simianthinker

Nikita Afonso’s “Good Morning, Sunshine” is a Refreshing Breath of Sunrise to Start Off Your Day

NikitaAfonso_HolyMyHeart_sm — Nikita Afonso, cover of *Holy My Heart* (cropped)

Nikita Afonso’s breathy vocals sound imbued with inner motes of light that hang on the tiny bit of distortion at the edges of her singing. And that quality is appropriately well in place on her new single “Good Morning, Sunshine.” It’s a simple yet poetic love song in the classic mold but transcends tropes through the aforementioned as well as some beautifully orchestrated guitar and electronic elements including a bit here and there near the beginning of the song ascending like the musical approximation of smelling the morning coffee as the sun rises. Think Tangerine Dream’s work for the soundtrack of Risky Business but a more gently exuberant daytime coming out of sleep instead of late night ready to lay down for the night. Listen for yourself on Soundcloud and follow Afonso’s further adventures in songwriting at the links below.

Update: Here is also the new music video for “Good Morning, Sunshine.”

nikitaafonso.com
soundcloud.com/nikita-afonso-385720198
twitter.com/NikitaAfonso
facebook.com/NikitaAfonsoMusic
instagram.com/nikitaafonso

“…In The Way You Disappeared” by Fairies! No Mercenaries is a Harrowing Meditation on the Despair of Losing a Loved One

FairiesNoMercenaries_InTheWayYouDisappeared_cover-lg — Fairies! No Mercenaries, image courtesy the artist

Theomar C. Francois of Fairies! No Mercenaries has been using the project as an outlet to transform harrowing experiences and emotional darkness into music that doesn’t downplay any of it but might help others to process their own trauma and emotional stasis. The latest single “…In The Way You Disappeared” sounds like an emo band discovered synthwave and deathrock and mulched it all to produce something that sounds like a true amalgamation and not a clumsy co-opting of styles to fit into a favored aesthetic. Driving distorted guitar gives way to synth leads as Francois’ melancholic vocals tell the heartbreaking tale of a loved one lost and how that pain may recede over time but how the haunting never completely goes away. One wonders if James O’Barr’s original graphic novel of The Crow was in any part an inspiration because it has the same sense of loving despair that strikes deep. But whatever the root spark of the song it’s a fascinating genre hybrid that remains with you long after listening. Listen to the track from the album Eurydice on Bandcamp and follow the artist at the links following.

https://fairiesnomercenaries.bandcamp.com/track/in-the-way-you-disappeared

open.spotify.com/artist/1xxCCT8CqMnPRBbPorH1Br
fairiesnomercenaries.bandcamp.com
instagram.com/fairiesnomercenaries

“Backtrack” is Halen Sykes’ Bittersweet Ode to an On Again Off Again Relationship in a Small Town

HalenSykes1_artwork_cropped — Halen Sykes, image courtesy the artist

Halen Sykes’ “Backtrack” hits you by surprise if you’re a reflective person who has been around a certain locale for any period of time to see things change and how your life intersects with those changes and the relationships and connections to time and place that ground you. And how that can trap you in a revisiting of the familiar and putting you back into situations that no longer serve the person you are now even if they feel comfortable and aren’t inherently negative. But the sense of stasis and how we self-reinforce our patterns that are both healthy and lead people down the path of the mid-life crisis where you wonder what your life could have been. And yet the crisis isn’t in the song, it’s a wistful yet knowing take on an on again, off again relationship cast in beautifully gentle and upsweeping melodies over a meditative but expressive performance on percussion

“Yellow Hearts” by Enjune is a Song to Soothe the Soul of Anyone Suffering From the Pangs of a Clandestine Love

Enjune4_crop — Enjune, photo courtesy the artist

Enjune’s new single off the forthcoming Teal Dreams EP (due June 28), “Yellow Hearts,” is brimming with suppressed feelings clandestinely expressed in the form of a song that could be said to be fiction or about someone else if the object of those feelings asks. You feel for songwriter Jake Goble as it’s not a misplaced or dark wave of emotion that informs the songwriting but a sense of connection for someone special whose personality and the way they carry themselves moves and inspires you beyond some fleeting attraction. Written in the style of R&B-inflected chillwave, it’s a downtempo beat and dreamily melancholic vibe sounds like Goble is trying to make the feelings go down easier for him and anyone who might relate to the song in their own lives. Listen below and follow Enjune at the links provided.

soundcloud.com/enjunemusic
open.spotify.com/artist/0Q5H7S50NYFVJi7fewkoJs
youtube.com/channel/UC2CzudcS40scL801K8Tk1mw
twitter.com/EnjuneMusic
facebook.com/enjunemusic
instagram.com/enjune.music

“3,000,000 Years” by Peter Kleinhans is a Jaunty Ditty About Collective Human Hubris

PeterKleinhans3_sm — Peter Kleinhans, photo courtesy the artist

Peter Kleinhans comments on the sweep of human history and hubris on “3,000,000 Years” with an irreverent wit. Recounting the endless ways in which our species has discovered ways to progress civilization and being in love with our own cultures with the chauvinistic delusions of exceptionalism. Whether that’s our use and misuse of science, religion, philosophy, politics, concepts of race and so on, Kleinhans playfully punctures the pomposity of the homo sapiens and our willingness to overlook history in pursuit of narrow self-interest as we rationalize the destruction of the world and each other. The upbeat, jangle pop sound of the song gives it a bit of a surreal quality but one that will probably be easier to accept by more people than some song that sounds like the trainwreck of forward momentum into doomsday that is modern human civilization and maybe, paradoxically, songs and art like this will get a few more people to think about things in their proper context and instead of despair be willing to adapt to a necessary shift in consciousness and lifestyle. Listen below and follow Kleinhans at the links following.

