Photo by Mathias Reding.
The Know - Me
indie
Wife and husband duo The Know invite the listener into their sweet world of good vibrations and positive but thorough emotions on the recent single "Me". Taken from their upcoming second EP, the song sees the group expound on their dreamy and highly atmospheric indie rock, with Beach House and The National echoed in the lyrically rich and restrained blast of reverb-laden music. Vocalist Jennifer Farmer somehow makes the lyrics "a pain in the ass" sound charming, though most of the words blend into a warm blanket of soothing music.
Plastiklova - Gain Threshold
experimental
Plastiklova is a Benelux-based duo comprising sound artists Laurent Warnier and Yu Oda. Their debut self-titled album is a daring exploration of the possibilities of sound, which forgoes melody or coherent structures in the name of breaking ground. The vibraphone of Warnier merges marvellously with the electronics and composition of Oda on "Gain Threshold", the opening track and first single from the album (you can catch an obtuse visual video for it here). The group create an alluring electroacoustic sound, unbound by melody or measure, with one foot on the ground and the other in the ether. The freeform arrangement of sinisterly strange sounds might induce an acute feeling of trepidation but also astonishment as the sonic world around you is manipulated by these auditory voyagers in ways you've never experienced before.
June Rosewell - Medicine / Apartment
lo-fi folk
The diaphanous tones of Nashvillian soft folker June Rosewell are offset by a wailing electric guitar and woozy synth on her recent single "Medicine". One half of the group Psychic Sidekick, Rosewell's solo work has a lo-fi, dreamy spirit and can briefly substitute a sleeping pill should sleep evade you. The sadcore elements of the song help to reinforce the sadly beautiful experience of medicine and drugs at large, though it is countered by the full-band impact of "Apartment", the second half of this double A-side which is a boppier and tighter kick-out-the-jams musing that showcases an artist who can, and wants to, flip between the two extremes of their range.
Shockpowder - The Drowning And The Sunset
grunge
What do you get if you crossbreed grunge and shoegaze? Shockpowder is a musical project started by Joshua Scurfield in 2015 and could answer such a question. This hard-hitting brand of melodic metal has equal measures of force and finesse, as displayed on the recent single "The Drowning and the Sunset", which undulates from mood-setting instrumentation and voice to mood-lifting levels of intensity and a subtle beauty hiding in the darkness. The low-in-the-mix vocals are hella melodic, and when the double kick comes, the song surges forward like the ocean pictured on the cover. There's enough feeling to sink into here, but there's also enough vision to appreciate the beauty of the sky as you drown.
Dexter Dine - Intertidal
experimental
Brooklyn experimentalist Dexter Dine spins a playful yarn on his recent single "Intertidal", which is taken from the newly released album "Flood". The unhinged Dadaism of "Intertidal" pits a chopped-up backbone of earthy percussion against woozy accordion tones and idiosyncratic singing. This playful amalgam can sometimes sound like the collagelike outsider folk of fellow New York band The Books, though Dine injects sufficient amounts of humanity into his delivery and mix to ensure this is singular and exciting music.
