butter Bath (and Jermango Dreaming, for that matter), the track is immediately mesmerizing, wasting no time with the building of its atmosphere, complete with a tantalizing wealth of texture and color. Groovy is, quite frankly, an understatement; between the clarity of the vocals, the precise palpitations of the bassline, and the wobbly synth flourishes, it’s a track that begs multiple immersions. And yet, there’s a hint of sadness within this haze – the realization that adoration, like most anything, is often deleterious in excess.

“My Love” is out now. 

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Harper – “Bug Crusher”

Last week, Harper – also known as the bedroom-pop project of Matthew and Sadie Groves – released their stunning debut album The Mother Root. Though the Leicester, UK based duo’s debut ultimately navigates through a wealth of “moments” – moments of “anxiety about self-worth,” moments of “strength found through companionship,” and moments of “everyday life that have a lasting impact and make us who we are” – there is a radiant cohesiveness to the album that ultimately gestures toward a feeling of hope and warmth, and this is only expressed further through their compositions. 

One of our favorite tracks, “Bug Crusher,” is on the more expansive, atmospheric side, with hazy vocals and an emphasis on synth and percussion evoking the elusive bliss of The Bilinda Butchers and the crystallized joy of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Although the track is bright and nostalgic, it is direct in its narrative, detailing a focus on resilience following a destructive relationship. Even the reference to being crushed like a bug is ironic in and of itself, considering most insects, the beetle, for instance, can withstand a force of about 39,000 times its body weight; to be “crushed like a bug,” funnily enough, is a compliment in disguise, a nod towards one’s own resilience. 

The Mother Root is out now. 

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Hana Vu – “Play”

Today, Hana Vu shares her brilliant new album Romanticism. The follow-up to the stunning Public Storage, the album is described as a “contemplative, coming-of-age indie-pop that mourns the impermanence of youth,” with narratives that  unafraid to consider the existential side of identity and the true depth of affect and emotion, showcasing “how thrilling it can be to look directly at our feelings, to sing their sorrows and praise.” Vu explained that the “nexus of this album is indulging in these sad feelings, indulging in the senses,” and this occurs both in narrative and composition alike; her instrumentals are textured, atmospheric, and heavy, her lyrics direct, earnest, ardent. And Vu sometimes subverts the nature of the love song all together; for instance, one of our favorite tracks, “Play,” is an exhilarating slice of pop and slight electronica reminiscent of a dance track, but with a complex narrative that unsettles the upbeat, seemingly joyous nature of the song. 

What appears as carefree devotion towards another is, when looking at the lyrics and the fervent nature of Vu’s vocals, a desperate plea for the person in question to agree to completely lose mind, body, soul for her sake, and gestures towards both physical and emotional annihilation that is one-sided: “Hold me until you’re nothing/ Tell me, baby/ Even when the sky is falling, save me.” And yet, despite all the breathless invocations, Vu is entirely self-aware, sharing an admission of guilt at the impossibility to maintain such an intense, destructive relationship: “All I play is you/ Oh, every game I lose.” It’s one thing to admit love for another person; it’s another thing to admit that the love is doomed from the outset based on one’s own flaws. Both, in my eyes, if not representing strength, at the very least show an absolutely stunning vulnerability. 

Romanticism is out now via Ghostly International. 

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photo by Andrew Yuyi Truong

Kai Bosch – “Wishbone”

Last week, alt-pop artist Kai Bosch released his new EP Love, Throw Me A Bone. Bosch’s music is inspired by “articulating feeling rather than any particular genre,” and as part of that articulation, prioritizes narrative. In that regard, Love, Throw Me A Bone is, according to Bosch, “a diaristic real-time account of my breakup with my first long-term boyfriend;” “like the relationship itself,” he continued, the album is “sometimes messy, sometimes beautiful, sometimes oversharing, but always heartbreaking.” In that sense, “Wishbone,” the EP’s closer, is something of a final chapter, but also, a looking back:

“Wishbone” is the simplest song I have ever released. It looks at a failed relationship with honesty and self reflection but also with a sense of sympathy that we were just two people who didn’t quite know how to navigate a messy and traumatic breakup. Despite this, for me the song at its core is about appreciating the moment of light you shared with someone even if it ended up going wrong. It’s a love song for someone you can’t hold anymore – and despite so much of this whole EP coming from a place of anger, yearning and heartbreak, this is probably the song I still relate to most looking back on this relationship in hindsight.

