Listen: Wake Up Again by Afar Odea

Afar Odea is the musical pseudonym of Leipzig-based musician Konrad Jackisch. Having worked on it since 2018, he is now set to release his eponymously titled debut LP in September 2024.

Ahead of the album’s release, Afar Odea has unveiled his latest single, Wake Up Again. Featuring propulsive percussion and, gradually building, looping melodies, the overall sound has a hint of the influential German band Neu! about it. However, where Neu! pursued a mechanical, industrial sound, Jackisch is creating something more organic, and explicitly appealing to our emotions. His vocals tremble and whisper, as the song builds from its gentle foundations, gradually applying a sensation of acceleration.

Beyond Neu!, I hear more contemporary sounds in Wake Up Again. The guitars and cracked vocal aesthetic are reminiscent of Dirty Projectors, and overall Afar Odea creates an aesthetic that feels like a more organic version of that which James Blake employs. Overall, the song is beautiful, memorable, and inventive, all at the same time.

Listen: Doctor by Hawke The Band

Hawke The Band are an up-and-coming Irish pop rock band, based in London. Having appeared on the Imelda May Christmas Special on Sky Arts, their profile is on the rise, particularly following their January single, Proposal.

With Doctor, the group are back with their latest single, and in comparison to Proposal, it bristles with a kind of frenetic energy. Crisp, steely guitars and punchy percussions create a feeling of momentum, as the band tell a story of love turned sour. The verse ruminates and reflects, with the bridge, in particular, asking questions… “How does it feel? I didn’t notice”. It is the jangly, upbeat chorus that makes Doctor soar, however. Rolling drums and earnest vocals fly, as the singer asks, “If I walked away, would you let me go?”

Describing the song’s inspiration, the group describe the song’s name as coming for the automatically tagged location for the vocal recordings. Whilst these were actually taken in band member Richie’s apartment, the device they recorded them on picked up on the fact the location used to be a doctor’s office, and so the concept ended up woven into the song.

The song is sung from the perspective of a patient, of a relationship that somewhat resembles a mutated version of the drama triangle concept. Chasing love, reassurance, and support, the patient here leans on their lover, yet they realise that person may not be as invested in their happiness as they thought. This is turn becomes an almost cyclical and addictive cycle, represented by the high of the chorus and the questioning outlined in the verse:

‘The “doctor” is a metaphor for a dangerous lover who, while we know the consequences and potential heartbreak associated, we can’t help but be intrigued and want more. The uplifting chorus portrays the high of the drug being prescribed (love) while the lyrics talk about the harsh reality and underlying worry felt by the patient.’

The overall song has all the energy and excitement, but also uncertainty and doubt, of a questionable relationship.

Listen: Leave It Behind by Frankie Knight & Submyth

New single Leave It Behind is a collaboration between childhood friends, Frankie Knight and Robert Swaine (working as Submyth). Together, they have pulled together a wavy breakbeat sound with progressive instrumentation to create a reflective-yet-uplifting piece of music.

With Frankie’s vocals floating in space, she is initially joined with the kind of guitar-ambience used by The xx. Things are quickly complimented by chunky beats and a vocal sample, evoking a sound somewhere between post-punk, early-90s rave and early-00s progressive breakbeat. The result is a little mystical, haunting and introspective.

Having grown up in Hammersmith, Frankie moved to the Sussex coast, where she found the inspiration to start writing and recording music. Having produced a number of solo releases, including her debut album Blue Marble, Knight is now back on the live stage following an enforced break through COVID-19. Performing live together with her drummer and co-producer Submyth, the pair are currently on tour with Kosheen.

Leave It Behind is a purposeful attempt to move on, as Frankie describes:

‘I wrote this song as a reminder to myself to stop ruminating over painful things in my past. I wanted to conjure feelings of freedom often felt on the dancefloor and write something a little bit witchy inspired by all the Buffy and Sabrina I watched as a kid.’

Listen: Two More Years by Caleb L’Etoile

Starting with the kind of garage-influenced percussion leveraged by Hot Chip, Caleb L’Etoile’s Two More Years is a song made of just two notes.

The whole record rides along in the same grunge-y, dirty synth pattern. With L’Etoile’s vocals layered into the mix, and atop one another, the simplistic nature of his performance contrasts to the distorted chaos of the instrumentation.

The combination of the vocal and instrumental elements provide the song a kind of internal innocence. As a song, Two More Years is about the experience of losing someone important from your life, and imagining running into them again. Caleb’s vocals have the feel of an internal monologue, his mind ticking over as he envisions bumping into this person… the mental exercise of trying something on and exploring how it would feel. Does my pulse race? Do we click back into a familiar repartee? Does this still hurt?

Overall, Caleb L’Etoile has made a remarkably affecting piece of music out of something surprisingly minimal. The rawness he employs only adds to the sense of emotional honesty.

Listen: lØve! By Ambergrove featuring Dre Ishmail

lØve! is a chaotic, psychedelic and beautiful collage that recently I have found myself consistently coming back to it.

Originally created to be a b-side by the artist collective Ambergrove, lØve! is a song they have been sat on for some time. Having initially decided not to release it, the group unearthed it again, just as they wrapped up the recording of their debut album.

The song lØve! is actually a riff on an Ambergrove fan favourite, dØves!, taking that earlier song and reversing it. Despite being just two minutes long, dØves! moves through two distinct movements, creating an almost two-act, theatrical feel to the song. lØve! is similar, but arguably more dramatic, extending things by a minute, and adding what feels like a third act.

The crunchy, sample heavy production style clearly owes a debt to Bon Iver’s landmark album 22, A Million. Ambergrove leverage the same contrast between multi-layered electronics combined with the crisp and clean vocal that opens up here at the one-minute mark.

In contrast to dØves!, itself a distinctive and experimental track, lØve! is bolder, the sound of a group of artists pushing confidently into new sounds. This is particularly the case in the way they create the space for UK hip-hop artist Dre Ishmail to deliver a heartfelt, clear eyed vocal as the song draws to its conclusion.

Overall, I found the track affecting, distinctive and original. Check it out below: