New Music – Page 165 – Queen City Sounds and Art

Xena Glas’ “Feet” from the Body EP is a Tonal Mantra for Staying Focused in Life’s Most Challenging Phases

Xena Glas begins hew new EP Body with the short song “Feet.” With delicately plucked and strummed guitar Glas sets a tone of delicate textures flowing through her ethereal vocals. In the background one hears what sounds like samples of wind and running water. At one point she counts off paces that feel like an internal system of timing rather than something that regulates the organic meter of the ambient layers of the song proper. In the notes to the EP, Glas says this song as well as the track “Hand” represent the aspect of her “lived experience with autism” referred to as “stimming in situations of sensory overload” with counting, tapping fingers and pacing. But one need not have experience with autism on any end of the spectrum to be able to relate to this neurological phenomenon in moments of extreme boredom. Stimming just sounds like good, easy and pragmatic practice for keeping the mind active when things feel overwhelming and when it might be helpful to stay focused on something to derail what we’re supposed to think of as a normal reaction when we have no choice but to deal with a challenging situation. Glas’ composition is a model for calming the mind with simple layers of sound that provide a sonic mantra to help weather a passage of peak stress. With obvious guitar loops, vocals, reverse delay and signal processing, Glas’ spectral introductory song to an EP equally inventive throughout sets the stage for a chill yet engrossing listen. Fans of Phew, Laurel Halo, Loraine James and Alice Coltrane will appreciate the transcendent moods achieved by Glas across the five songs and the undeniable and expansive sense of the possible that permeates each song executed with elegant performances and a keen ear for subtle details and dynamics that the dreamlike quality of the music conveys. Listen to “Feet” on Bandcamp where you can also listen to the Body EP in its entirety. Follow Glas at the links provided.

xenaglas.com

Xena Glas on Twitter

Xena Glas on Instagram

Overnight’s Emo Dream Pop “Whittier” is a Break-Up Song That Dissolves a Cycle of Abuse

Overnight packs a lot of feelings and thoughts into its song “Whittier.” It’s reminiscent of the more introspective end of late 90s emo made by people who were also into slowcore and Elliott Smith. The structure of the song starts things off with an urgency to match the intensity of the conflicted feelings expressed. The lyrics recount the romantic niceties of someone who isn’t being completely up front with the object of their affections, or one of them, the kind of person who uses their empathic capacities and sensitivity to manipulate other people to get what they want as long as the illusion lasts. But halfway through the song the tone shifts to more ethereal tones and guitar work and the lyrics recounts the realization of how it’s not one’s responsibility to make sure someone that treats one shabbily feels good and supported in their low key emotional abuse and that not wanting to hurt anyone’s feelings doesn’t mean you need to be a doormat. What unites the two parts of the song is an overall mood of what one might call melancholic exuberance meaning you allow yourself to get swept up in a will to both feel all the pain of a breakup and all the confusion, disappointment and anger at yourself for allowing yourself to be in a bad situation, that sort of transmuted guilt, and the psychic energy to exit the situation even if it seems like you’re being mean to certain people. Abusers depend on that social pressure among your friends and family to get hooked back in to a codependent interpersonal dynamic. This song is about having enough self love to declare that someone else’s warped psychology doesn’t have to be a part of your life anymore even if part of you is still in the habit of thinking so. Most break-up songs are informed by too much bravado but “Whittier” is a gorgeously crafted example of of raw vulnerability and honesty with all the edges worn off. Listen to “Whittier” on YouTube and connect with Overnight at the links below.

Overnight on Bandcamp

Overnight on Instagram

Overnight on YouTube

Key Seeyen’s Ambient Jazz Hip-Hop Track “You’re Mine You” is a Beautifully Stylistic Time Travel Experience

Kay Seeyen sounds like the songwriter spent a good deal of quality time watching 40s and 50s cinema and listened to a lot of jazz music of that era as well as classic hip-hop samples as channeled through the lens of J. Dilla. At least on the song “You’re Mine You” there is such an eclectic blend of sounds in the beat that it sounds like you’re getting a cut up tour through time in music to create something that could really only have been made in recent years in this cohesive and smooth a way but demonstrates an appreciation for the compositional skills and ear for melody of another era. The vibe is jazz and classic pop but the style is underground hip-hop and its free associating sonic palette. There’s even a tastefully expressive, echoing guitar riff mid-song that sounds like a nod to dub. Because the song doesn’t sound like it owes allegiance to a narrow aesthetic it actually has an almost orchestral ability to stir emotions by touching those places in your brain where the memory of many good but neglected sounds reside. Listen to “You’re Mine You” on Soundcloud and connect with Kay Seeyen at the links provided.

Kay Seeyen on Twitter

Kay Seeyen on Instagram

Carmen Mellino Exudes Swagger and Charisma on the Bi-Lingual, Dark Rock Ballad “Toi Moi Inc.”

Carmen Mellino, photo courtesy the artist

Carmen Mellino’s powerful vocals on “Toi Moi Inc.” contrast well with gritty, bluesy post-punk guitar riffs that start the song off on a borderline cacophonous note. The drop offs from the crashing, distorted guitar line allow for Mellino’s singing to carry the dynamic builds as she uses both English and French lyrics to weave a narrative that sounds like equal parts clandestine love affair and a brash declaration of independence from being defined by arbitrary social contexts. At times the songwriting is reminiscent of PJ Harvey circa Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea with the beefier guitar sound like early Black Rebel Motorcycle Club indulging the sliver of grunge influence in its own music. That appeal of the song is there but unlike many current artists tapping into 90s alternative rock for inspiration, Mellino sounds like an artist from that era who has returned with her confidence and charisma restored. Listen to “Toi Moi Inc.” on Soundcloud and follow Mellino at the links below.

Carmen Mellion on Twitter

Carmen Mellino on Facebook

Carmen Mellino on Instagram

Carmen Mellino on YouTube

Roca.’s Music Video for “VIBRA” Perfectly Embodies Its Shifting and Fluidly Organic Structure and Melodies

Roca. tapped video artist NAOWAO to direct the music video for “VIBRA” and the result is an otherworldly interpretation of the psychedelic and diverse soundscape of the song. An animated landscape with flowing rivers, figures illuminating in time with the minimal percussion, a sunrise comes through the legs of a stylized Shinto torii, a cloaked mystic in reflective, coppery red robes floats appearing to contemplate a dream, puffy luminescent clouds float in the sky. Silvery, fluid shapes course through the air and take on the shapes of dancers and runners and blue vegetation edges the shore with tree leaves similarly blue. The whole video feels like a journey as warm vocals keep us from drifting out into the alien landscape for more than just a visit. The effect is reminiscent of a Björk song with sweeps of tone, strands of abstract melody that intertwine and stretch out with the dynamic of a breeze rushing in and fading out. All whirling around and emphasizing the emotional impact of Kay’s voice. Though the visual flair of the video is somewhat surreal it also seems to feature a landscape of shifting shapes and shape shifters as an analog to the way the composition has an organic, informal quality that keeps your attention even as your mind wanders with the song’s evolving rhythms. Watch the video for “VIBRA” on YouTube and connect with Roca. and NAOWAO at the links provided.

Roca.’s website

Roca. on Instagram

naowao.com

Isserley Exorcises the Dark Corridors of the Wounded Mind on “Nails”

Isserley guides us in to the single “Nails” with lingering, lightly distorted guitar sketches before laying down the caustic heaviness that provides the irresistible moment of the rest of the song. Isserley’s vocals are vulnerable yet powerful imbued with an energy that burns through the dark thoughts the lyrics of “Nails” make so painfully vivid. For anyone that has experienced the deep sense of isolation and enervating psychology of depression, Isserley’s words and delivery couched within the context of epic, doomy drones feels cathartic. Like having to look at and grapple with ideas you don’t want to believe but have internalized over and over even if only on a subconscious level down to how you instinctively interact with the world and your own mind. Less emotionally self-aware people might think such a song is inherently negative or triggers worse moods but paradoxically the honesty of it all affirms the truth of the kinds of things maybe you’ve been feeling or thinking rather than having to shamefully bury it in a dark side of the mind where it festers and becomes an overwhelming monster of your personal psychology. Isserley just set that dark emotional spiral to music that feels like it purges one’s brain of those murky places even if only for a little while and often that can be enough to move onward. Listen to “Nails” on Spotify and connect with Australian heavy music artist Isserley at the links below. Her 2022 album How Do We Know She Is Alive? is now available on Bandcamp for the very reasonable fee of name your price and is not short on other tales of a personal journey through uncomfortable head spaces and psychological horror.

