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House For You is the beautiful atmospheric new track from LOYAL, who first appeared with their debut Blue & The Green back in December. The track is mainly made up of space and the cautious use of vocals and elements of electronic influenced instrumentation. LOYAL come on the Good Years label, who previously brought us Banks and Lil Silva amongst others.
Atella's Mechanical Sparrow is the latest release from Eskimo, and with warm synths and a soft vocal delivery from O. Martin they have created a gorgeous electronic record.
Hailing from Bergen, Sparrow smacks of Norwegian cool - perfectly understated production that pushes all the right buttons to give off an effortlessly refined sound. Summer-sounding jazzy keys and gorgeously muted guitars call to mind Röyksopp at their best. The whole record gently opens up much like the wings of the mechanical sparrow it depicts - purposeful, electronic and perfectly weightless.
In addition to the gorgeous original, a slightly toughened up club mix is included in the release, adding an elastic bassline to a funked up version of those same keys. It's a perfectly pitched reimagining of the original, just as good but a little different. Finally the Man Power remix strips the track back to the bones, focusing all the attention on the instrumental sophistication. Mechanical Sparrow is a track that benefits from the scrutiny, making all three mixes pretty much essential.
Listen to the original version of Mechanical Sparrow below. The full EP is available online now.
Neon Grey is the latest album from L.A. Girlfriend, who first came to my attention back in 2014 when she released her EP Varsity. Inspired by the 80s sounds of New Order and Iron Maiden that she grew up with, L.A. Girlfriend is the musical project of L.A. based artist Sydney Banta.
Whilst previous album VIVA was concerned with externalities - reactions to people, places and time - Neon Grey is a more inwardly focused. In Banta's own words, "[Neon Grey] is VIVA‘s introspective counterpart; a story of consequences, documenting an aftermath of emotions".
That album title perfectly encapsulates the L.A. Girlfriend sound, a pit of gravel topped off with a bucket of candy. Banta's vocals and lo-fi delivery create the sort of no fi anti-folk sound more akin to Courtney Barnett or Kimya Dawson, but she marries those to fuzzy, shoe-gaze aesthetic that at times boarders on abrasive.
Little Do I Know pounds with mechanically precise harsh drum beats and raw synth sounds. XIV accelerates through a wall of scratchy guitars, seemingly unable to slow down. Closely Subliminal Fantastic is dream-like, the half-remembered snatches of a night long since past. Banta's music captures a sentiment and a sense of an emotion before she has even uttered a word.
Neon Grey is out now and can be streamed in full on Soundcloud below:
Paperwhite first came to my attention back in 2014 when they unveiled Pieces and their subsequent debut EP Magic... Both were packed with infectious hooks and earned them the title of "Most Blogged Artist" twice.
I've been looking forward to hearing what brother and sister duo Katie and Ben Marshall come up with next and Unstoppable is the second track to come out on the run-up to their second EP Escape. This is Paperwhite at their best - doused in neon optimism. In the band's own words Unstoppable is "a reminder to find strength in the chaos and beauty in the unknown."
Derry-based musician Ryan Vail is inspired by both electronic and modern-classical music. Having previously released three EPs, soundtracked an entire BBC2 documentary The Longest Night and jointly released the album Sea Legs with Ciaran Lavery, Vail is now about to release his debut solo album For Every Silence.
Wounds comes ahead of that debut album and features a restrained soft-electronic style of production, suiting the hushed tone of the track and its vocals perfectly. It sounds like a track gentle spun out of the night-time mind of a wandering insomniac.