Followng ‘Burning’, Teen Idle is preparing to release new full-length Nonfiction soon via H1 Massive. It’s an album which promises to live up to its title with an autobiographical focus, each song like a page ripped from a journal, drawing on a variety of moods and styles to capture a full picture of the emotional terrain. Though that’s not to say everything is strictly true. New single, ‘Birthday Cake’ offers a window into the way Abdelbarry bends and builds upon personal stories to better explore their themes, showing how embellishment and exaggeration can better communicate a truth. “‘Birthday Cake’ isn’t specifically about anyone, but rather a caricature of a person,” Abdelbarry explains. “In some ways the song is autobiographical because the character it deals with is a hyperbolic version of people I’ve known.”

Photo by Samantha Abdelbarry   

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To celebrate the arrival of their brand new record, Embody, Hamilton’s Basement Revolver have unveiled the final single, ‘Dissolve’. We previously described how the album displays a “willingness to confront the intricacies of modern life with a newfound steel and depth,” and the new single is full of the compassion and solidarity which makes this possible. An ode to figuring things out together.

Carli & The Dark – Voicemail

Carli & The Dark is the folk rock project of Phoenix-born, Brooklyn-based songwriter Carli Naff. Latest single ‘Voicemail’ concerns losing a parent, specifically that strange half second when the urge to contact them arises out of well-worn habit, a wish to share a simple moment of a day. The song emerges from this brief period where they are still alive, still waiting, and follows it through the renewed sense of loss before culminating in a compassionate group refrain which features Naff’s mother and siblings among other loved ones. “All my peeps who grieved together,” as she puts it. “It’s a little detail that really brings me a sense of safety at the end, of being held.”

Saying my nickname in a voicemail from your car
You were there, there you are
And though you are not around,
You would love this song I found

Cinder Well x Jim Ghedi – I Am a Youth That’s Inclined to Ramble

Cinder Well and Jim Ghedi have teamed up for a new two-song single, reinterpreting traditional folk ballads. ‘I Am a Youth That’s Inclined to Rambled’ highlights how the pair accentuate the stark loneliness of the material with sparse arrangements haunted by foreboding drone. A song of vast distances and separation, sung into a soundscape as empty and inscrutable as the ocean itself.

I Am a Youth That’s Inclined to Ramble is out now via Free Dirt Records and is available from the Cinder Well Bandcamp page.

hemlock – to carry (feat. Laith)

Described as an “interstate phone-fi bedroom folk saga of sorts,” talk soon is the full-band Chicago-based project hemlock. Latest single invites long-time friend and collaborator Laith Scherer and explores the nuances of a relationship as it changes over time and distance. A song of hushed yet heartfelt vignettes which rises toward an impassioned finale, providing snapshots of love in its various guises.

it’s okay
we carry our pain
in separate ways
on different days
but I’ll be there for you

Jeremy Squires – Drift

We’ve written about North Carolina native Jeremy Squires numerous times, an artist working in the American songwriting tradition of sharing heart and soul with generous helpings of grit and honesty. Ahead of a new album, slated for release later this year on Blackbird Record Label, Squires has unveiled a new single, ‘Drift’. It’s a song that finds him at his devastating best, built on just acoustic guitar, harmonica and vocals that quaver with both exhausted despondency and a steely inner strength. “I was sad,” he sings, “Now I’m lost / I forgot where I belong.”

Knuckle Pups – Soft Attraction

Ahead of their upcoming album, TV Ready, Denver “soda punk” outfit Knuckle Pups have unveiled single ‘Soft Attraction’. The track is an encapsulation of what such a genre entails, taking the fizzy energy of indie and adding an anarchic punk edge, though the songs are far from one-dimensional sugar rushes. Principle songwriter Oliver Holloway writes songs spread across the gamut of moods and tones, making room for earnest emotion and ironic playfulness within the same track, and as the new single shows, this often builds into triumphantly cathartic crescendos.

TV Ready is set for release sometime later this year.

Mouse – Pinned To An Avalanche

Based between Sunshine Coast and Brisbane, Mouse formed over a mutual appreciation of noisy DIY music, and thus set about making it themselves. The first single from forthcoming debut Here Was Then on Kitty Records, ‘Pinned to an Avalanche’ is all about escaping worry and doubt through some larger, consuming present, and Mouse oblige by recreating the descending wall of snow with their dense and hefty sound. Check out the video directed by the band and shot by Harley Jones:

Here Was Then will be released by Kitty Records later this year.

nudista – inasmuch

Next month sees the release of nudista’s Halfway Here EP on Sad Club Records, but in the meantime they have unveiled a new standalone single, ‘inasmuch’. The song is a great introduction to Pilar Matji Cabello and Robbie Carman’s work, a clarified dream pop which seeks to communicate directly and honestly. “It is a message to say that we are capable of evolving and moving forward even when it is scary,” as Cabello puts it, the gentle rhythmic pull drawing the listener close and compelling them onward.

