Listen: Half - Artemis Aether

In its vulnerability, Half feels like consolation, empathy and resignation. But more than that, it sounds like support and kindness and rallying for another round.

Drums pump like the steady march of just putting one foot in front of the other... those times where just surviving is enough. Piano notes ricochet like fleeting moments of hope, and gentle guitars strum along like vibrations in the dirt as life rushes by, before reaching a climax as, perhaps, surviving stops being enough.

Half is a song about things that divide us, and the choices we make in search of something beyond happiness.

Having worked within music for some time, Artemis Aether felt constrained by the usual bios and band photos. Preferring to retain a sense of mystery, they instead have opted for alternative creative forms for giving a sense of what they are about. This includes a a short story on their website, and the short poem below:

All fire and fury
All secret and surly
All baritone bravery
And heterogeneity

Some settled on sombre
Some beat to the tame
Some spotted a contra
So called it a game

They came for the fever,
The once broken preacher,
And the mask made to see her
Called Artemis Aether

Check out Half below:

Listen: Drink The Water - T.O.L.D.

T.O.L.D., short for The Order of Life and Death, is the musical project of Daniel James Smith, a British musician now based in Los Angeles. The name of Smiths’ project comes from Gustav Klimt’s painting Life and Death, something he was exposed to as a teenager.

Having initially experimented with music and self-releasing his own material in London, in 2014 Smith moved the the US and started working as T.O.L.D., with early releases including production credits from GusGus’ Birgir Þórarinsson. Following a debut album, It’s Not About The Witches, back in 2016 and last year he was announced as one of the BBC’s Introducing Artists of 2019.

Drink The Water is a meditative piece of indie gospel, with synths that would feel at home in a John Hughes movie but a slow, vocal chorus that creates a stark, contemplative feeling. Smith cites Bon Iver, Animal Collective and Brian Eno as influencers on the sound, but I can also hear TV On The Radio’s baritone soul here.

The song itself is a literal ode to water and sun. Having grown up in an English town famous for its spring water, Smith would at times marvel at the feeling something as simple, as abundant, as water could give. On darker days, when Smith felt depressed, he was drink gallons of the water:

“The freshest and best source of it on the planet under my feet. I craved the sun and when it finally came back, this song poured out of me.”

Listen: B.E.S.T. - Laur Elle

Ahead of her debut EP American-born, Canadian-raised musician Laur Elle has just unveiled her fifth single, B.E.S.T.

Having moved some 15 times before she ended up in Canada aged 11, Laur had travelled a lot as a child, growing up in Alberta whilst training as a national level gymnast. Training didn’t leave time for anything else and so it was only when she reached late high school years that she really got into music. Initially writing poetry, Laur Elle then started experimenting with guitar and got into song-writing. A stint at university in Alberta kept her from focusing on music full time whilst she got a teaching degree, but she is now dedicated her energy toward creating music.

B.E.S.T. stands for Better Every Single Time, and the track is inspired by early 2000s pop-rock, depicting that feeling of a new love that just seems to get deeper and more exciting with every interaction. With beautifully emotive vocals, B.E.S.T. wraps itself around your head and your heart, conjuring up the experience of being lost in excitement and feeling.

Laur Elle’s debut EP will be out in April. In the meantime check out B.E.S.T. below:

Listen: Only Human - NRVS LVRS

Only Human feels like your feet slapping against the pavement as you make your way to a person and a place you just can’t get to soon enough. It’s the feeling of running late for something you just can’t get enough of.

NRVS LVRS are San Francisco based husband and wife duo Andrew Gomez and Bevin Fernandez. Creating electronic dream-pop, Gomez and Fernandez take influence from the likes of Massive Attack, Can and Kate Bush, whilst blending in an electronic sound that results in something akin to Bat for Lashes on a sugar rush.

With it’s snappy drums, fuzzy bass and layers of distorted synths, Only Human packs a lovely lo-fi punch, vocals floating above an instrumental layer that feels rooted in the streets and neon lights of San Francisco, emotions free to fly away as they carry day dreams of first meeting they person you love the most. “Do you remember how your hand felt in mine?”, the song asks, and you know they do.

Listen: Sunshine - J Laser

J Laser is the musical solo project from Jordan Lawlor, who previously joined M83 playing as a multi-instrumentalist on their Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming tour and contributing to their album Junk.

Lawlor is now working on music under his own moniker, but in collaboration with regular creative partners Jamie Lawlor (drums) and Laura Murphy (bass). The music of J Laser is more overtly kaleidoscopic than that of M83, blending musical inspiration across the decades in a way that will be familiar to fans of Tame Impala. The result is crisp, modern and yet dreamlike, appearing like a reflection of a reflection or a memory of a memory. The drums punch with a clarity that would have faded on a decades old record, and yet there is a timelessness to the melody and overall sound here.

Sunshine is the second single from J Laser, following on from his debut Waves & Blades, and the first of ten singles to appear spanning two EPs in 2020. I love the meandering melancholy of this song, particularly in the bridge where it feels like Lawlor and his collaborators become unshackled, playing for themselves. The resulting music is bold, distinctive and intimate. I can’t wait to hear what else Lawlor has in store for us this year.