San Francisco band Cindy specialise in a dreamy, slo-mo brand of pop music, centred on lead Karina Gill’s distinctive vocals and poetic vision. At the beginning of April, Cindy will release a brand new record Why Not Now? via Tough Love and have unveiled lead single ‘A Trumpet on the Hillside’ by way of introduction. Landing somewhere between Galaxie 500 style slowcore and a half-speed Au Revoir Simone track, the song is a quietly transcendent hymn to the wonder that’s threaded into even the most mundane experiences. “It’s about being in a room with people, the closeness and distance involved in that,” Gill describes. “And it’s about the vividness and grandness (sometimes) of the most ordinary experience.”

En Attendant Ana – Wonder

Back in January we wrote a little about ‘Same Old Story’ by Paris indie pop band En Attendant Ana, taken from their new LP Principia. We described it as “a blend of playful indie pop rhythms and post-punk angles… [that] pitch[es] the listener into a funhouse room of mirrors with only the smooth clarity of Margaux Bouchaudon’s vocals as a guide.” The album is out now on Trouble In Mind and the band have released an animated music video for single ‘Wonder’ to celebrate. A song that explores conflicting emotions of legitimacy, opening gentle and pensive before a motorik beat drops with a clockwork energy, building towards a cathartic close, embodying that weird blend of strength and doubt of trying to do your best but always second guessing yourself. Watch the video by Jérôme Papaphotiou below:

Principia is out now via Trouble in Mind and available from the En Attendant Ana Bandcamp page.

Eric Angelo Bessel – Secret Lake

We’ve written about Laura Mariposa Williams and Eric Angelo Bessel’s Lore City several times in the recent years, with 2021 LP Participation Mystique and last year’s Under Way highlighting the band’s evocative, esoteric style and the manner in which it blurs the physical and metaphysical so seamlessly. The pair set up Lore City Music to facilitate the release of their work, and April sees the imprint release Bessel’s debut solo album, Visitations. Single ‘Secret Lake’ invites us into the world of the record, its slack drift like some sitting bogland but soon deepening into something more. A depth alluring in its own way, beautiful and strange in the manner unique to hidden spaces, allowing the listener to descend through its column while refusing to give anything away freely.

Visitation comes out on 21st April and you can pre-order it from the Lore City Music Bandcamp page.

Foyer Red – Plumbers Unite!

Yarn The Hours Away, the debut full-length from Brooklyn‘s Foyer Red coming this spring on Carpark Records, is described as a collection of short stories—where each track aims to build a fully rendered sense of character and place. Previous single ‘Etc‘ hinted at the depth of such an intention (“exploring,” as we put it, “a mismatched relationship of indistinct philosophical musings and robotic computations.”), and new single ‘Plumbers Unite!’ is no less ambitious. A song which not only uses the relentless trials of a side-scrolling videogame as a metaphor for life’s daily grind, but then imagines the sentience of the console once the power has been cut. “When I was little I was obsessed with my Gamecube, but after entering cheat codes on my Harvest Moon game, I felt sooooooo guilty,” explains Elana Riorda. “I impulsively deleted my game data and later had recurring nightmares about my Gamecube’s anger towards me, something I knew was unrealistic but felt so creepy and real.” Watch the video filmed, edited and directed by Leif Morton below:

Yarn The Hours Away is out on the 19th May via Carpark Records.

Nicolas Krgovich – Front Stoop #2

“For years and years I guess I was lonely / but refused to call it so.” So opens ‘Front Stoop #2’, the first single from Nicolas Krgovich’s Ducks, out next month on Orindal Records. The realisation is prompted by a direct question on the titular front stoop, one the narrator answers simply. Yes, he is lonely. “
To answer a plain question with a plain reply / Feels new to me and good.” What follows is so rooted in specific details it almost feels, paradoxically, like a dream. That weird summer, the smoke, the deserted beach. Tossed pebbles and sand and shells and “things that don’t matter and things to forget.” With Ducks, Krgovich promises to explore how moments are catalogued and remembered via minutiae, and the manner in which complexity of any present is not so much reduced to images but coded in them. “I let them whirl, a little cyclone,” as he concludes at the end of the song. “Living in a world of love.”

Seminar Shadow – Luring (Excerpt)

Seminar Shadow, AKA duo Lucie Vítková and Teerapat Parnmongkol, are preparing to unveil their new release HEATWAVE via Dear Life Records. Recorded on a pair of baby grand pianos during the August 2022 heatwave and comprising of two improvised side-length tracks, the release probes the present for the full weight of the past, exploring how any apparently ‘live’ moment rests upon an unseen foundation of everything which preceded it. “Liveness as in a self-organization in action can’t detach or distinguish from skeleton of memory,” as they explain. “A wave of heat is rinsing out inseparably within this heat, where the liveliness is revealing itself as a part of motion and movement that lives through this instinctual response to the environment around it.” You can hear an excerpt of the opening track ‘Luring’ now:

