Listen: Disconnect — Darla Jade

Disconnect is a song about that experience of falling in and out of a relationship. It is about those moments where you seem unable to escape someone’s presence when we need space, and unable to put them out of your mind when you are alone.

Channeling 80s pop in the production, but drawing on Gen Z experiences through the references Darla’s lyrics reference, the result is that perfect thing: a pop record that grabs me in the feels whilst making me want to dance. For such a young artist, the sound of Disconnect is impeccable. Jade’s vocals laid bare in the verse, yet embellished with overdubbed harmonies that reflect her emotional self-reflection, all backed with a staccato melody that is itself a further use of her voice. Muted guitar giving the bridge a soft-focus drama before it is punctured by the energetic drumming of a marching band’s percussion section, launching us into the chorus that hums with excitement.

Having started 2021 strong with exposure on Radio 1 and Spotify, Disconnect is the title track from Darla Jade’s forthcoming EP, due for release at the end of this month. I can’t wait for to hear more from Darla soon.

Listen: Bob — The Sunshine State

Following on from her gorgeous, shimmering single Dating A Drug Dealer, The Sunshine State is back with her latest offering, Bob.

Bob builds on the aesthetics The Sunshine State, real name Skyler Stonestreet, set out on her previous single. Following on from where that song left off, Bob is again about questionable love interests:

“Bob is a classic bad boy… This song is bonfires and beer bottles crashing on the floor. A chipped tooth, a quick fling and the feeling that sometimes it doesn’t matter if the person is right or wrong for you because freedom and new adventure are the only thing on your mind.”

That easy-breezy mentality suits the music itself, which thrums with an excited, care-free energy. Just as with Dating A Drug Dealer, Bob evokes feelings of seizing the moment, doing what you want and to hell with the consequences. Bob is full of yearning, particularly when consumed from a position of relative stability, and a reminder of the thrill of uncertainty. I find it just a little addictive and captivating.

Listen: Powertrip — Ney Liqa

Powertrip is a dubby new electronic track from producer and singer and producer Ney Liqa. Raised by a mother who was a vocalist in all-female punk band Mögel, and exposed to R&B by her older brothers, Liqa exudes a particularly eclectic and dynamic musical sensibility.

The sound Ney creates manifests in Powertrip’s dark and aggressive production style — mixing equal parts techno and R&B to conjure something trippy that pulsates with a brooding menace. The darkness in the track reflects the inspiration behind it, as Ney Liqa explains:

“I was quite angry when I wrote the song I had had an argument with a friend, so I wrote it imagining what it would be like to confront them in a huge way”

Powertrip comes from Ney Liqa’s new EP, Fade 2 Black, also out now. Listen to the track below:

Listen: Can’t Rely On You — Halan

Hailing from Singapore but based in Los Angeles, Halan is both an electronic music producer and a singer-songwriter. Having started performing in a variety of 80s rock cover bands and an original theatrical metal band, Halan launched her solo music career in 2019. Within her solo music, Halan has looked to blend alternative pop and electronic music together to give her lyrics, which tend to skew towards a little sad, an upbeat sound that enables her to dance away her tears.

Sometimes relationships, even friendships, can be complex — when you know someone well it is easy to forget about the wider context that exists in their life. Your best friend can be the person who best understands you, and yet there are still times when that individual may not be able to be there for you in the way you want.

This is the experience Halan’s single Can’t Rely On You depicts, as she describes:

“Can’t Rely On You is a song I wrote about my best friend. When I’m down I seek him out, but he struggles with his own mind and sometimes disappears when I most need him because he gets stuck in a mental ‘tunnel hole’, as he calls it.”

This is an experience I know, but I have also learned that it is important to try not to project in those instances. My experience tends to take a certain form, in that I have a hunger to be there for friends when they need. Yet, that doesn’t mean that someone who is unable to be present in a particular moment doesn’t care.

Regardless, Halan’s reading of the situation is easy for me to empathise with. There are times when anxiety can result in a loss of perspective, and in those moments I am almost unable to help myself. It is as though I need some form of external reassurance and validation to pull myself out of a particular mood. At the same time, every person has a different experience of mental health… It is no more reasonable to empathise with Halan than it is with her friend, who appears to have their own struggle in the moment and with the form Halan desires it. All we can do is try to be understanding and empathetic, and aware of the needs of those closest to us.

Check out Can’t Rely On You below:

Watch: Rather Be Blind — Scout

The world takes a tentative step forward, and I’m in an emotive retro-kissed dream… Snatches of my youth collide with the anxieties of my present, and the future feels hopeful even when the experience we inhabit right now is sad.

Following on from last week’s Fever Dream by Courtney Paige Nelson, this week brings us another slice of 80s-influenced electronic pop music in the form of Rather Be Blind by London-based musician Scout. Channeling modern artists MUNA and Christine & The Queens, Scout has one foot in the past and one in the future. The result is something that feels very now, and yet unapologetically plays with sounds and aesthetics from the New Romantic movement. It makes that sound feel more relevant than ever.

Rather Be Blind is a tear-jerking tribute to realising too late what you had, as Scout explains:

“I wrote this one over a beat I found on YouTube last year. It kinda lives in the same world as the other songs on the first Scout EP and is centered round moving back to North London/Enfield. I speak multiple languages and I heard this line that translated to “I rather be blind than see my life without you” and right away knew I wanted that line in a song. It worked out with the rest of the lyrics so I literally just took it and used it. The song's quite nostalgic, about situationships and not realising what you have until you no longer have it. I want Scout to make people feel a little less lonely in their human experience.”

In addition to the song, I also love the video that accompanies Rather Be Blind. Economical though it is, it takes a mood board approach, weaving together visuals that don’t so much tell a story as make you feel one.