Isserley on Bandcamp

Isserley on Twitter

Isserley on Facebook

Isserley on Instagram

Isserley on YouTube

Talker’s Video for “Don’t Want You To Love Me” is a Retro Therapeutic Shock to the Temptation of Falling Back Into Toxic Love

When the mannequin in talker’s video for “Don’t Want You To Love Me” it seems like an eccentric affectation. But the shiny figure with no emotions is a perfect totemic device for putting someone bad for you and/or with whom you have a bad dynamic behind you even if some of your impulses and automatic emotional reactions draw you to them or in the case of this song back to them and right into the same context, the same kind of emotional turmoil that sidetracked your life. The visual style of the video looks like something out of the 80s with the awkward yet dramatic and colorful montages and that suits the song well as its themes of bypassing emotional self-sabotage is reminiscent of many of the pop songs of that era that treated conflicted feelings with a surprising level of nuance while tapping into the energy of those moments when you can pull yourself out of the psychic quagmire and get a few glimpses of clarity. But talker’s songwriting and vocals are more in tune with more recent artists like Japanese Breakfast and Mitski and their masterful blend of poignant storytelling, exuberance and engrossing melodies. All three have a knack for writing melancholic songs that sweep into a will to defiance against being dragged down. Watch the video for “Don’t Want You To Love Me” on YouTube and connect with talker at the links provided.

Miss Torsion’s Goth Pop Song “Love Parasite” Suggests Giving Up, Giving in and Letting Go of Your Misplaced Inhibitions

Miss Torsion, photo by slayline phototropic

Miss Torsion’s video for “Love Parasite” has a style like something from the 80s with the mix of archival film, live footage of animals and musical performance. But this collage of aesthetics suits the spooky vibe of the song in the beginning and its lightly distorted guitar leads and finely cadenced rhythms. It’s reminiscent of Rose McDowall’s solo records where there is a patina of darkness mixed in with upbeat yet moody pop melodies. The metaphor of love as a parasite that gets into your psyche like a disease and takes over is an apt description of how it can feel out of your control and like something that you can try to fight off but the Miss Torsion song suggests that maybe you can’t and shouldn’t and set aside your ego and “give up, give in, let go.” Miss Torsion aka Mirjam Götschy was the guitarist of her former band Cell Division but her work for Miss Torsion so far seems a touch more playful if her imaginative guitar work remains a feature of her new work. Watch the video for “Love Parasite” on YouTube and connect with Miss Torsion at the links below.

Miss Torsion on Bandcamp

Monikaze’s Live Video of “Laws of Distraction” With St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra is an Declaration of Vitality of Creativity in the Face of Humanity’s Bleak Future

Composer Monikaze aka Monika Zenkeviciute and the St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra (both from Lithuania) look like they’ve filmed their live performance of “Laws of Distraction” from a post-human civilization era factory. The oddly elegant and beautiful industrial location isn’t grimy like you’d expect of an old factory, but it does look like it wasn’t designed for a musical performance or any other kind of creative performance yet it gives this nearly hour long performance an undeniable grit and unconventional visual style that contrasts well with the music that might be described as experimental chamber pop with the aforementioned Orchestra on board to fill out Monikaze’s spacious and ethereal compositions with an expansive sonic palette and a textured physicality that might not be otherwise possible. Equal parts re-interpretation and synthesis of musical ideas and impulses the video concert is over before you really notice it’s been going on for as long as it does. Monikaze brings a great deal of energy and enthusiasm to her vocal performance while St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra match that energy with a collective share of their own. Fans of Björk and Laurie Anderson will appreciate the fusion of musical styles and elements into a greater artistic statement than the component parts as well as the ambitious artistic vision behind this collaborative showcasing of the talents of everyone involved. It’s like seeing signs of life in the most unlikely of locales and that’s something we could all use of a bit of right now. Watch the video on YouTube and connect with Monikaze at the links below.

Monikaze on Facebook

Monkikaze on Instagram

Alighted’s “Fold” is Futuristic, Progressive Chillout Music For Humans and Cybernetic Beings Alike

Alighted is the solo project of composer/producer and creative technologist McLean Macionis who has been involved in the larger creative world of Los Angeles including work in film and television soundtracks. The title track of his late 2021 EP Fold certainly sounds like he has brought to bear a sound design approach to songwriting because the track actually unfolds in measured yet expansive paces. The repeating drones zip past in near slow motions later in the song before the drop out and re-engagement of the rhythm to give the impression of movement. Somehow along the way the song brings to mind what might have happened if the robots in Herbie Hancock’s video for “Rockit” went for a late morning cruise in a futuristic Los Angeles and chilled out for the ride to an ambient techno song. The cover of the EP features a chrome hand gripping the corner of a building like an image out of Heavy Metal magazine so maybe there is something to these odd notions and who’s to say what a cybernetic intelligence might find relaxing. But either way, Macionis has crafted a piece of music that combines elements of IDM, ambient and techno and feels like you’ve taken an emotional journey to a better place where the mind can relax and perhaps function more sharply. Humans and robots can get behind that kind of effect on the consciousness. Listen to “Fold” on Spotify where you can also hear the Plaid remix of the song. And follow Macionis’ music and other creative adventures at the links on his LinkTree.

Alighted and McLean Macionis LinkTree