Shit Present – Voice in Your Head

“It really did come as breaking news to me in 2016 that I am not my thoughts and I might learn to have some agency over them,” explains Shit Present’s vocalist and guitarist Iona Cairns of new single ‘Voice in Your Head’. What they describe as a ‘textbook’ I’ve-been-to-therapy song which serves as the perfect introduction for those unfamiliar with the Bristol outfit’s blend of emo and power pop. Committed to offering honest dispatches from the trials of mental health, wide open in their vulnerability but armed with the power of noisy catharsis. ‘Voice in Your Head’ is sincere in its message, wry in its tone, and ultimately empowered by the realisation that you can learn to live with your thoughts. “I could fucking destroy you or be your best friend,” sings the titular being in the chorus. “I’m here ’til you’re dead.”

talker – Don’t Want You To Love Me (Oceanator Remix)

“Indie rock with glitter all over it,” that’s how Celeste Tauchar describes the talker sound. Last year’s In Awe of Insignificance showed off the style in all its vivid glory, working to elevate Tauchar’s moody, emotionally-driven vocals. Following on from the success of the release, talker is putting out a brand new EP of remixes, with offerings from the likes of Overcoats and FRENSHIP. Latest single sees VSF fav Oceanator reimagine ‘Don’t Want You To Love Me’, adding gauzy textures over the clarity of the original without losing any of the sound’s urgent motion.

Zoon – Manitou

‘Manitou’ is the second single from Bekka Ma’iingan, the forthcoming sophomore record by Daniel Monkman’s Zoon on Paper Bag Records. Regular readers will by now be familiar with Monkman’s work, an ever-evolving sound rooted in shoegaze that explores themes of activism and Indigenous experience. The new song continues this trajectory, a lush orchestral piece that strips any notion of shoegaze back to its bare bones, emotional swells rising up amidst the atmosphere of lingering melancholy. “‘Manitou’ is about the group of friends I had growing up in Selkirk Manitoba,” Monkman explains. “We’d run a cross the red bridge and have fires and drink. Our little piece of heaven.” But far from a simple rose-tinted exercise in nostalgia, ‘Manitou’ reflects on the difficulties of that time too, acknowledging struggles and vowing never forget friends lost before their time.

And live out your youth
And all the stars shine fine
And keep this close to me
And live out your youth

Bekka Ma’iingan will be released by Paper Bag Records on 28th April and you can pre-order it now from the Zoon Bandcamp page.

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Having now signed with Carpark Records, Foyer Red have released brand new single, ‘Etc’. Every bit as playful as we’ve come to expect from the band, it’s a springy and elastic pop song straight out of the left-field, Eric Jaso’s mesmerizing bassline setting the odd but infectious tone. But beneath this exuberance lies something darker and more complex, exploring a mismatched relationship of indistinct philosophical musings and robotic computations.

“My character in ‘Etc’ finds themselves in a dysfunctional relationship in which gender informs internal struggles of power and control,” lead Elana Riordan explains. “Instead of addressing the problem they state it plainly while asking vague and broad questions about the nature of the world. Rather than seeking a new system they find ways to play into that system to ultimately get what they want in the short-term.”

On the other hand, the character played by singer & guitarist Mitch Myers takes rationality to the extreme. As Riordan explains:

“Taking a note from Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions, they are fixated on the optimal stopping problems, seeking to maximize the reward of a great parking space and minimize the cost of distance from the front doors and time spent circling around holding out for a better spot. The syllables are so stiff and stressed at unnatural points in the last verse to exemplify how mechanical the whole process has been, where the character is in their head crunching data to guarantee satisfaction with the outcome.”

‘Etc’ is out now via Carpark Records and you can get it from Bandcamp.

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New single ‘Pickles’ is a song of such juxtapositions. It’s an upbeat and often frenetic track that deals with paralysing depression. Though delve a little deeper and the sense of escalation makes sense, the rising momentum reflecting not the exterior stasis but the building pressure within. The gradually dawning sense that things are unbearable, so trapped you feel you might explode.

“The lyrics are about depressive episodes trapping you in your own home, turning physical space into dungeon space,” as lead Elana Riordan puts it. “Everything feels stale; the air gets too warm but you can’t get up to fix it. You’re relying on external factors to make a difference in your world and there’s a sort of intersection of comfort and discomfort.”

Artwork by Elana Riordan, photo by Mary Shea

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Swiss post-punks Batbait are preparing to release their debut album this September, and latest single ‘Talk’ certainly whets the appetite. With a deadpan vocal style delivered over rhythmic drums and a tense bass line, the track threatens to spark into furious life for most of its runtime, though despite the discordant guitars passing over haphazardly, it isn’t until the closing section that the real bite reveals itself. A lesson in passive aggression which can’t help but eventually show its claws. Check out the claymation video by Nadia Leonhard below:

‘Talk’ is out now via Irascible Distribution and available from the Batbait Bandcamp page.

