Listen: Rabbit Hole (Love Is What You Make It) — Billy Vena

Rabbit Hole shows up with the kind of inclusive approach to aesthetics that recalls Prince. In the first 30 seconds we get an a cappella intro, radio static, grungy bass and soulful R&B vocals, yet they all come together in a way that feels coherent. What struck me with Rabbit Hole is the way Billy Vena has cherry-picked sounds from the past three decades and combined them in a way that feels distinctive and fresh… I find myself longing for more of the roughly hewn soul of En Vogue, Lucy Pearl and Miguel — all artists who carved their sound out of a composite blend of genres and artists, forming something infectious and near-universally appealing.

This stylistic approach is clearly no accident. Billy Vena acknowledges an aspiration to share his love of pop culture by channeling the lessons of the greatest pop stars of all time. By doing this, he hopes to create music fused into something both new and classic. Having made his debut in 2020 with Space Hippie, quickly followed with Disco Maniac and Talking 2 Myself, the Panama-native but Texas-resident musician has already found exposure through Spotify Fresh Finds and a Hype Machine #1.

Rabbit Hole is Vena’s first release of 2021, and with it he hopes to challenge notions of toxic masculinity, opening up a dialogue around sexual expression and exploration. In his words, Billy explains:

“Rabbit Hole is about a sexual awakening and how confusing it can be when you realize it’s happening. I wasn’t necessarily writing about my teenage rejections but my teenage regrets and how the back and forths in my head kept me in a “what if” scenario till this day. We may never know what the other person truly feels but maybe love is what you make it.”

Check out Rabbit Hole below:

Listen: 92 — Matti Roots

Matti Roots is a multi-disciplinarian, with experience and talents spanning production, songwriting, performance as well as being a label owner and educator. Having first started exploring music with the piano at as young as three and saxophone at seven, he went on to attend the Royal Academy of Music’s junior school aged just 13.

With a career that takes in So Solid and Miss Dynamite, Def Jam and Jaguar Skills alongside work within the ad industry, Matti’s career demonstrates the impact of that talent. Since the pandemic hit, he has used his free time to work on a catalogue of new solo material, with notable releases in Right There and Don’t Wanna Say Goodbye.

92 is Matti Roots’ first release of 2021, and it instantly hits the ground running — an infectious keyboard refrain propelling a sharp drum beat that has the feel of feet slapping on the pavement. There is an effervescent atmosphere to 92 — a song about that someone who you don’t just want now, but always… “Until we’re 92”. I love the unbridled joy and positivity on display here — the optimism on display in the lyrics perfectly reflected in the crisp modernism of a production style that evokes something like Joe Jackson’s Steppin’ Out, only dressed in a crisp new suit.

Watch: Car Freshener Aftershave — Pizzagirl

I’ve been somewhat caught up in the magic of Liverpool musician Pizzagirl, real name Liam Brown, ever since first hearing his dreamy sound on the John Hughes-esque Highschool back in 2018. Whilst I haven’t written about it, I also went through an extended period of being utterly obsessed with the song Dennis, which has a feeling that nails the intersection of insatiable sexual frustration and lethargy that is, quite simply, chef’s kiss.

The beauty of Pizzagirl is the way Brown manages to combine a production style that feels purposeful and defined without it feeling like it has been sweated over. The sound feels effortless, yet I’m sure it isn’t. What that brings to the music is a sense of honesty. On Dennis, Brown sounds like he has just rounded the corner after bumping into his ex on the arm of another dude. What follows is a stream-of-consciousness — his raw emotions exposed without the polish that is applied when someone is worried about what an audience thinks. It’s not a single, it’s just his feelings… and yet boy, is it a single.

Car Freshener Aftershave comes alongside the announcement of Pizzagirl’s forthcoming album, Softcore Mourn. Whilst the new album doesn’t arrive until mid-July, this new single does plenty to whet my appetite. The usual lo-fi production aesthetic is in place, but applied to a slightly more upbeat and electronic sound. The sound of Car Freshener Aftershave is not a million miles from the post-Wolfgang sound ploughed by Phoenix — electronic but with an organic feeling finish, obtuse and opaque lyrics and just so much mood.

I just love this. There is a moment at two-minutes-fifty where the bass drops out to expose Brown’s earnest vocal before kicking in with even more energy. I guarantee that one day, when Pizzagirl gets to perform this live, people are going to lose their pretty minds to the moment when the bass drops back in at three-minutes-twenty.

Mr Brown, you are a rock star and I salute you.

Listen: Dating A Drug Dealer — The Sunshine State

The Sunshine State is a musical project from songwriter Skyler Stonestreet. Having created hits for artists that include such luminaries as Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber, Due Lipa, The Chainsmokers, and Hailee Steinfeld, Stonestreet has released a number of singles under her own name. With The Sunshine State, she brings her talents to a hazy, indie sound whilst letting the alt-pop melodies shine. It’s infectious without feeling overly polished.

Appropriately, Dating A Drug Dealer positively hums with the promise of Californian sun and busy sidewalks — the feeling of a bike ride as the sun starts to come down, or a lazy skateboard to cap a long day. The song itself feels like a tribute to embracing the moment and wilfully choosing to insulate yourself from a messy reality, as Stonestreet explains:

“Well the song title is pretty self-explanatory... but this song is about a romance that was fleeting and ultimately destructed itself. But for a moment, I was very in the moment with someone who had a lot of secrets that I was ok with him keeping.”

The result is a track that is dripping with atmosphere, making me long for big skies, hopeful dreams and maybe just a dash of danger. Stick on some sunglassed and check out Dating A Drug Dealer below:

Listen: Don’t Mind The Weather — Sunflower Thieves

I recently had a dream that I attended a trial run of Glastonbury festival. It was a slightly compressed version of the usual event that attempted to test whether it was possible to maintain social distancing at a music festival. Dream-based conclusion? No, quite impossible!

I find COVID-19 has a way of infecting my dreams like this (sorry not sorry) — less in the foreground and more in the context in which I exist. My brain’s way of trying to process the fact that things once taken for granted are now hard to fathom.

Back before the very idea of music festivals felt so alien, I was tasked with being a judge for the Glastonbury Emerging Talent Competition, and one of the acts I happily put through were Leeds-based duo Sunflower Thieves. Together, Amy and Lily create atmospheric folk-pop, and it has a beautiful otherworldly feel to it.

Conceived in Lily’s home studio, Don’t Mind The Weather was written in partnership with fellow-Leeds artist and friend of the band, Mehalah Ray. Originally, the song was set out as a relatively straightforward acoustic piece, but production work from Lily has created a more ethereal sound. The vocal harmonies and slowly shifting instrumentation give Don’t Mind The Weather a dreamlike feel. Describing the song, the pair explain:

“Don’t Mind The Weather translates as, ‘don’t worry, this is where you’re grounded and safe’, a tale of wanting to make the most of that feeling and stay inside. The message conveyed is that no matter how the seasons and weather may change, the gravitational pull of the moon — the person you feel safe with — will keep you grounded and safe. We based it on the moon’s relationship with the tides, and the idea that it’s easy to get swept away in everything that’s going on, but that there’s beauty in that, and the relationship with this person overcomes it all anyway.”

It’s a notion that, in the context, feels particularly reassuring — the companionships that make you feel grounded and safe will endure.