Listen: Your House — Sarpa Salpa

Your House pulses with an energy reminiscent of the kind of the synth-heavy sounds of the mid-80s. Meg Amirghiasvand’s lively bass combines with Charlie Doe’s crisp percussion to great effect. Together with a general feeling of hi-fi polish, Sarpa Salpa have been able to create something that sounds a little like Shout-era Tears For Fears.

The musical comparison to Shout feels apt because whilst Your House packs an infectious and danceable hook, it also comes with a serious, and sad, message. Your House is inspired by a sense of physical alienation and the changing context at play during a break-up — an ex-lover’s house no longer feeling like home.

Following airplay from Steve Lamacq on BBC 6 Music, along with Radio 1 and Radio X, Sarpa Salpa released two EPs — their debut EP, Say Something, and the pandemic-era sophomore EP, A Feeling You Can’t Replace. Your House is the latest new material following that EP’s release.

Listen: Under A White Sky — Deathsport

Deathsport are the musical creation of German siblings and musicians, Tom and Mike Zitzelsberger. Drawing inspiration from dream pop and shoegaze, the pair initially experimented with a variety of names, styles, and approaches to music — working in bands, providing production and writing songs for other artists. In the end, they came back to their core motivation for making music — a desire to channel a love of nostalgic, chanson-styled music.

Earlier this year, the Zitzelsbergers commenced the recording of an EP, the enticingly titled Case Study Songs. The Deathsport certainly sound has those dreamy shoegaze vibes about it, but it comes dressed with a kinetic energy typical of Krautrock. As heard on Under A White Sky, the result is otherworldly, and yet feels grounded in an industrial, gritty sense. The overall aesthetic sits somewhere between The Horrors’ Primary Colours era, and the folksy leanings of War On Drugs… Desolate yet gorgeous.

Describing the song, Deathsport explain:

“The lyrics are based on the book Under A White Sky by Elizabeth Kolbert, which is focusing on a scientific perspective at humanity’s impact on the Earth It is a song about technology and its fair role in the world's ending — a catastrophe that right now feels as real as ever. While staying callous, we are defining the most apparent changes and how we are trying to get used to the biggest of them.”

Check out Under A White Sky below, and look out for the EP, Case Study Songs, out on Bandcamp on 11 November.

Watch: Dance Myself To Death! — Gabrielle Macafee

There is a notion that I often have bouncing around my head — the determination to dance through any pain. I find the idea of applying your emotional energy and determination to something artful, expressive and celebratory, whether literally of metaphorically, appealing. Every so often it is all we have left. The only coping mechanism is to just keep moving.

The ultimate tribute to dancing through a break-up is Robyn’s glorious Dancing On My Own. It is a song that pulses like the rapid heartbeats stimulated by the sight of a lover moving on, the energy thrown at the dancefloor like a Hail Mary.

Gabrielle Macafee’s Dance Myself To Death! comes from that same place — not dancing because you want to, but because it is the only option short of a breakdown… Dancing as a form of camouflage rooted in the need to blend in. Your remaining choices are to stop and cry, or to just-keep-dancing.

The song shares the emotionally resonant yet upbeat electronic pop feel of Dancing On My Own, but adds a little space. Dance Myself To Death! feels like the prequel to Robyn’s song — it is the knowing start to an evening that has all the trappings of being messy before it has even begun.

In reality, it feels likely that Dance Myself… has a more profound meaning. Having abandoned her studies in classical voice following a traumatic brain injury, Macafee made the move to pop music as a method of healing and moving on. The dancing she is doing? It is the literal act of creating her music.

Check out Dance Myself To Death! below, and look out for Gabrielle Macafee’s appropriately titled forthcoming debut EP, Wreck Of A Night, soon.

Listen: Shadow Of A Ghost — James Wyatt Crosby

Hailing from the adorably named rural township of Tiny, Ontario, musician James Wyatt Crosby creates introspective indie chillwave on his new single Shadow Of A Ghost.

With a debut album released in 2017, James has gradually built a significant audience and critical acclaim with songs like Deep In Yr Mind, from his debut album Twins, and the woozy electronic track Lemonade (No I Never).

With the layered melodies of gently plucked guitar, loose wandering bass and hazy synths, Shadow Of A Ghost has the feeling of getting caught up in a daydream. Pensive vocals and instrumentation blossom in the form of a shimmering chorus, the song coasting on a feeling of introspection that reflects its creation, as James describes:

“This song was written during a time when it seemed like the fabric of reality was coming apart at the seams right in front of me. Life can be so beautiful but also so painful and disturbing and this song speaks about the way that loss and grief can change the way that you perceive yourself and the world around you. This song allowed me to move through some challenging times.”

Check out Shadow Of A Ghost below:

Listen: Bitch (I Said It) — Sody

With a focus on creating music that has a distinctive level of courageous honesty, musician Sody has been gradually built out a catalogue of music that feels a little thrilling for the sheer willingness to say it like it is. Hers is an approach to emotional pop music that has helped score Sody a growing fanbase, and her delivery manages to strike a balance between both melody and emotion. Her sound is raw, and yet infectious and catchy.

Bitch (I Said It) deals with the point in a relationship where you call it quits and leverage your anger as a way to push a damaging person away, an act of self-preservation. Sody opens the song looking to apologise, yet feeling she is doing so on behalf of the recipient, who hasn’t themselves recognised any wrongdoing. There can be a pressure in intense relationships to fill the emotional space that follows a disagreement, to be the person who turns the other cheek. But it often leaves the root issue unaddressed, and continuing to simmer.

Here on Bitch, Sody’s simmer becomes a boil — the strength of feeling in her swear-ridden chorus both impassioned and inspiring. Describing the song, Sody says:

“After years of releasing music about my sadness, Bitch (I Said It) takes me into this new, angrier phase. I do see the good in people a lot, but there are only so many times you can put up with someone treating you badly. This song has given me new confidence and has enabled me to channel my emotions into a sort of cheeky rage rather than crying into my pillow energy. It’s the realisation that you’re actually better off without them, and now you can scream it from the rooftops!”

Check out Sody’s Bitch (I Said It) below and catch her live shows at London’s Omeara on 4th & 5th October 2021.