Foyer Red – Flipper

Described as “fuck-you crayon rock”, the music of Foyer Red combines colour and bite to great effect, blurring the line between fun, fury and fantastical charm. New single ‘Flipper’ embraces this style wholeheartedly, swinging wildly between sugary sweet and strikingly strange to weave its way between the real and imaginary. As the track barrels its way toward the chaotic climax, any distinction between the two seems to dissolve, leaving a trip to the bodega as desperate and dangerous as scavenging a post-apocalyptic world.

i’m a ravenous creature left to roam the earth
set against a scorching sphere
no one here, my own frontier
rusted into this warzone
i’m all alone, i have no bones (no bones)
not yet full grown, i’d eat your bones
bones, bones

‘Flipper’ is out now and available from the Foyer Red Bandcamp page.

Healees – In Your Cave

Based in Paris, Healees are a four-piece band who make noisy but sweet pop music that harks back to the C86 era. Formed back in 2015 after a chance meeting between Bryan Quinn and Renaud Chauré, the band soon added Hillevi Robertsson (bass) and Arthur Chen (drums) and set to work on writing songs, culminating in 2019 with the release of the demo tape Heal’s Beals. Now Healees have teamed up with Hidden Bay Records to release their first proper debut, a self-titled EP that contains polished versions of some of the demos as well as brand new tracks. One such new song is lead single ‘In Your Cave’, which on the surface sparkles like the summer sun but is undercut by a sober wistfulness.

Jacob Faurholt – Madness on the Rise

Back in March we wrote about, ‘Comforting Sounds’, the first single from Jacob Faurholt‘s new album, When the Spiders Crawl. A nostalgic track “downbeat but coloured by an overriding fondness.” Latest single ‘Madness on the Rise’ picks up this melancholic tone, exploring mental struggles with Faurholt’s characteristically empathetic and understanding style. But it carries a certain starkness too as the electric guitar rumbles with palpable weight, a formidable force bubbling up around fragile vulnerability.

When the Spiders Crawl is out on the 15th July via Raw Onion Records and you can pre-order it now.

JayWood – God is a Reptile

JayWood is the alias of Winnipeg songwriter and producer Jeremy Haywood-Smith, who has recently announced a brand new record coming this summer on Captured Tracks. Haywood-Smith began work on the album as an escape from what can only be described as mourning, both from the various social crises of 2020 and the death of his mother in 2019. He began by reconnecting with his roots, pulling back into the past in order to fire himself forward into a better future, hence the title Slingshot. For an album that explore such deep territory, it is surprisingly fun and playful, presenting a near-real version of his life that combines fact and imaginative fiction to explore themes of childhood, religion and identity. First released standalone back in March, lead single ‘God is a Reptile’ is the perfect introduction, a kaleidoscopic blend of groovy pop and bummed-out angst, complete with refracted layered vocals and surreal tempo changes. Check it out below:

Rob Dickson – Aaron and Rae

Based in Whitehorse, Yukon, Rob Dickson is a songwriter gearing up to release brand new record, Portraits, later this year. With guests including Ansley Simpson, Bry Webb, Mika Posen, Nic Hyatt, Micah Smith, Drew Jurecka and Michael Feuerstack, the album assembles some of Canada’s best to realise its rich and emotive sound, as demonstrated by lead single, ‘Aaron and Rae’. An ode to the past which drops the rose-tinted fondness in favour of something more real and raw.

Shady Baby – Come To Life

The project of Brighton‘s Sam Leaver, Shady Baby is the latest emerging act to be featured in the ‘Nice Swan Introduces…’ series of UK label Nice Swan Records (which has also included the likes of Sprints, English Teacher and Saloon Dion). Leaver is joined by Laurie Debnam (guitar), Nick Varnava (bass) and Tom Jackson (drums), who together make contemporary indie rock that draws heavily from the Britpop and Madchester scenes that dominated British music in the 90s. Shady Baby have introduced this style with ‘Come to Life’, their debut single for Nice Swan. It’s a track that belies its angsty subject matter with pure heart-quickening energy. “‘Come To Life’ is an angry response to feeling like people treated you like shit but you let them get away with it,” Leaver describes. “Feeling both angry at them but also at yourself for letting it happen.”

‘Come to Life’ is out now and available via streaming services.

Weird Nightmare – Searching For You

Best known as the guitarist and vocalist from METZ, Alex Edkins has turned to new project Weird Nightmare as an outlet for another dimension of his creativity. The self-titled debut album, out now via Sub Pop, leavens the foreboding weight of Edkins’ usual material with a mischievous fun, as captured in the hectic single ‘Searching for You’. A track which is no less pedal-to-the-metal than anything in the METZ catalogue, but engages this energy in an entirely different direction. Check out the great video directed by Ryan Thompson with animation from Jordan “Dr. Cool” Minkoff:

Weird Nightmare is out now via Sub Pop and you can get it from Bandcamp.

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