Bosch’s EP is perhaps one of the most heartbreaking releases I have heard in quite some time, and at times, you truly find yourself wondering if you’re intruding on someone’s most private, intimate moments of mourning. But, of course, as is the case for artists that fearlessly wear their hearts on their sleeves – Sufjan Stevens and Angelo De Augustine immediately come to mind here – we’re always a little grateful for them, knowing that we can take refuge in their understanding and thoughtful rendering of personal pain, relate it to our own. And there is something about the sheer simplicity of “Wishbone” – the ghostly piano, the muted orchestrals in the background, Bosch’s stripped vocals – that violently cleaves the heart at the same time it delicately mends it. It centers on the often ephemeral nature of love, but also takes solace in being so fortunate as to find that love in the first place; it centers in on, as Bosch stated, “that moment of light.” 

Love, Throw Me A Bone is out now. 

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Lunar Isles – “After Sun”

Earlier this week, Lunar Isles – also known as Scottish multi-instrumentalist David Skimming – shared his latest single “After Sun.” It’s the sixth single since the release of his debut Right Way Round last Spring, a stunning album which “ponder[ed] the complexities of perspective as memories of home and adventure blended into one.” Written and recorded over the length of a year in Skimming’s bedroom studio in his newfound home of Cheongju, South Korea, and seamlessly housing hazy surf-tinged bedroom pop and delicate shoegaze instrumentals, Lunar Isles’s music is perfect for the upcoming summer months, whether that entails festivals, parties, or “reminiscing on memories lost to time.” 

Influenced in part by 90s house music, “After Sun” is lush, ethereal, and otherworldly, a soundtrack to a late-afternoon daydream. Evoking a similar atmospheric tone as Washed Out and Memory Cassette, the synth swells and sways amidst pounding percussion, wholly contained by its own aura. There is a softness amidst the heaviness of the percussion, a nod towards the more ruminative lyrics, where Skimming asks: “Why does it feel/ Like you’re running all the time?” 

“After Sun” is out now.

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Fontaines D.C. – “Starburster”

Earlier this week, Irish post-punk quintet Fontaines D.C. released the incendiary “Starburster,” the first single from their upcoming album Romance. The album will be the follow-up to the Dublin-based group’s incredible third album Skinty Fia, released back in 2022. Volatile, ruminative, brooding, and slightly gothic, Skinty Fia was largely influenced and informed by, in frontman Grian Chatten’s words, “Irishness existing in England,” as well as the resulting chaos, conflict, and culture that has resulted from it; “I Love You,” one of the best songs that the group has ever released, was inspired by exactly this (also, please watch the live version they did at Glastonbury… one of the best live versions of any song I’ve ever heard). However, the new album marks a stark divergence from that focus, for in regard to Romance, guitarist Conor Deegan explained: 

“We’ve always had this sense of idealism and romance. Each album gets further away from observing that through the lens of Ireland, as directly as Dogrel. The second album is about that detachment, and the third is about Irishness dislocated in the diaspora. Now we look to where and what else there is to be romantic about.”

Chatten expounded further that the album is also “about protecting the tiny flame” that comes with “falling in love at the end of the world;” the “bigger armageddon looms,” he explained,  “the more precious it becomes.” This unparalleled desire is portrayed through the stream-of-consciousness passion of “Starburster,” the huge sweeps of guitar, the percussion that simulates a beating heart. A solid amalgamation of post-punk, hip hop, and a bit of psychedelia, the track’s title is apt, and brings to mind a quote from American modernist author Nathanael West: “You only have time to explode.”  

Romance is out 8/23 via XL Recordings. Pre-order the absolutely stunning pink vinyl here (I sure did). 

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photo by Theo Cottle

English Teacher – “I’m Not Crying You’re Crying”

Last week, English Teacher released their brilliant debut This Could Be Texas. The Leeds, UK based quartet’s sound is a remarkable amalgamation of post-punk, psychedelia, and fuzzy alternative rock, with an unparalleled energy and uniqueness that shows throughout the debut in singles like “R&B” and “The World’s Biggest Paving Slab.” Our favorite track on the album, “I’m Not Crying You’re Crying,” is an absolutely gorgeous math-rock stunner with a focus on embracing complexity and nuance (the pacing and instrumentation of this and other tracks actually, strangely enough, remind me of Black Midi’s take on the genre). Lily Fontaine’s vocals are at once stoic and ethereal in the verse and chorus, respectively, and the fervid guitar and volatile bassline serve to amplify their aura. The track slowly and carefully builds in intensity; once it reaches the last minute, however, it’s as if those sonic walls that gradually rose since the track’s start begin to melt down, blur, and fill the space, and from that moment, it’s incredibly difficult, in the best possible sense, not to get swept away in the sensation. 

This Could Be Texas is out now.

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photo by Andy Ford