Listen: Pretty Sure - Kita Menari

This new track from Kita Menari grabs me exceptionally early... Those first drum snaps feel like a playful slap to the face, an encouragement to wake up, followed by the loose tickle of a muted guitar line.

Kita Menari is the musical project of artist Micha de Jonge, who came up with the name following a near death experience whilst scuba diving in Malaysia. His air tank stopped working, leaving him fighting to reach the surface in time to snatch some air. Having blown off steam by partying the night away in celebration of life, Micha woke with a piece of paper in his pocket - on that paper were the words ‘Kita Menari’, which he later found out is Malay for ‘we dance’. He took it as a sign and set about making music from a different, more reflective perspective.

Pretty Sure’s vocal has a high gloss 80s feel to it that really shines. In combination with the backing track the the result is something that feels like unwrapping something new and still perfect. The record bounces along with its unfazable falsetto vocal before exploding into a crescendo of colour at around two-minutes-forty... It feels like someone letting a barrel full of coloured baubles fall from a great height onto the floor - the result is fractured and chaotic but beautiful.

That moment in the record is actually a pivotal one. The song itself is describing the pressure the artist feels in creation - the simultaneous desire to create weighed against the feeling it might not be good enough. That explosive moment is the point where fear is abandoned. Talking about the song Micha says:

“The song revolves about a common conversation I have with myself: whether or not what I’m doing creatively is good enough, and the fear of letting that feeling go. Having big ambitions and dreams can sometimes have a negative effect on the process of achieving them. It’s like having an angel on one shoulder telling you to go for it while a demon sits on the other telling you it’s not good enough. I wanted there to be a sonic build throughout the song that would erupt after the second chorus, as a sign of letting that fear go and having creativity burst free.”

Stream: Talk About It - Superheart

Talk About It is a new piece of blissful electronic pop music from Superheart, an artist who seems to be set on creating warm, gentle soundscapes that feel a little bit like an embrace from your best friend.

This particular song combines gentle muted guitar work, a catchy and pillow-soft bass line with some dreamlike vocals and the result is a little beautiful. The vocals seem to betray a dissatisfaction in all this pleasantness though... “But we only ever talk about it”, as if, as good as this is, there must be something a little more real here worth fighting for.

Check out Talk About It below, and enjoy getting wrapped up in its sounds.

Stream: Sucker - Tyzo Bloom feat. Gigi

Sucker is the debut single from Tyzo Bloom and it was created in collaboration with Gigi and songwriter Parker. Together they created a record about the difficult realities of love, as encapsulated in the line “I’m a sucker for boys that leave”.

Tyzo Bloom is the musical alias of 27-year-old LA-based producer and songwriter Casey Chen. Describing the record Chen said:

“We wanted to make a song that tapped into the idea of love coming from a place of insecurity and self-doubt. Love shouldn't come from dependency or be a bandaid that tapes over your issues, yet we do this all the time. We wanted to illustrate the very emotion brought upon people when intimacy becomes a test of self worth and desperation.”

Gigi’s vocal perfectly captures that feeling of earnest and frankly well intentioned desperation and Tyzo sets it against carefully constructed melodies and delicate shuffling rhythms. We can’t help what we want, but what we can do is recognise our role in a situation and how we react. Sucker is one of those gentle records that feels beautiful as a result of just how honest it is with itself.

Stream: New Friends - Cuja

We’re almost at a holiday break and the end of a year I sometimes felt would never end, but here’s one last cheeky little record looking to worm into your head space so it can hold you hostage.

New Friends is a record about the kind of irresponsibility insistent romantic love that feels impossible not to prioritise over everything else. Here LA-based musician Cuja sings with reckless abandon about giving up on her friends so she can be with the person she really wants, as she makes clear on a catchy but ever so naughty chorus: “We can make new friends baby!”

In all honesty, my favourite thing about this record, even more so than how brazenly head-over-heels it is, is the the dog bark. It’s the sort of touch that made me double check whether I heard it correctly... “1:06... Was that a dog bark?” And yep, there it is... there is a dog lurking here. So my conclusion is this song is a love record about Cuja and her pup, and she has decided that frankly her other friends were just getting in the way of that love.

Cuja herself neither confirms nor denies the dog overtones here, so maybe I’m projecting. All we know for sure is this is a song about two friends falling for each other, and taking a gamble on where that leads. In Cuja’s own words:

“New Friends is about taking chances. It’s an anthem to put your fears aside and go for that thing you want. Perfect for that New Years Eve, ‘Ah, f**k it’ moment.”

We can indeed take chances and make new friends. Happy New Year folks!!

Stream: World Below - Raindear

Following singles Sky, Coins and Elephant Heart (which appeared on BlackPlastic back in August), Raindear is back with another piece of glittering electronic glam pop with World Below.

World Below is instantly recognisable as Raindear’s work - analogue-sounding electronics shifting beneath swirling and sultry vocals whilst a throbbing bass line kicks things up a gear

Raindear is the musical persona of Swedish artist Rebecca Bergcrantz. Raised by parents known on the jazz and classical music scene, Bergcrantz quickly absorbed as much music as possible from a young age and released her debut album in 2016.

The focus World Below is losing yourself and briefly feeling above everything, as described by Raindear:

“It's edgy, sinful, playful and hazy. It's the feeling of having the world wrapped around your finger for a while. I wrote it after a wild summer night that ended as a dance party in the dawn in an abandoned train tunnel.”