Stream: Breakthrough - Skinnydip

Breakthrough is the new single from Skinnydip and it’s a gently loved-up piece of electronic pop that oh-so-gently pushes my buttons.

The electronic melodies here feel a little starstruck - that helpless feeling of accepting your happiness is intrinsically linked to another person, over whom you have no direct control. That’s what love is right? Giving yourself over to someone and accepting they could hurt you if they were so inclined.

The deadpanned vocal delivery here is full of an honest feeling of emotional generosity. It is the sound of someone investing their confidence in another person - focusing on and investing in their success and happiness.

Stream: How Can I Love You? - Yellow Days

It’s been a little while since I last wrote about Yellow Days, real name George van den Broek, and his blend of weird psyche funk. Following on the heels of the weird plastic soul of The Way Things Change is new single How Can I Love You?

How Can I Love You? is a little less strung out than either of the tracks I’ve featured here before, instead leaning into a relatively easy going jazz sound. There’s still a loose, elastic feel here, but it wouldn’t feel out of place in your nu soul classics playlist. Yellow Days’ vocals still manage to capture the sound of someone just on the verge of losing control, and that lends his music a unique sense of authenticity. Still, How Can I Love You? is undeniably the sound of an artist ready for the big time.

You can check out Yellow Days during his pop-up takeover of 189 Shoreditch High Street on Wednesday from 3pm, featuring a gallery, shop and a 30-minute live set taking place at 7pm followed by guest DJs. You can also see Yellow Days on tour:

• 10th October – Democrazy, Gent
• 11th October – Het Zonnehuis, Amsterdam – SOLD OUT
• 12th October – Uebel & Gefahrlick, Hamburg
• 13th October – Festsaal Kreuzberg, Berlin
• 15th October – Vega, Copenhagen
• 18th October – Papiersaal, Zurich
• 19th October – Arci Ohibo, Milan
• 22nd October – Thekla, Bristol – SOLD OUT
• 23rd October – The Bullingdon Arms, Oxford
• 25th October – Riverside, Newcastle
• 26th October – The Garage, Glasgow
• 27th October – Rescue Rooms, Nottingham
• 28th October – The Globe, Cardiff
• 29th October – Brixton Electric, London
• 4th November – Tropicalia Festival, Long Beach
• 5th November – El Ray Theatre, Los Angeles – SOLD OUT
• 6th November – El Rey Theatre, Los Angeles – SOLD OUT
• 7th November – Slim’s, San Francisco – SOLD OUT
• 9th November – Kilby Court, Salt Lake City – SOLD OUT
• 10th November – Larimer Lounge, Denver – SOLD OUT
• 12th November – Lincoln Hall, Chicago
• 14th November – Lee’s Palace, Toronto – SOLD OUT
• 15th November – Casa Del Popolo, Montreal – SOLD OUT
• 16th November – The Sinclair Music Hall, Boston
• 17th November – Music Hall of Williamsburg, New York – SOLD OUT
• 18th November – Music Hall of Williamsburg, New York – SOLD OUT
• 19th November – First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia
• 20th November – Rock & Roll Hotel, Washington DC – SOLD OUT

Stream: The Message - OK Button

OK Button are a Scottish-based three-piece made up of Amber Wilson, Nass Donald and Adam Falkner, and The Message is their debut single.

The group originally started when Amber was performing an acoustic set in her home city of Aberdeen and Adam happened to be at the gig. Having formed a friendship the pair started collaborating over email as an escape from the loneliness of being on the road touring with their other respective projects - Amber as vocalist with Bombay Bicycle Club and Morcheeba and Adam as the drummer for One Eskimo and Babyshambles. Amber and Adam ended up teaming up with multi-instrumentalist Nass and writer and producer Craigie Dodds, who has worked with Amy Winehouse, the Sugababes and the Gorillaz.

As their debut single, The Message represents an emotionally raw song about the feeling of being let down by those you trust. Amber’s vocals cut deep as she sings “You motherfuckers won’t bring me down” over deep, soft, electronic sounds. Amber describes how the chorus is channeling her love of 90s hip-hop, as the lyrics emphasise her own strength and independence:

“I was really struggling with the chorus. I wanted to convey the elation of not giving a shit anymore and realising your self-worth, but nothing was doing it for me. I channelled my inner Tupac and we all ended up loving it.”

The result is a thrillingly sanguine - downbeat but rising up, refusing to let things hold you back.

Stream: Stale Heart - Neon Coast

Stale Heart is the new single from Neon Coast, real name Travis Crawford, and it’s a belter in the vein of Springsteen - the sound of an aching heart plodding on tired legs towards an unknown destination with just enough hope to continue.

There is a steady rim shot that feels like the momentum of those plodding legs, the thing that keeps us going. Layers of guitar create our gutfull of hope and eventually the vocals tentatively soar, reaching for the stars. It’s like our tired old legs and worn out heart can’t really keep us down... They never could, not when there are people in the world who can make things feel right.

Stale Heart is about the period following a break-up, when it can be hard to feel things, and the need to push against that:

“If you’ve loved someone and it ends, the time after it’s over can often be characterized by a lack of emotion and ability to connect to other people. Sometimes with those really deep connections, that period can last for years.

“To not be able to return to that place of emotion and feeling can be a frustrating experience, which ironically is a powerful emotion itself. This song is about that struggle; the process of trying to crawl out of that hole to find closure and come to terms with your situation.”

This song captures that struggle so perfectly. I still feel. I’m still here with my beating heart.

Stream: Abinger - West Parade

West Parade is West London producer Charlie Chipchase and the focus here is on combining warm electronics with glitchy, shuffling rhythms and a subdued pop feel.

Abinger was initially created the morning after a house party whilst Charlie was studying in Manchester - he deliberately chose that moment because he liked the way his voice sounded in that tired and hungover state.

But Abinger sat on the shelf when other things in his life took over. It was only later, when he decided to make songwriting a focus, that Charlie ended up coming back to Abinger to finish it.

This is Chipchase’s first release as West Parade and he chose Abinger as it felt like a suitable bridge between his past, student days and the future he is pursuing as a producer. There is a lovely downtrodden feel to this, capturing the emotionally vulnerable but tired feeling of the morning after the night before. The vocals feel like the half remembered memories of what happened the night before, and the music cautiously ramps to an funk fuelled conclusion. It’s a little tentatively optimistic, and I love the mood captured here.