Listen: Slow - Soma

Slow is the second single to come from Stockholm based musician Soma. Whilst this is actually a break-up song, it positively bursts with an infectious form of excitement. If this is a break-up song then it surely depicts the kind of break-up where you still can’t help but feel head-over-heels with the person you are having to face moving on without.

Soma and her collaborators wanted to try and keep the feeling of their original demo and so managed to avoid polishing it too much, and the result is a track that reeks of Prince, in a rather wonderful way. It boasts bold melodies, some lovely analogue sounding 80s bass and the kind of snappy, treble-heavy pop sensibilities you just don’t get these days. There is also a wonderful gospel moment towards the end, a bridge that sees the majority of the instrumentation drop away so the vocals can really shine. In addition to Prince, this reminds me of Nenah Cherry... The same energy that makes Buffalo Stance one of my all-time favourites is audible here.

Slow is one of those songs that I just can't stop listening to - a pleasure to receive and one of those tracks I just can’t help but want to share. Check it out below:

Listen: New Light - Hunter As A Horse

Having found some fame in TV commercials and appearances in the soundtrack to Riverdale and American Horror Story, Hunter As A Horse are back after a two year hiatus with a new EP, their third, in the form of Walk With Me.

New Light is a softly played melodic ballad that worms it’s way into your ear through gracefully free falling synths, muted guitars and soft drums. Hushed vocals deliver a deadpan performance that capture a feeling of a disillusionment, and it’s all very reminiscent of Au Revoir Simone.

Hunter As A Horse describe New Light as “dreamy 80s tinged nostalgia portraying friendship, sharing experiences and living in the moment”. Vocalist Mia says:

“New Light is a nostalgic song about my childhood friends and how quickly it all passed while we believed we were immune to growing up. It’s about how we lived so much in the moment and full out as kids that we didn’t even notice time passing. And how just the way the sun shines can be powerful enough to bring you back to a time when things felt alive and wondrous.”

Check out New Light below.

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.