Premiere: Heartstrings - Peachkit

Back with her sophomore single, Peachkit is an artist who wants to be judged based on her sound, not her visual identity.

Describing her sound as thinking pop, Peachkit looks to combine social commentary with synth-led hooks and infectious percussion. The result is something that makes you want to move whilst also giving you something to think about.

As someone who receives countless pitches from artists, labels, PR professionals and artist managers I am often struck with how much thought goes into an artist’s visual identity. In contrast, and taking inspiration from Banksy, Peachkit is eschewing expectations and letting her music do the talking. Heartstrings itself is a song about Peachkit’s determination to do just that.

Whilst the harmonies and the central hook are uplifting and accessible, Heartstrings wears its message loud and proud.

Peachkit · Heartstrings

Listen: Fatal Flaw - Flawed Mangoes x Will Jay

Following May’s release with Handsome, I Am No Fun, Flawed Mangoes are back with another collaboration.

This time working with Will Jay, Fatal Flaw packs a significant different feeling to I Am No Fun… Where the latter basked in an easy breezy summer eve feeling, Fatal Flaw chugs with nervous energy.

Will Jay’s vocals convey a sense of introspection, frequently repeating the refrain “Baby it’s my fatal flaw” on a song that describes the experience of questioning whether you are actively bad at maintaining friendships and connections. I personally experience the push and pull between wanting to be open, emotionally available and vulnerable, whilst also at times worrying about being seen to be needy in a way that is off-putting. I suspect I’m not alone in that experience and yet, as someone once told me, we are each the protagonist in our own story. We never get to truly know another’s experience or see ourselves as we see others.

Flawed Mangoes is producer Evan Lo, and here he gives Will Jay’s vocals an itchy, slightly frantic sense of movement that suits the slightly anxiety induced feeling of the song. The chugging synths feel like escape and yet as Will himself alludes to, you can’t escape loneliness:

“Fatal Flaw is a song for anyone who wants to be left alone but doesn’t want to be lonely.”

I’ll sign off with another quote, this time from Evan Lo, who describes his admirable intent in releasing Fatal Flaw:

“I hope this song can put into words the social pressure that people feel a lot but don't like to talk about, make people feel less uncomfortable feeling that way.”

Check out Fatal Flaw below:

stream: ffm.to/fatalflaw Follow Flawed Mangoes: https://www.instagram.com/flawed_mangoes/ https://twitter.com/fla_mingo420 Follow Will Jay: https://www.instagram.com/willjaymusic/?hl=en https://twitter.com/willjaymusic artwork by Conner Sorensen

Premiere: Until Then - Easy Morning feat. Exxy

Bringing together experimental electronic music and future bass with contemplative lyrics, Until Then is a song about a love that doesn’t feel built to withstand the pressure of its existence... It is the experience of a love that seems destined to fade away over time.

Easy Morning is the musical project of LA-based producer John C, a 22-year-old queer artist whose focus is on creating modern electronic music with an emotionally charged core. Having grown up in Phoenix, Arizona, he briefly attended design school before shifting interests led him to take a gap year so he could focus on music.

During his time out, John moved to LA and attended the ICON Collective School to study music production. Having graduated in 2019, he now draws on inspiration from artists including San Holo, James Blake, Jai Paul and Flume.

Until Then represents a personal record for Easy Morning, reflecting struggles he has himself experienced. On it, LA pop artist Exxy addresses a love she knows she can’t keep:

“We already know the ending, Nothing we can do to change it, I just want you until then.”

Relationships take work at the best of times, and sometimes they feel like a bottle episode in the series of your life... A discrete moment that, for whatever reason, seems unable to endure. And yet even when you feel it can’t last, it is still possible to want to embrace that connection to the full whilst you still can.

Until Then (feat. Exxy) Produced by Easy Morning Written and Performed by @exxy Mixed and Mastered by Guy Gabriel

Listen: By Floras - Haich Ber Na

By Floras is bursting with wonky clautrophobia… Falsetto vocals housed in tight, fuzzy electronic production to creating a tightly cropped take on emotional anxiety.

Peterborough-raised, London-based artist Haich Ber Na’s music feels reminiscent of a number of british electronic pop acts. The sound on By Floras sounds like Metronomy at their most avant garde with Joe Goddard on production duties. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the track was mixed by sound engineer Oliver Wright, who has previously worked with Hot Chip.

Self-taught, Ber Na initially embraced his roots in rap and grime music but in 2017 started to explore more experimental sounds. His distinctive sound has caught the eye of those in underground and more mainstream circles, including NTS, 1Xtra, the Guardian and iD magazine.

There is a caustic lo-fi basement feeling on By Floras that conjures a sense of alienation and distance. It feels appropriate for a song that depicts what were a couple but have now become strangers. Describing the process of creating By Floras, Ber Na says:

“This song was written very naturally, narrating emotions of a friends relationship. I feel like I’m evolving, and sonically ‘By Floras’ shows the direction I’m taking towards the next project.”

Check out By Floras below:

https://smarturl.it/haichbernabyfloras

Listen: Let It Go - Josefine

Thankfully this Let It Go isn’t the well known song from Disney’s Frozen but is instead the latest song from LA-based, Stockholm raised musician Josefine. With production from Martin René (whose credits include Meghan Trainor, H.E.R. And Snoop Dogg) there is a level of polish to Let It Go that instantly grabbed me.

The song itself is about those moments where romantic relationships can seem to become bogged down in the pedestrian things that don’t really matter. Josefine explains:

“To be in a relationship is all amazing, romantic and spontaneous in the beginning, then comes that day when everything goes into routine and you start arguing about the most stupid and pointless things. It’s almost like you try to find something to fight about. So you apologize and take the blame a lot for things that has nothing to do with you just so you can move past it and be fine. You just want to LET IT GO."

What grabbed my attention with Let It Go is the way the music feels like it snaps as it transitions between the verse and the chorus. The verse has a certain timidity about it - the creeping feeling of little frustrations, tiny cuts. The song then launches into a intro to the chorus that feels like bubbling tension and raised voices, trying to control tempers. The chorus is then the release - not the argument, but the realisation that it doesn’t matter... The small frustrations will always be there. There is a feeling of release there that feels fresh, like a blast of perspective.

Check out Let It Go below: