Listen: Cologne - Isaac Dunbar

Having already been tipped by the likes of Zane Loew, Isaac Dunbar’s latest single Cologne comes to us pre-packaged with a fair amount of hype, and a collection of press photos that look like they were made by someone that specialises in helping others become ‘Instagram famous’.

Thankfully the music here lives up to it’s window dressing - it’s a shade throwing break-up anthem for the rejected. Cologne feels like the kind of bitter and narcissistic WhatsApp ramblings we can all find ourselves jotting out after a few craft beers on an empty stomach. The production swirls around Dunbar’s sense of disappointment with the air of self-delusion... He notes the that the subject of his record isn’t likely to change, yet finds himself unable to move on all the same. Jealous and dejected, Dunbar seems unable to know what to do other than rely on his cologne and Gucci.

My advice? Buy new cologne and find someone else... But in the meantime, I’m going to have another drink and stick this on one last time...

Listen: California - Drinker

California slips its way into the space between your ears and the gap in your chest in a disconcerting way - before you know it, you’re following it down dusty alleys and through abandoned parks, unsure quite what’s in store or how you got there. The new song from Drinker is deceptive, slowly lulling you in, drawing you nearer without you ever noticing, hand clasped around your neck, pulling you in close enough to feel it’s breath.

Drinker started life in NY as a vehicle for duo Aaron Mendelsohn and Ariel Loh. The pair shared a love of Fever Ray, Bon Iver and James Blake, but to me this sounds more like (Norwegian musician) Magnet fronting Beach House. Following Mendelsohn’s move to LA, the duo started collaborating remotely. The resulting album, appropriately named Fragments, will be released this spring through B3SCI Records.

Creeping in with a gentle guitar melody and hushed vocal harmonies, it isn’t until the chorus fell into my lap that I realised I was a little bit in love with this one. That opening verse, slightly uncertain and cautious, giving way to that beautiful male-female duet and a gentle beat and bass melody. Mendelsohn’s vocals pick there way amongst the instruments like a child gingerly clambering across rock pools - both excited and a little scared by what they might find beneath the surface.

California was written following Mendelsohn’s move to LA, a depiction of his experience of leaving somewhere he knew in exchange for something he likens “to a mirage, in California”. Describing his experience, the artist says:

“The California dream, which I think is a certain specific version of the American Dream based in entertainment...was all around me. The way the people try to climb the ladder, with no shame in their methods, made me wonder if I could keep climbing in my tactful way... Over time I have come to embrace the culture of LA that embraces the chase and the display of the hustle, but I wrote this in the early days when what was supposed to be a dream was seeming all too real.”

There is a haunting, organic feeling here - chillwave played on real instruments - and the result is a little bit staggering.

Listen: Sabotage - Emma Kern

Sabotage is the new track from SoCal native Emma Kern.

With a focus on making knowing pop music for a the millennial generation, the track features production work from Charlie Bryce Wallace. Wallace creates a feel that feels polished, whilst also maintaining a little of a bit of a raw edge.

The main draw in Sabotage for me is that killer chorus... As Kern belts out the lines “I always sabotage myself”, you know just how true that can feel. She creates the feeling of dancing through your problems with a sense of determination... A realisation what her problem is, and half-celebrating it before (hopefully) moving on.

Listen: Feels - LUNAS

Swimming in baggy and loose sun kissed chords and rhythms, Feels is the latest track from Cologne-based musician Marvin Mauelshagen. Working as LUNAS, Marvin has found his groove making electronic music with a touch of garage and house blended to create a sense of urban movement.

Following on from 2017’s breakout single Night Out, Feels is LUNAS’ debut single for Berlin label Guesstimate and the first track to be taken from a forthcoming EP, due to be released later this year.

For a song that carries the central line, “If you wanna feel, do it”, Feels actually exhibits a surprising dose of melancholy... Rather than celebrating a feeling, the song leaves me wondering if that feeling comes at some sort of a cost, or whether it is simply about the desire to feel something when faced with a sense of withdrawal or apathy. Regardless, the song captures the feeling of seeking out pleasure within European cities in the summer - beats echoing amongst narrow alleyways, the cooling feeling of falling through pools of shade that collect between pockets of hot midday sun. Yet it also feels a little like the pleasure we seek comes with its own cost.

Listen: Thinking About You - Zachariah

Coming from LA-based R&B artist Zachariah, Thinking About You is the kind of song that bristles with emotional gravity... The sort of record that sounds like someone lost in the throws of what they feel.

With hushed, whispered vocals, loose elastic bass and a stop-start-will-they-won’t-they rhythm, everything about this record feels like it’s about bubble over. It’s the overwhelming uncertainty that comes with a really intense form of love - that constant feeling of “If I feel this strongly about you, how can you possibly feel anything comparable about me”. In some ways, this is the feeling of becoming incredibly close to someone... And yet as Zachariah pleads, “Can’t you stop thinking about me too?”, you sense the loneliness, the seeming impossibility of fulfilment and release.

Describing the track, Zachariah says:

“Thinking About You is about the beginning of a relationship - and the uncertainty of it all. It's the possibility of someone thinking of you and just that being the most exciting thing. Early parts of love are the best-- you're kind of in a fever dream of sorts. It feels like everything- the night, seasons, music, exist only for the two of you. I wanted to capture that feeling in this song.”

Check out Thinking About You below.