Review: Better Place EP by Martin Oh

Following on from the song Better Place, featured on BlackPlastic.co.uk last year, Martin Oh is back with a full EP release, which shares its title with the previous track.

You can stream the full EP below, which expands the European-Mediterranean vibes of the song Better Place with four additional songs. All take the Martin Oh sound, developed in partnership with producer SOHN, in different directions. I particularly enjoyed the earnest sense of being emotionally overwhelmed that is What Am I Doing, a track that joyfully plays with the experience of feeling hooked on someone, and unable to move past them. The song builds these beautiful quiet moments, where Martin sings, “It’s you, it’s you, it’s you, it’s all wrapped up in you”, before the song moves to a chunky riff as he declares, “…And I just can’t seem to get you off my mind”.

Elsewhere, Same Song builds against a stripped back groove, up to the point where the song is enveloped in swirling melodies in its chorus. The contrast between the song’s quiet moments and the chorus creates a wonderful tension, the moments where the song lets go, in that chorus, feels like a moment of pure escapism.

The release ends with the new track Neverland, which acts as the culmination of both the EP, and Martin Oh’s catalogue to date. Inspired by the feeling of “being trapped in a life that doesn’t feel like your own, searching for an escape but never finding it”, Neverland is a deliberate reminder of possibility, as the artist describes:

“(Neverland is) a vibrant electro-pop track that reminds you the horizon is within reach. Heart-pounding bass, a sun-soaked melody rising like a wave… This song is a call to let go, to run toward the unknown, to dance until the weight of regrets disappears.”

As a song, Neverland pulses with energy and optimism, sunny melodies that play at the intersection of nostalgia and hope. The synths, guitars, and vocals all combine to create something warm and exciting, the emotional equivalent of blowing out the cobwebs and making a fresh start. Having started with an initial melodic idea, Martin Oh looked to layer more and more synths to give the song the energy it ends up creating in the listener. It’s a perfect close to the EP, and an exciting tease for what might come next.

Check out Better Place EP below, or on your favourite streaming service.

Listen: No Downtown by Charlotte Boin

As a teenager, I grew up living in the UK’s Suffolk countryside. Whilst I now have a sense of nostalgia for that landscape, at the time I felt suffocated by it. The place, the thinking, the people, and the sense of diversity all felt so small and stifling. I found myself longing for the potential and possibility of cities, which shimmered with the potential to find people more like me.

With my own experience in mind, it is perhaps no surprise that French musician Charlotte Boin’s new single resonates with me. Entitled No Downtown, the song “paints the picture of being stuck in a town too small for your big dreams”. Both written and produced by Boin, the song draws together soft alt pop melodies with R&B textured percussion, together with her own raw lyrical performance.

The resulting song is polished but emotionally authentic. Liberal use of sub-bass lends the song an introspective feel, whilst hinting at the nighttime thrills of the larger environments Boin longs for. Taking inspiration from artists that include Frank Ocean, Beyoncé, and Britney Spears, Charlotte’s sound reflects global sensibilities whilst still drawing on the roots of her southwestern French hometown.

Check out No Downtown below:

Listen: Temporary by Kylie Rothfield

Following on from last year’s big, impassioned single, Never Loved Somebody, US musician Kylie Rothfield is back with her new single, Temporary. Where Never Loved Somebody was an epic slice of emotive pop, Temporary is a more muted and understated affair.

Opening with clipped percussion and a Hooky-esque New Order bass line, Temporary shimmers with a series of close cinematic synth tones that underline Rothfield’s (once again) beautiful, crisp and glassy vocal. The song’s bruising lyrics pair with a streamlined, restrained production, the streamlined and detached sound reflecting Rothfield’s own disassociation from her situation and emotional state. As she sings the song’s chorus, it’s clear that this is a song about opting to stay in a situation where you are knowingly hurting yourself in an attempt to put off future, inevitable, pain:

“I blocked your phone on Saturday,
I keep on calling anyway,
We’re always acting like it’s not…
Temporary”

Temporary was written and produced by Kylie, alongside queer indie alt-pop artist Mothé, and takes inspiration from the likes of The Strokes and The Cure. Check it out below, and look out for Kylie Rothfield’s debut album, due in sprint 2025:

Listen: Our Flowers Grow by Cy Noel

Cy Noel’s new single, Our Flowers Grow, arrives on pillowy soft keys and a gentle kick drum, all in anticipation of the arrival of Noel’s vocal. The song’s lyrics cuts through the gentle instrumentation with a clear-eyed sense of humanity, reassuringly intimate as Noel declares, ‘I’ll be there’.

What Cy Noel has created here is the perfect pairing of vocal and production, the two components mirroring one another. During the opening moments of Our Flowers Grow, Noel’s voice benefits from the canvas afforded by the delicate and spacious production. As the song builds towards its conclusion, however, the vocal’s crescendo is met by a collage of musical detail… percussion accelerates and vocals are layered and pitched, accentuating the song’s emotional gravity. The result is a song that basks in the warm embrace of human connection, the music providing the equivalent of the quickening heart-rate that comes with feeling seen, understood, and cared for, by someone.

Overall, Our Flowers Grow is a warm, refreshing capsule of sonic love. Check it out below:

Listen: Ain’t Talking by Cutty

Comprised of singer Amy Precious and multi-instrumentalist and producer, Kev La Kat, Cutty are an artistic duo hailing from the UK. The pair first forged their partnership off the back of a seemingly simple conversation at a local bar, where Amy worked and Kev DJ’d, with Precious asking Kev for support producing music for an upcoming art exhibition. Having bonded on a shared love of 90s trip-hop, Björk, funkadelic, and electronic music, they established a deeper collaboration in Cutty.

Having caught the ears of BBC Introducing and DIY Magazine, Cutty have since established a following in their hometown of Hull. Drawing inspiration from diverse influences, their sound combines disparate styles with a high-energy aesthetic to create something raw, dynamic, and yet accessible.

Having initially released a portion of their work, Cutty took a break to further refine their sound, creating a number of new songs over the past year. They have now selected the best of that material to make up their forthcoming EP, Pump Funk. The first single from that EP, Ain’t Talking, is a statement of intent, demonstrating the way the duo’s sound is evolving.

Ain’t Talking opens with a swagger, chunky drums and thick bass providing a concrete platform for Precious’ vocals and attitude, as her lyrics explore a sense of running in contrast to those around you. This sentiment reflects the song’s articulation of what the pair describe as “defying the need to speak when what’s being said around you doesn’t matter”… It is an embrace of the notion of connection with others, whilst also taking the time “to piece together our own truths”.

Overall, Ain’t Talking is the kind of song that constantly keeps you on your toes. Taking a pause mid-way through, Amy’s vocals are joined by a slowly building guitar riff, before veering off into a cacophony of liquid drum and bass. This unpredictable nature makes Cutty’s latest single feel alive, thrillingly divergent and disruptive. I can’t wait to hear more.