Oceanator – Bad Brain Daze

April sees the return of Oceanator with Nothing’s Ever Fine, a brand new album on Polyvinyl Records and Big Scary Monsters which looks to build upon the apocalyptic themes of 2020’s Things I Never Said. Lead single ‘Bad Brain Daze’ typifies the duality of tenuous optimism and crushing pessimism which marks the record. The sound of existing within an unfolding disaster where the conclusion is still unclear, and nevertheless delivered with Elise Okusami’s characteristically triumphant energy. Check out the video directed by Chris Farren below:

Nothing’s Ever Fine is out on the 8th April via Polyvinyl Records and Big Scary Monsters and you can pre-order it now from the Oceanator Bandcamp page.

Sonic Løland – Up to You

Norwegian musician Anders Løland spent much of 2020 experimenting with styles and sounds, building up a library of ideas and demos which would form the basis of And Then The Sun Came Up, the debut album of his Sonic Løland project. Due for release this autumn via Koke Plate, the album shows off the full spectrum of Løland’s inspiration, creating a new brand of indie folk with ambient styles, electronic drums and rich 60s sensibilities, as shown by lead single, ‘Up to You’.

And Then The Sun Came Up will be released by Koke Plate this coming autumn.

Stephen Durkan – Prayer

Combining spoken word with electronic and ambient styles, Glasgow’s Stephen Durkan seems the latest in a long line of cynical Scottish preachers, bitter and sardonic yet bursting with a verbal energy. Written in collaboration with multi-instrumentalist/producer Niko O’Brien and released via Upcycled Sounds Records, his debut EP The Stories We Tell Ourselves About Ourselves both confirms and subverts this label. The anger and frustration are palpable, but beneath this lies something else. A flimsy belief in the continued value of critiquing the society in which we find ourselves, in imagining something new. Check out the first single ‘Prayer’ below:

Teen Idle – Burning

The music of Teen Idle might be an almost entirely solo endeavour recorded in a New Jersey basement, but you’d never guess it from the sound. For Sara Abdelbarry rejects the lo-fi aesthetics of many garage and bedroom acts for something more full-bodied. Take latest single, ‘Burning’, its rich sound featuring electric guitar, bass guitar, keys, synth, shaker, maracas, claps, lighter and sound effects all played by Abdelbarry, with only the drums delegated to Danny Murray. What emerges is an examination of unrequited love in all of its vivid detail, hope, bitterness and unabashed emotion rising into a huge climax.

I climbed up to the top alone
And watch the city burn below
If you won’t help me put her to rest
I’ll dig the hole by myself

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Upset – S/T

The current project of former Best Coast and Vivian Girls drummer Ali Koehler, along with Patty Schemel, Nicole Snyder and Lauren Freeman, Upset formed in 2013 and released their debut record She’s Gone on Don Giovanni that same year. In 2015 the band put out a 10″ via Lauren Records and now are back with a self-titled album on the same label. The album continues to perfect the band’s pop-punk flecked crunchy indie rock, with songs like ‘Lucky Strikes Out’ exploring relationship woes with blazing energy. There’s even a Hollywood-style happy ending, so what’s not to like?

The Great Yawn – California

Based in Pretoria, South Africa, The Great Yawn are a country folk band led by singer-songwriter Danielle Bakkes. Following on from this year’s full-length album, Botanica, the band are back with a brand new single ‘California’. Offering a sultry yet tongue-in-cheek take on the the West Coast culture, the song scores its syrupy, dreamy style with a cutting satirical edge, evoking chlorined pools and toned bodies and those superficial fantasies we know to be false yet secretly pine for all the same.

The track comes complete with a video to further these ideas, directed by Susan van Tonder with cinematography by Heleen van Tonder, and you can watch it below:

Botanica is out now and you can find The Great Yawn on Spotify and Apple Music.

Point No Point – Don’t Cancel Your Plans

Point No Point is the recording project of multi-instrumentalist Jana Sotzko, a renowned figure in the Berlin music scene known for the likes of Soft Grid, Dropout Patrol and many more. The new Point No Point album, Drift, marks a return to the early experimentation of Sotzko’s career, moving away from the rigid planning and attention to detail that represented the Soft Grid style in favour of something more impulsive and impromptu. The result is a release that lives up to its name, a drifting collection of songs, unguided by anything beyond the mysterious natural rhythm of things.

‘Don’t Cancel Your Plans’ encapsulates this new mindset. With its spacious, patient sound, the track is sparse yet undeniably warm in its own peculiar way, and Sotzko’s distinctive vocals are equally captivating, sitting next to the likes of Dear Nora in their confident, idiosyncratic flow.

