Listen: F.E.M. — Lillies In The Valley Of Violets feat. Annie Maxwell

With an infectious and bouncy melody, the latest song from Lillies In The Valley Of Voilets, aka LIVV, shimmies gently between its crisp and punchy drums and glossy keys. It’s ultimately Annie Maxwell’s vocal that lingers after the song has ended, however — her flowing, stream of lyrics seemingly tumbling from her lips with a ferocity and honesty that never dulls.

Maxwell started collaborating with LIVV, real name Aaron Sternick, on her album Keystone and his debut single With You, which ultimately inspired F.E.M., as Sternick describes:

“While working on the [With You], we had a backup single from an early batch of pandemic demos. Annie sent me an incredible voice memo track with hooks galore, and in between the “With You” session we’d come back to this track and bounce ideas off one another. What I see now is that “With You” taught us a lot of lessons about production and developing hooks and grooves that we would apply with MUCH greater success to this new track.”

F.E.M. itself is a take-down of the tech-bro mentality, and it was a very deliberate decision for Sternick to have Maxwell’s voice front and centre:

“The project LIVV actually started as a much more angry concept — welcoming to all kinds of feelings of rage, despair, and loneliness as long as they weren’t coming from cis-male voices. Annie used this song as an opportunity to send up the Bezos/Musk/Zuck technoRATi and offer a healthy dose of appreciation for becoming less online. Annie never minces words or skimps on lyrical delivery, and I am extremely proud of how strongly the message of F.E.M.”

Check out F.E.M. below:

Listen: Here — Grace Kay

Following on from her recent song Play, Los Angeles-based musician Grace Kay has returned with her new single, Here.

Here gently sparkles with a west coast folky beauty. Quiet yet also ever-so-slightly epic, Here has a hushed intimacy that feels thrillingly authentic.

The song weaves together Kay’s specific personal experiences together with more universal ones to make a song that feels both personal and relatable… Her lyrics touch on having panic attacks on trains, crying to Fleetwood Mac and yet also finding catharsis in sadness and escape through a road trip. Discussing the song’s inspiration, Grace says:

“My best friend lost seven friends and family members during our freshman year of college, and I’ll never forget how that affected her. I was there for her then, and we moved through it. Then, she was there for me in 2019 when I was finally able to escape a very toxic relationship that left me with the scars of panic attacks and led me to cut my bangs in protest of it all. The fact of the matter is time heals all, and I know she’ll be there for more celebrations and bumps in the road, and I’ll always just be happy to be here with her now.”

Listen: Shapeshift — Blanco Tranco

Shapeshift fizzles with the taut, energetic and emotive sound of early-90s shoegaze meets dream pop.

First impressions of vocalist Tiff’s husky performance evokes the feeling of Harriet Wheeler’s gorgeously brittle vocals for The Sundays, with a dash of the deadpan delivery of Sleeper’s Louise Jane Wener. And whilst those vocals continue to standout, Blanco Tranco feel like a complete package. Shapeshift opens with searing feedback that gives way to propulsive drums, infectious wandering bass and glittering guitars, creating a coherent and complete record.

Hailing from Melbourne, in addition to Tiff, Blanco Tranco are comprised of bassist Mark, guitarist Matt and Sophie on drums. Having formed in early 2020 and inspired by surf-rock and shoegaze, the four-piece only briefly got to play together live before the pandemic. Shapeshift came out of the ensuing lockdown, with recording happening between Melbourne’s lockdowns. Describing the track, Matt said:

“I wanted to go for a very 80s/90s grungy shoegaze feel for the track. I was listening to lots of DIIV, Duster, MBV and Beach Fossils when I wrote the guitar parts. The track was very fun to record, particularly the feedback during the intro. Before we recorded the song, we were intending for the track to go straight into the verse but during the session I could hear parts that had a bit of feedback, and it sounded really good. So good, in fact, that I thought we should make it the first thing you hear in the song.”

Listen: Taint My Mind — Kraków Loves Adana

Having formed in Germany back in 2006, and the heritage in the duo’s inception is worn very much on their sleeves. Taint My Mind thrums with a restless and cold ambient electronica sound, both unmistakably German, and the natural result of a partnership formed at the tail-end of the Electroclash and post punk era of the noughts.

Heavy analogue synths and clipped drum machines provide the foundations for Taint My Mind’s haunting vocal. The result is moody, cinematic and sinister - the downward pitch-shift effect applied to the vocal as it repeats the song’s title and particularly blissful moment.

Describing the song, Deniz Çiçek said:

“This song was inspired by the love of my life. It’s also the song that made me realize that I am not only a songwriter and singer but also a producer. Accompanied by the visualizer of Alice Bloomfield you get the perfect Virgo sun Aries moon energy y’all have been waiting for.”

Taint My Mind is the latest, and final, single to arrive ahead of Kraków Loves Adana’s forthcoming album, Follow The Voice. Check out the song’s visualiser below, and look out for the album when it is released on 12 November.

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.