Listen: Stay — Head Under Water

Stay surrounds the listener in bluesy, soulful vocals and soft piano keys, evoking the feel of crisp autumnal days. Throughout the song’s near four-minute duration, Head Under Water slowly constructs texture and detail around the central vocal and piano. Thick bass lines, bubbling synths and snappy percussion embellish the song like an idea that drops roots to become a deep-seated belief.

Head Under Water’s latest song is about those “things you leave behind that always remain a part of you”… The hard times that make you grateful for the fact you survived them. Describing the process of creating the song, Head Under Water said:

“Among all the songs I've ever written, this one took the longest from its first origin to it's finished form - finally I found enough distance to understand what I had begun to process 6 years earlier and was able to complete it.”

Head Under Water is a singer-songwriter, and one half of duo Komplement, whose track Far appeared on BlackPlastic back in 2018. Prior to Komplement, Head Under Water was already established as a solo artist in his own right. Coming from a traditional musical background, he looks to combine organic songwriting with electronic production techniques.

Stay is the second single lifted from Head Under Water’s forthcoming debut EP, Opaque. Check it out below.

Listen: Saint — Ladysse

Having previously appeared on BlackPlastic with her chugging anthem, Heartbreak Hollywood, and the warm blanket of Dopamine, Ladysse is once again back on these pages, and in my ears.

Where Ladysse, real name Stephanie Lauren, has generally stuck out for St Vincent style sophistication, here on Saint she is channeling something different. Saint feels akin to the quiet-loud-quiet of Kim Deal meets the modern-alt-rock of Metric. Opening with some seriously low-slung bass guitar, kick-drum and snares, the song initially leans heavily into Stephanie’s attitude-heavy vocal delivery.

It is Saint’s chorus that really lodges itself in my memory, however, kicked off by Lauren crying “I give up…” as the instruments let loose around her. Fuzzy guitars join that bass guitar to create a wall of noise, and the drums keep kicking like a hole punch sliding in-and-out of my mind. The whole performance wreaks of confidence, Ladysse on top of her game and throwing down so much more than expected on this track.

Premiere: James — Colleagues

Hailing from Stockholm, Colleagues formed in 2012 and proceeded to release a number of singles and EPs in the subsequent decade. Having picked up radio play in their native Sweden, and on BlackPlastic, they became known for their dreamy Scandinavian pop sound.

Here, ten-years on, Colleagues’ sound is darker, and influenced by the diverse musical paths of the group’s members. Taking in sounds as disparate as neoclassical and minimal pop, the sound we get here on James is modern and emotive. Opening with 80s-style electronic bass notes and ambient-sounding synths, layered vocals weave a hushed melody before giving way to a stark, clean-and-modern falsetto chorus. That chorus switches out the playful bass for a series of sharp lines, delivered in the form of crisp, melodic synth stabs.

The contrasting sounds in James are a pleasure to experience, the song switching gears on the fly and keeping the listener guessing as the two distinct sounds blend in the closing third. Clocking in under three-minutes long, I wish there was a bit more — I find myself hitting play as soon as it finishes, almost to check what I heard is still really there… But isn’t that a great place to leave a listener, wanting more, somewhat disbelieving what they heard?

James itself is a song about caught the moment before a relationship ends — both looking back and looking forward. Opening with the lines, “Stay here, take your time, I won’t let you down, your heartbeat next to mine”, there is a moment of clarity evoked in these lyrics. Taking a moment to appreciate what has been, before moving on. The band note the duality in the production is deliberate, containing “a touch of nostalgia in the bass line but a beat that strives to move forward”.

Check out James below, and look out for a debut album in early 2023.

Listen: Fifteen — Erika Wester

Fifteen kicks off with a heavy feeling bass and kick drum, baggy instrumentation creating the feeling of whizzing down lamp lit streets under starry skies. With a gorgeously vulnerable vocal performance from Erika Wester, there is an anti-folk feeling here that evokes the music of Kimya Dawson, shot through a soft-focus teen-movie filter.

Wester is a singer-songwriting based in Los Angeles, CA, and she focuses on creating music with an authentically raw and vintage sound that lets her delicate vocals take centre stage. As her new single, Fifteen is a coming-of-age song inspired by a relationship with someone close to her who was “feeling really down in life”. Erika’s commitment was to be by their side, even if she couldn’t help directly. Wester considers the song a reminder to “go easy on yourself”. “Go softly,” sings Wester, delicately.

Sometimes being there is the best thing we can do for our friends, and being a friend to ourselves is the best thing we can do for ourselves.

Listen: Lie To Me — Madam Bandit

Hailing from a big family, Madam Bandit grew up as the eighth of nine children. Both music and religion were big factors in her upbringing, with a family that were devout members of an early American Christian cult, and music was as a cornerstone of family life.

As she grew up, Madam Bandit was married in her teenage years, and was encouraged to prioritise raising a family. Whilst she felt a dissonance between what she was told to pursue and her desire to make music, she resolved to pursue both. By the age of 22, she had two sons and was already recording her first album.

Madam Bandit’s ambition led to her releasing multiple successful albums under her given name, Mindy Gledhill, and saw her notoriety grow, bringing significant audiences on streaming platforms, and exposure through advertising and TV shows. Following a period of faith deconstruction, Gledhill has transitioned into Madam Bandit, her electronic pop alter-ego.

Crystalline vocals and minimal production open Madam Bandit’s Lie To Me, the song’s vocal starkly set against a backing of simple chords and a simple rhythm focused on the off-beat. Gradually the song thaws… the vocal shaking its cold, reverb-immersed sound as we reach the first chorus. Madam Bandit pleads for the listener to offer her reassurance, even if it is just a lie.

The beauty of Lie To Me is how it gradually constructs itself around audience. As the performance is embellished with additional details — more percussive detail, guitar melodies and warm bass — Madam Bandit creates a world that feels like the lie that gets bigger, until you no longer know quite what’s real.