hyperurl.co/SomethingsNotRightPK
soundcloud.com/peterkleinhansmusic
open.spotify.com/track/11MBQvv84vBoIfkhmC4sOK?si=p-6IEk3AS5aXa-KmoAw4oA

Shivercrash Stellar’s “Lies Over Toast” Is a Jangle Post-Punk Anthem to Romantic Disillusionment

ShivercrashStellar_WakeUpDelusion_cover_sm — Shivercrash Stellar, *Wake Up Deluision* cover (cropped)

The most impressive thing about Shivercrash Stellar’s single “Lies Over Toast” is that so much sound and so many dynamics are packed into a single song without any of it stumbling over the rest or crowding out the the other elements. Even when the song sweeps into densely sonic passages of great momentum there’s a great use of space with instruments swirling together in the mix around the vocals. Obvious comparisons of the latter to Paul Banks and Isaac Brock in being focused but with a tiny bit of quaver with the force of emotion could be made and a storytelling style and cadence. But there’s a bit more jangle and maybe the influence of proto-alternative rock bands like Game Theory, Let’s Active and REM. But, if you give the group’s new album Wake Up Delusion a further listen, with synths and maybe someone in the band really took to The Strokes’ This Is It in his or her youthful musical development. Whatever the exact ingredients “Lies Over Toast” takes us on a dynamic and sometimes brooding journey about becoming disabused of romantic notions about those we dare to love. Listen below and follow the Shivercrash Stellar further at the link following.

shivercrashstellar.bandcamp.com

Asian She’s Video for “Competitive Mourning” is a Revenge-Themed Horror Thriller In Miniature

Asian She’s video for “Competitive Mourning” has a visual style and thematic elements akin to something dreamed up by Darren Aronofsky or Jordan Peele and a short, dark, revenge-themed horror thriller. Musically the song is a series of descending progressions that switch to minor chords that give the overall mood a sinister quality even though the main guitar melody is jangle-y and bright and is essentially about the kind of performative online behavior engendered by the social media age even when it comes to matters that seem like they should be private. The members of Asian She include Thomas Froggett of She Wants Revenge, frontman Noah Lebenzon and former Peal Jam drummer Dave Krusen and the amalgam of that, if “Competitive Mourning” is any example, is a bit like a cross between Tom Petty and Cursive. The single comes from the group’s forthcoming EP, Kiss Under Kareem, due out in July through L.A. Hall of Records. Follow the group at the links below.

open.spotify.com/artist/3xUroJ9phAHftA25QDMv86
lahallofrecords.bandcamp.com/track/competitive-mourning
facebook.com/AsianShe

Grain Thief’s “Irish Rose” is a Psych Folk and Country Earworm of Affectionate Regret

GrainThief1_cropped — Grain Thief, photo courtesy the artists

Overtly, Grain Thief’s “Irish Rose” (from it’s album Stardust Lodge) is a song looking fondly back at a relationship that failed. With bittersweet affection Patrick Mulroy intones in warm regret, yet lacking all rancor, about about the good times before they came to an end with a song that is reminiscent of Kenny Rogers’ “Coward of the County.” Except that “Irish Rose” is impressionistic rather than a story. But the masterful musicianship and songwriting is comparable with fiddles, mandolin and guitars working together to weave an exquisitely intricate melody and framing for Mulroy’s wistful reverie. Bridging styles from country, bluegrass and psychedelic folk, “Irish Rose” and its attention to sonic detail is an ear worm beginning to end. Listen to the song below as well as the rest of Stardust Lodge and follow Grain Thief at the Instagram link following.

instagram.com/grainthief

“Weightless Dreams” by Domus is the Sound of an Inspiring and Forward Thinking Future

Domus_0019 — Domus, photo by Max Kjellberg

“Weightless Dreams” by Domus is like music for a video game about exploring the ruins of the home world of a benevolent galaxies-spanning civilization that left behind technologies that welcome and reward curiosity and productive engagement with the world. A sense of wonder imbues its almost 8-bit, Metroid-esque minus a sense of foreboding, soundscape. You can almost see the moving sculptures in Rube Goldberg device fashion on a faraway planet as you float from place to place powered by gentle force fields. If Buckminster Fuller had tried his hand at science fiction this would be the soundtrack, one that dares to imagine an inspiring and forward thinking future—an anti-dystopia. Listen below and look forward to the album from the Stockholm-based duo out soon.

open.spotify.com/artist/7LPfsCldn6uvdPsljQkTw5
facebook.com/domussthlm

The Lates Laces Single “moved” Sweeps You Up in its Moody Wave of Emotion

Laces1_sm — LACES, photo courtesy the artist

When she was a teenager Jessica Vaughn caught the attention of a mainstream public as Charlotte Sometimes before retiring the name in favor of a new project moniker LACES in 2014. Her latest single “moved” is a dusky pop song about the complex nature of love driven by Vaughn’s smoldering, passionate vocals reminiscent at times of Martha Davis of The Motels. Vaughn is adept at giving voice to self doubt and doubts about the motivation of the loved one and how undeniable feelings of deep affection and love and connection can sweep aside the way we intellectualize and dissect our relationships often to their detriment. There is an enthralling depth of emotion that runs through the song that carries the listener away as well. The slow wave of feeling and the refreshingly real and poetic lyrics re-establish LACES as a pop project that spares us platitudes and delivers more than a few moments of beautifully expressed honesty. Listen below and follow LACES at the links following.

soundcloud.com/iamlaces
open.spotify.com/artist/6yMmGdc524t6LunXvGeffb
youtube.com/headbtchmusic
twitter.com/headbtchmusic
facebook.com/headbtchmusic
instagram.com/headbtchmusic