Stream: Soon Enough - Still Parade

Deep psychedelic vibes abound here on the new song from Still Parade, aka Berlin-based musician Nickolas Kramer, who I first featured here all the way back in 2014.

In part inspired by dreams, and the subjective and intangible nature of reality, Kramer’s second album Soon Enough attempts to pull together nine songs that document his own personal experience of reality. There’s also a fair amount of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks inspiring all of this talk of dreams and reality. Describing his experience of taking a creative vacation to work on the album in Los Angeles, Kramer says:

“I stayed in a red room in the reddest place in Silverlake, close to Koreatown. Everything was red in this apartment, the floors were red, the walls were red, the sofas were red. The guy I was renting from had all these German vinyl records on the wall, so the first thing I saw after a 15 hour flight from Berlin, were these Stereo Total and Andreas Dorau records. That whole place was like this amazing low budget Twin Peaks set.”

As the title track from the new album, Soon Enough aims to capture an ephemeral moment that can’t be held constant - a beautiful sunset, slipping away. Kramer was clearly touched by his time in LA:

“I was really stunned by all the colours in the sunset. Coming from the gray of Berlin Winter and ending up in this colourful world, it just blows your mind.”

There is an otherworldly beauty to Soon Enough. If you have ever felt a beautiful moment and wished it wouldn’t end, or that it could be revisited, then this gently meandering record is for you. The proggy psychedelic sound comes from the same school as Tame Impala - a little distorted, thick ‘n’ heavy ‘70s bass grounding bruised falsetto vocals - and that only adds to the sense of being lost inside a dream.

Check out Soon Enough below:

Stream: Come Back - Bussauto with Felish

Having built up a reputation working as a producer and audio engineer, with Come Back Bussauto has taken centre stage.

Created in collaboration with vocalist Felish, Come Back is the result of a partnership that started when Felish sent a phone recording of her singing to one of Bussauto’s instrumental tracks impromptu. The pair got on so well that they ended up creating Come Back together.

I love the gentle feel to Felish’s vocals here, and the crunchy, woozy sound to the drum track. Check out Come Back below:

Stream: Buried Alive - Me Not You

Me Not You are a New York City outfit who dub themselves as ethereal garage pop. If you are wondering what that means, it means they combine dream pop melodies with layers of distortion and reverb. Can you imagine what Chvrches’ songs would sound like if they were played by The Jesus And Mary Chain? Then you are there…

…And ‘there’ is a pretty great place to be. Buried Alive is a sharp and brittle pop record that sounds like it’s being put under pressure. It’s a record seemingly about seeking solace through company, the sense that things may be going wrong but it will be okay if you are by my side. Describing the song, the band cryptically said:

”What lies ahead? And what came before? Are we nearing the end, or is this a new beginning? Either way, I want to be soothed, I want to be sung to sleep. I want you to stay by my side and hold my hand. Whatever's next, I want you with me."

Stream: Like I Used To - Julia Knight

Like I Used To is the second single from musician Julia Knight, who first appeared on the scene with her debut single Ghost Of You back in September 2016. Two years is a long time, but Knight chose to use that time to perfect her follow-up, focusing on every element of this new song.

The lead single to be lifted from her forthcoming EP Love Is A Hoax, Like I Used To is about being able to step back and view a relationship with perspective some time after it ended. It is about being able to miss certain elements of a relationship without actually wanting to be back in it.

The melody, percussion and soft keyboards here create an intoxicating atmosphere that blends with Knight’s vocal performance beautifully. Those vocals feel a little lost in sad introspection, and you can really hear the loss in the way she sings. The chorus manages to create the sense of moving on out of necessity - the little “Oh na na na na” vocal hook sounds almost sounds like a deliberate form of distraction from what Knight must be feeling.

Stream: Show You - Kasperg feat. Moli

Kaspberg is the alter ego of Finnish electronic music producer and DJ Kaspter Granroth. Here on Show You he creates a deep sounding piece of Garage & R&B influenced electronic music.

Show You is a tribute to feeling like you are in a good place when someone else is feeling negative about it. Rather than create further negativity, it’s about offering to help show people how you got there - provided they are willing to listen.

The subject gives the song a cool swagger that informs the confident vocals and effortless hooks. There is a nice slight looseness to this track, a slightly analogue sounding sloppiness that comes through in the easy swing of the rhythms and bass. Kasperg has managed to perfectly capture the easy feeling he wanted to convey.