Cursive – Up and Away
Over the past thirty years, Cursive have established themselves as one of the most consistent and inventive indie rock/emo bands, providing a series of albums which delve into dark, challenging themes with a searing energy. And they show no signs of letting up, with new album Devourer coming later this year on new label Run For Cover. Every bit as intense as anything in their back catalogue, the record explores ideas of consumption in its various guises and how this inevitably slides towards imperialistic exploitation of power. Lead single ‘Up and Away’ introduces the themes with a surprisingly poppy style, though one which squares melody and dissonance off against one another to better capture the tension at the album’s heart. “‘I had the ‘up, up, up, up, up, up and away’ section of lyrics in my head from its inception but hadn’t planned on using something so bright, cheery and arguably trite,” explains singer/guitarist Tim Kasher, “until it occurred to me that what I was really singing about was something floating away from me, something I was losing, not my personal elevation into some stratosphere.”
Watch the video by Brea Grant below, the first in a series of collaborations between Cursive and genre directors which draws on horror tropes to bring the themes of depression further into relief.
Devourer is out on the 13th September via Run For Cover Records and you can pre-order it now.
Evan Uhlmann – Lake Michigan
After penning his first song at the tender age of five and later studying under Ray Davies of The Kinks, it’s fair to say songwriting is in Evan Uhlmann‘s blood. The Chicago-based musician has now enlisted the help of brother Greg Uhlmann (who you might now from his collaboration with Hand Habits as Duffy x Uhlmann on Orindal Records) to record a new collection of songs to be released via Future Gods. First single ‘Lake Michigan’ is the perfect introduction to the kind of intimate, reflective tone of this phase of Uhlmann’s career, tapping into the quotidian rhythms of life to better explore a deep well of emotions. “I wrote this song while grappling with self-doubt in a new relationship, consumed by the fear of not being worthy and the anxiety of anticipating where things might lead before they even started,” he explains. “Lake Michigan became my reflective space; a place to process this unfolding experience.”
Watch the video below with art direction and animation by Sam Congdon:
‘Lake Michigan’ is out now via Future Gods and available from Bandcamp.
Great Klons – Twilight Gardener
Starting out as the bassist for indie pop outfit Eureka Birds in the 2010s before moving to record solo as Great Klons, Scott Klon has been making music for over a decade now, exploring everything from dub-adjacent noise pop to Spaghetti Western-inspired psych folk. The latest Great Klons EP expands upon this with another inventive collision of genres, as indie rock, psych, folk and Krautrock influences all coalesce into a singular sound able to explore ideas of instability within the contemporary moment. With its dual vocals, woozy organ and underlying Motorik beat, single ‘Twilight Garden’ uses Klon’s current home of Finger Lakes, NY as an example of the friction and unease of our present. A time when wealth and poverty make uneasy bedfellows and once proud places crumble amid a wider gentrification. “Lakeside transitory towns / and in between a hundred more,” as Klon sings in the opening verse, “and in the middle the church is falling down / where there are more graves than people.”
‘Twilight Gardener’ is out now via streaming services and you can follow Great Klons on Instagram.
Herr God – jesus candle in the liquor store
The side project of songwriter Chloe Gallardo, San Francisco-based slowcore outfit Herr God is named for a line in a Sylvia Plath poem, a reference which goes some way to illustrate its bruised, introspective style. Herr God has recently released debut single ‘jesus candle in the liquor store’, a song which introduces this style perfectly with its lethargic, downbeat atmosphere. Distorted guitars grumble and smoulder behind shuffling percussion and Gallardo’s listless, mumbled vocals, all coming together to evoke something dark and gloomy but with a strange fatalistic energy.
Watch the video by Ella May Sahlman (director), Liz Charky (director of photography), Zoé Kraft (editor) and Natalia Minguez (PA/BTS) below:
‘jesus candle in the liquor store’ is out now and available from the usual places.
Holy Matter – Wishing Well
Last October we wrote about Leanna Kaiser’s Holy Matter, describing how single ‘Autumn’s Envy’ “occupies the liminal space between the real, emotional and spiritual, as though through loss and introspection, one can lead themselves towards uncanny places.” Again released via Royal Oakie Records, latest single ‘Wishing Well’ sees the LA-based musician and experimental filmmaker continue to mine the rich strangeness of such spaces, where desires are matched by the understanding of their own impossibility. Amid a dreamy, retro soundscape, Kaiser admires a crush from afar while knowing deep down any potential romance is doomed to fail, a weightless headspace where things are both decided and not. “This was a rare instance of knowing exactly how I wanted a song to sound as I was writing it, and it actually turning out identically to how I heard it in my head,” as she explains. “I kept thinking about this restaurant I went to as a kid called The Wishing Well, which had a faux stone well in the middle of its wood-panelled dining room. I imagined this song playing in that dingy room over some crappy 70s restaurant speakers.”
