Watch: Better Place by Martin Oh

About this time every year, I generally head to the Côte d’Azur for work purposes. The days are long, working with clients in the day, but fun, with social events in the evening. My favourite soundtrack for those trips is Phoenix, one of my favourite French acts, with the warm, sunny but wistful vibe they create forming the perfect backing for these trips.

As I prep for my eighth such trip, Martin Oh’s Better Place slid into my inbox, and as a French indie artist based in Barcelona, it boasts a sunny European vibe, and more than a (French!) touch of Phoenix’s sound. Production work is handled by established musician and producer SOHN, who has formerly worked with the likes of Banks, and the polish and experience shows.

Straight lined synths, muted guitars, and bruised vocals give this the kind of buoyant, sunny vibe, undershot with a dose of yearning, that Phoenix have perfected over the years. Martin’s vocal shifts gears between the downbeat introspection of the verse and the insistent and determined performance of the chorus. It is almost like moving from talking to himself to speaking to the song’s inspiration, his vocal ever so slightly cracking as he does so. Beneath this, soft electronics gradually wrap around him, additional layers surrounding the central vocal and guitar to create an increasingly emotive climax.

Better Place is just two-and-a-half minutes long, but within that time it packs enough ideas, emotion, and energy for something far longer.

Watch: Mirrors by Julia Logan

Having read the book, I recently found myself captivated by the Amazon Prime adaptation of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s novel, Daisy Jones & The Six. TV adaptations of books tend not to interest me, yet the music was described in such detail in Jenkins Reid’s book that I couldn’t help but want to hear it, brought to life for the show.

The result didn’t disappoint, but as a result, I couldn’t help but long for actual musicians and bands focused on writing and producing the kind of rich, sophisticated folk-pop and rock the show embodied. Julia Logan feels like an answer to that hope.

Growing up on a small island near Stockholm, Julia Logan got her start singing in a local church choir. Having spent a few of her teenage years in her mother’s homeland of southern California, Logan learnt to play guitar and started writing music. You can hear the influence of that period in the bronzed aesthetic she employs on Mirrors, which channels the low sun and crashing of a California evening.

Taken from her forthcoming sophomore album, Faraware Nearby, Mirrors moves with the strum of busy guitars and the ache of a yearning heart. Logan is once again working with producer Daniel Bengston, who is known for his work with First Aid Kit but also worked with Julia on her debut album. The pair took inspiration from the likes of Fleetwood Mac, Bruce Springsteen and Nick Drake, among others, and the result is a sound that feels timeless, rich and authentic.

Watch: Drive Me Crazy by Jean Valery

Hailing from Belgium, Jean Valery brings together a loose and engaging blend of hip-hop, alternative rap and rock into a seamless sound with an effortless sense of cool. Having worked within the hip-hop duo Blackwave, Drive Me Crazy sees Valery unveil his debut solo single.

Drive Me Crazy has a snappy sense of momentum to it, skittering along on rapid rhythms and fuzzy instrumentation. Jean’s performance slips between a percussive rap flow and sung vocals, giving the song a sense of dynamism, and creating a sense of it being constructed in-the-moment, in response to his experience.

The song is an encapsulation of the sense of superposition that can exist in a relationship — of being in two states, both wonderful and distressing. As Jean Valery’s performance switches between styles and a sense of delivery, it feels like two sides of the same story. His deadpan rap is cold, rational, reflective, but gradually builds up as the addictive force of love overrules his head. Describing the song, he says:

‘Drive Me Crazy revolves around a string of experiences and emotions that were lived in a very intense but short, raging love story. So passionate… but turbulent. Blissful… but woeful. Fresh out of a swimming pool full of lovers, urging to feel connected, we shared plenty. Love, affection, pain, and trauma. It was a trip, to say the least. I let her chaos set fire to my being, to my spirit and whichever path it was to be taking me, I became acceptant of it… letting it lead me. While sinking deep into my thoughts, I embraced her beauty, her fury. Succumbed by its existence, I let it fuel me like a raging flame that got out of control… out of character. Until I broke. Until I found myself in the middle of the aftermath, looking to reconstruct the beauty of it all.’

The result is both emotionally resonant, and melodically infectious. Check out Drive Me Crazy below.

Listen: Lithify by Diatribes

Hailing from San Francisco, Diatribes is the musical pseudonym for the Lead Designer in a well-known branding agency.

As someone who also works in the world of branding and advertising, I know that the divide between your working and personal life, and the working hours themselves, can get blurry. With conceptual development and technical production work sometimes bleeding into the night, Diatribes’ musical work has become a form of escape, and a way to leverage his talent for a more personal form of output. With a musical style that draws on contemporary electronic stylings, including Future Bass and UK Garage, Diatribes combines these with elements of House, Hip-Hop and Indie Rock.

Taking its name from the process of lithification, which sees sediments compounded under pressure into rock, Lithify is, appropriately, an exploration of ‘internalized pressures and expectations of one self’. The song rides along on crunchy percussion, layered synths and bass tones, with layered vocal elements all evoking a modern sensibility. Diatribes notes the influence of both Mura Masa and Flume on his sound, and both are on display in the organic feeling electronics here.

The resulting song is atmospheric and emotive, and whilst the lyrics themselves are largely obscured, the sense of introspection is clear, and vocal snatches reference thez song’s subject. At the same time, there is an upbeat springiness to Diatribes’ sound, creating a sense of movement and forward momentum. Whether the rock that emerges from lithification a lifeless stone, or stronger and more capable, is for you to decide.

Listen: GIRLS! by Jenny Kern

The new single from Canadian-born, Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Jenny Kern, GIRLS! is a breathless tribute to the liberation of embracing your desires.

Having garnered increasing attention since the release of her debut single, Slow Burn, Jenny has been refining an indie-dream-pop sound. Here on GIRLS!, we get to experience her journey of self-discovery, as she explains:

‘This song is probably my most exciting and empowering song to date. I had this moment in my head where I realized, omg, I think I like girls. This track marks the beginning of a huge journey of self-exploration and coming into what being queer means to me… …I hope people hear this song and feel the same sense of freedom to be whoever they are and love whoever they want.’

Both the song’s message, and the way Kern conveys it, are beautiful. Hearing her commitment to connect-with and be at one with herself is inspirational, as is her desire to empower others to do the same. I also find myself enthused by the contagious affection this record embodies. Jenny bounces from hushed vocals that liken romantic sweetness to Cherry Cola, before coyly singing:

‘What if I told you, that I was in to you? Would that be saying too much? 'Cause I’m down to risk it all: I don’t care who knows it’

The result puts me right into Jenny’s headspace — excited, determined, and awed by a new-found recognition of her sense of self. GIRLS! has a thrilling, fresh energy. I can’t get enough of it.