Gloriously bluesy R&B from New York's Oyinda on this new track Restless, taken from her forthcoming EP. Check it out and then jump on The Devil's Gonna Keep You, What Still Remains and Rush of You... All are beautiful.
A month on from sharing their track Pieces, brother and sister duo Paperwhite are on the eve of releasing debut EP Magic. It's a confident selection of tracks from a band that have only been making music for a year. The majority of the tracks are already available on Soundcloud, but Magic brings them together in one complete package.
Pieces retains all of its charm - a starry eyed and thoroughly optimistic treaty on love at breathless first site. Take Me Back opens the EP with a dreamy widescreen cinematic statement of intent... The flip side of Pieces, it conjures up a the sense of longing to return to a relationship despite its flaws.
The two newer tracks are in keeping with the style you will be familiar if you have checked out my earlier post. Galaxy is a softly played electronic ballad, layered synths and fuzzy drum patterns creating a sense of teenage nostalgia, Katie Marshall's vocals oozing with love-fuelled reckless abandon. Gold is full of all optimism of Pieces, all intense emotions and day dreams bottled into audio candy.
Magic will no doubt appeal to fans of that oh so saccharine sound and at its best there is a lot to love - the title track's pounding beat is juxtapositioned to a more introspective and constrained verse to create something that sounds like Au Revoir Simone teaming up with M83. Six tracks of this are almost too much though, and the Marshall siblings may need to reign things in a little if they are to avoid always sounding like the closing shots of a John Hughes movie over and over... But for now, I'll take it.
Love this scuzzy hazy dream pop from L.A. Girlfriend, who follows on from her LP Viva with this new EP documenting the end of love and the heartbreak that leads to a renewed sense of determination.
You can feel the energy and uncertainty in the vocals spread across these three tracks, and it comes drenched in a musical style that seems to channel the deliberate obfuscation that comes with break-ups... L.A. Girlfriend is simultaneously saying: "I'm cool with what happened, and whatever" whilst she also wrestles with pain and moving on.
Varsity is out now on We Are Confetti. Listen via Soundcloud below, or pay what you want to grab the EP on Bandcamp.
Following on from the original last month the Mystery Jets have turned in this rather lovely reimagining of The Night VI's haunting Heroine. Unshackled from the Stevie Nicks feel of the original the Eel Pie Island bastions of prog and eighties pop have given this a glistening electro feel. With lots of cool keyboards and functional percussion, it's a nice counterpart to the original, and very minimal in comparison.
The Night VI will play a headline show on November 21st at The Stillery in Camden for Duly Noted as a DIY EP launch party, and Mystery Jets will also DJ. This will be a limited 150 cap venue where entry is £5 or £8 for entry + a DIY EP.
As part of the post this track was listened to on a Cambridge Audio G2 provided to BlackPlastic.co.uk by Cambridge Audio. Find out more about the portable bluetooth speaker here.
Another nice remix of Fickle Friends... NY duo Ghost Beach have delivered an upbeat take on recent single For You, which raises things up a notch but manages to retain the pulse quickening feel of the original. The mix came about after the two groups met at a festival in the summer, with Fickle Friends ending up joining Ghost Beach's new label Crazy Heart Records.
As part of the post this track was listened to on a Cambridge Audio G2 provided to BlackPlastic.co.uk by Cambridge Audio. Find out more about the portable bluetooth speaker here.