K. Campbell – Chords Come Easy / Static Threads

We wrote about K. Campbell back in April when he released his album Heads Up on Poison Moon Records. “Taking the DIY aesthetic of punk and hardcore and filtering it through the more refined lens of power pop,” we wrote, “Campbell […] retains the immediacy and personality of the former while gaining the polish of the latter, allowing for songs that are as affective as they are precise.”

November saw the release of a new double single, Chords Come Easy / Static Threads, which develops this aesthetic further. Belonging to the same family as the work of Beat Radio, ‘Chords Come Easy’ is a nostalgic slice of lo-fi rock that celebrates the power of creating art, while ‘Static Threads’ adds a jangling warmth to the mix, maintaining a wistful air but not dwelling on the past.

no reason to look back if you accept the fact
that our days will end with simple math
and static threads

nutrients – always in bloom

Toronto quintet Nutrients specialise in sweet and snappy songs, borrowing from slacker rock and dream pop and some psychedelic tones too to create tracks both bright and soft. After a series of self-released tapes, last month saw the band release their self-titled debut on Earth Libraries—a record that embraces the warm, relaxed style that Nutrients have made their own.

This is made clear on single ‘Always in Bloom’, a sub-two-minute track that punches above its short run-time. Because, in contrast to its succinctness, the song is mellow and loose, not rushing toward a conclusion but ambling slowly, taking in the hazy atmosphere through which it moves.

tumble, tumble on down
down where those prickly plants
and the evergreens are always in bloom
seeing double
see twice or vice versa
exercise all the second thoughts you can’t bare to lose

Nutrients is out now on Earth Libraries and available from Bandcamp.

Winter – Nothing More

Hailing from Curitiba in Brazil, Samira Winter moved to Boston at eighteen and started recording under the moniker Winter. The project combines the gauzy dream pop of the Cocteau Twins with something a little more psychedelic, resulting in a sound that is at once immersive and surreal.

After a series of successful bilingual releases, Winter are now teaming up with Bar None Records for a brand new EP, Hazy. Taking the band in newly lo-fi direction, the EP draws influences from the bedroom aesthetic to strip back the layers of previous material, allowing for a more intimate, direct sound. Lead single ‘Nothing More’ is a good example, showing off the conversational tone of the release, and it’s nuanced take on what it means to be in love.

Cayley Thomas – Midnight Hours

Based in Edmonton, singer, guitarist and songwriter Cayley Thomas is set to release her debut record, How Else Can I Tell You?. An album that “reflect[s] upon a period of subconscious overwhelm and the subsequent shift into conscious thought and awareness,” the songs blur the line between studio richness and home charm, managing to achieve a vivid pop sound without sacrificing any of the personal wrinkles that give them their charm.

Lead single ‘Midnight Hours’ is a great example of this. A pop song with an eccentric edge, the track proves accessible but also disarmingly weird, as though below the polished surface lies a whole world, strange and deep. The video, which Thomas co-directed with Sam at Bootjack Video, furthers this sensation, leading the viewer through all of the window dressing in order to get closer to the essence of one’s thoughts.

Keep an eye on the Cayley Thomas website for more information on How Else Can I Tell You? 

Teen Idle – Dreaming

The recording project of New Jersey-based songwriter Sara Barry, Teen Idle fuses the heartsick melodrama of 60s love ballads with the downbeat and languorous tones of 90s slowcore. The result is a melancholic sound clouded by love, so richly textured that you feel you could lean back into it and never quite fall through. New single ‘Dreaming’ is the perfect example, emerging from a slow and wistful opening that sets the tone from the off, the track possessing a smooth, elegiac tone that threatens to rise into some great crescendo but instead meanders on in its restraint.

I know you want to leave these familiar streets
The city weeps
When the moon fades
There will be no light
If you’d be mine

Leggy – Not What You Need

Back in March, Cincinnati trio Leggy released their latest album, Let Me Know Your Moon, on Sheer Luck Records and cemented their place among the most exciting and interesting indie rock bands plying their trade today. “[Leggy’s] punk rock possesses an inner tension,” we wrote in a preview piece. “Both the sound and Allaer’s lyrics having a tautness that always appears on the verge of snapping, lending an atmosphere that is both engaging and slightly volatile, a provocative spirit that threatens to unravel at any moment.”

With the album receiving praise and the year seeing Leggy tour with the likes of The Ophelias, Summer Cannibals, Pile, The Spook School and Personal Best, the band are closing out 2019 with a brand new video for ‘Not What You Need’. Directed by Jo Shaffer, the film is a celebration of what Leggy does best, blending dreamy shimmers and nostalgic longing with something far more confrontational, all topped off with a playful air that adds further layers to the tone. Check it out below:

Let Me Know Your Moon is out now via Sheer Luck Records and available via the Leggy Bandcamp page.

So with Vol. 31, that’s Bright Sparks done for another year. Be sure to check out the Reviews and Previews sections for more in-depth writing, and keep you eyes peeled for our end of year lists in the coming weeks.

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