Watch the video directed by Kaiser herself below:
‘Wishing Well’ is out now via Royal Oakie Records and available from Bandcamp.
Luce Rushton – Slinky
Back in April we introduced Slinky, the debut EP from Luce Rushton. Then writing of single ‘How It Works’, we described how the EP is “follows the travails of a young artist attempting to negotiate their own tricky interior within an already overwhelming world,” delivered with a “seamless blend of wry humour and earnest emotion.” Now the record is out in full, Rushton has released a video for the title track which furthers the exploration of gender presented across the release. “The word originally referred to feeling forced into ‘slinky’ women’s clothing throughout my life,” Rushton explains. “In the song, I look back on those feelings and reflect on how much I’ve changed and learned about myself.’’
look how hard i try to
climb up to the ladies room
and what you made me do
sped all day and it costs a fortune
debtor
corner
but you wouldn’t catch me dead in it anymore though
Slinky is out now via Sad Club Records and available from Bandcamp.
No Beauty – JUNE
Led by Helena Alexandria alongside Jonathan Malstrom and Will Fachin, No Beauty is a Hamilton, Ontario-based project gearing up to release their new EP, No Beauty Will Remain, this summer. Single ‘June’ typifies the blend of lightness and weight which constitutes their brand of indie rock. Weighty guitars are propelled by a driving drum line, positioning No Beauty alongside the likes of Basement Revolver in their cathartic heft. But amid the density lies an altogether brighter dimension, with ‘JUNE’ offering a picture of summertime love radiant enough to transcend any encroaching darkness.
a cashmere glow from a small window
fell on the bed
we talked for all the hours on the bed
we found out we had perfect bodies on the bed
Watch the video by Alice Hirsch (director, DOP, editor) and Helena Zogogiannis (AD, creative director, props) below:
No Beauty Will Remain will be released later this summer. No Beauty can be found at the usual places.
Sam Weber – Oregon
Ahead of hitting the road with Anna Tivel this month, Vancouver Island-based singer-songwriter and guitarist Sam Weber has revealed the latest track from his forthcoming album, Clear + Plain. ‘Oregon’ typifies the fusion of traditional and contemporary sensibilities which marks Weber’s sound, with strong percussion and bass anchoring layered vocals and his signature guitar work to offer an ode to its titular state. “‘Oregon’ was written on a trip to Ashland,” as Weber expands. “We were renting a casita on this big property where all these hippies lived. It’s a bit of a sensory abstract poem that just sort of emerged. I think the imagery is my own from the I-5 corridor, seeing the lush green flora, very pagan-beautiful, natural imagery of the state, contrasted with the scraps of humanity strewn around. And the progressive culture of Portland.”
Clear + Plain will be released on the 23rd August and you can find Sam Weber at the usual places.
Secret Flowers – Malibu Burns
Los Angeles fourpiece Secret Flowers—that’s Michael Hentz (vocals, guitar), Jacquelyn Sky (vocals, drums), David Greening (guitar), and Abraham Rodriguez-Smith (bass)—fall somewhere at the intersection of dream pop, psych and shoegaze, offering a sound as confident with dark romance as with laidback jams. New release Balboa EP shows off the full potential of this blend, as shown by lead single ‘Malibu Burning’. Inspired by the wildfires in California over recent years, the song offers slow, lush duet which envelops the listener, evoking not only the stasis of our alarming moment, but the wish to retreat to the small comforts of our loved ones amid encroaching catastrophe.
Slice – Shopping
Consisting of Megan Magiera (guitar, vocals), Barbara Barrera (bass) and Alex Hattick (keys, vocals), Slice have developed a loyal fanbase in Long Beach with their impassioned indie rock sound. After almost a decade of playing together, new single ‘Shopping’, out via Selenite Records, signals a new era for the outfit. It’s the culmination of what has come before, drawing equal does of angst and catharsis to explore themes both personal and political. “When I was writing the lyrics, I was thinking about the different clear-outs of unhoused communities in Echo Park, in Santa Monica, even in Downtown Long Beach,” Hattick explains. “The irony of unhoused communities being cleared out while unaffordable high-rise loft apartments are being built is impossible to ignore. When you’re removing people from these spaces, where do they go? Where do you expect people to go when there’s nowhere to go?”
Thavoron – My Man
Seattle-based Cambodian-American artist Thavoron has made a name for emotive, searching songwriting through a series of singles with Trailing Twelve Records, exploring themes of grief, desire and cultural identity from within the queer experience. Latest track ‘My Man’ is every bit as evocative as we’ve come to expect. A slow-burn anthem which aches with longing, shot through with striking imagery and unguarded emotion. But the sound escalates as the song progresses, gathering a momentum as though Thavoron finds a newfound conviction within it’s build, coming to reach the conclusion that the other he so desires does not hold the key to his own identity. That feeling at home in one’s body is a process to be face on their own terms. Watch the video directed by Thavoron and Maddie Ludgate below:
‘My Man’ is out now via Trailing Twelve Records.