New Music – Page 3 – Queen City Sounds and Art

NESYA’s “PUT THE FRIES IN THE BAG” Should be the R&B Darkwave Electronic Dance Club Hit of the Summer

NESYA’s “PUT THE FRIES IN THE BAG” dissolves any lines between pop R&B, darkwave, post-punk and electronic dance music. The video shows the artist looking like a subversive figure broadcasting with equipment that intentionally distorts and partly vertically pixellates her image. It’s the perfect aesthetic for a song that turns attempts at oppression and narrow othering on their head while point out truths about how attempting to erase the inconvenient doesn’t eliminate them or really push them into the background except as a presence that erodes the illusion of power. Musically at times it’s reminiscent of Boy Harsher, Alice Glass and the newer era of Sextile. But NESYA’s vocals are uniquely her own, soulful and even a little spooky in a way that boosts the emotional resonance of the music. It’s a song that should appear on the playlist of every Goth night this summer and beyond. Watch the video for “PUT THE FRIES IN THE BAG” on YouTube and follow NESYA at the links below.

NESYA on TikTok

NESYA on Instagram

NESYA on Apple Music

Fan Girl’s Noisy Slowcore Single “Worth It?” is a Song About Emotional Disconnect and Quiet Devatation

Fan Girl released the 8HRS EP (out April 24, 2026) marking its more extended offering since reconvening several years back in the wake of the tragic 2018 death of founding member Jack Wood. The lead single “Worth It?” begins somber with quiet but emotional vocals, a simple piano figure and harmonic drones in the background like distant city lights to accompany the existential sentiments expressed in the song. The song sounds like someone going over a moment of disconnect with a loved one where it feels like it might be through or is in serious danger and our narrator is not ready to just let go and looking for some kind of confirmation. Musically the song begins in a melancholic, slowcore mode but ramps up to a noisier piece in the final quarter to reflect some of the anguish that lead up to the soul weary part in the beginning but perhaps most interesting the last ten seconds or so of the song we hear a sound like static sputtering out from a radio station that is going off broadcasting status for good. It speaks volumes in a way that makes the rest of the song sound hopeful, a quiet bit of devastation that not many bands would attempt. Listen to “Worth It?” on Spotify and follow the Australian band Fan Girl at the links below.

Fan Girl on Facebook

Fan Girl on Instagram

Jeki’s Sultry Neo Soul Single “Hold On” Coaxes Us to Be Kind To Ourselves and Live Rather Than Strive

Jeki’s lush and sultry single “Hold On” taps into the sonic realms of neo-soul with a touch of downtempo. Her vocals are vibrant and establish a leisurely pace as she sings with affectionate compassion for a loved one who is struggling with how treacherous life can seem when everything feels frustrating and there is no clear path to doing what you want with your life and not enough experiences confirming which path is best. But Jeki’s lyrics gently point out that sometimes it just takes time and we can’t always know what is for us and where we fit in with the world right away and sometimes it just takes patience and not trying to force what we think we know. The bass line is understated in a jazz style and the keyboard melodies swirl and drift off and echo ever so slightly while Jeki’s voice anchors the song in a direct human experience with a warm confidence that really does hit like everything is going to be okay if we don’t succumb to the accelerated pace of living forced on us by our society and often our culture. Jeki seems to suggest that living is more important than striving. Listen to “Hold On” on Spotify and follow Jeki at the links provided.

Queen City Sounds Podcast S5E48: White Satan

White Satan is set to release his debut album with Farm Toad, wolf, on May 30, 2026 with the performance at The Black Monarch in Victor Colorado with master Theremin player Victoria Lundy as a guest. Whether or not White Satan is a lampoon of a sinister Gothic Americana figure and/or pure performance art with great craft and execution behind it, he is nevertheless a “Denver Country Doom Rebel” and for the new album he and collaborators Gregory Hill, Maureen Hearty (both of Farm Toad) and Kim 9 chose to re-imagine country and pop classics of yesteryear into subversive and often unsettling forms. The darkly pastoral renditions include vocals that are not merely spoken word but a kind of performance art that uses the voice as a means of projecting a different mood and perhaps emotional intention with the source material. With covers of “Some Velvet Morning” (Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra), “She Thinks I Still Care” (George Jones), “Wichita Lineman” (Glen Campbell), “Hello I’m a Jukebox” (George Kent) “Hello It’s Me” (Todd Rundgren) it’s also a bit of an homage to a tradition in pop music of an interpretation and putting one’s unique stamp on the song and making it one’s own. White Satan has in the works a heavier album on he way but for now you can witness the brilliant weirdness for yourself live and perhaps pick up a CD of the album.

Listen to our interview with White Satan on Bandcamp and follow his exploits at the links below.

White Satan with special guest Victoria Lundy at The Black Monarch, May 30, 2026, 8PM $10. <— POSTPONED

White Satan on hypnoticturtle.com

Hypnotic Turtle on Facebook

Hypnotic Turtle on Instagram

Hypnotic Turtle on Twitter

White Satan on Facebook

White Satan on Instagram

Queen City Sounds Podcast S5E47: George Usher

George Usher is an acclaimed and veteran singer/songwriter based in New York who finally realized an ambitious creative vision with his latest record Stevensonville. Some 30 years in development the record is a 12 part song cycle with a special illustration for each song (created by Laurie Webber). The 12” LP is limited to 200 copies via Strothard Bulldog Productions and released March 20, 2026 and it includes a 28-page booklet with the lyrics and the illustrations in a gorgeous presentation of a high concept record. The album tells stories of inhabitants of the titular town after the fashion of Edgar Lee Master’s Spoon River Anthology of Our Town by Thornton Wilder. The song is in a power pop mode but with a sophistication of songcraft that brings with it great nuance of mood and atmosphere even when it comes off as more straight ahead pop and rock. The album is an ambitious work from the music to the presentation the likes of which we rarely see now or ever and the finished product is a work of art in itself that invites delving deep into the album as a complete work.

Listen to our interview with George Usher on Bandcamp and follow him at the links below.

George Usher on Facebook

The Dead Century Offers a Refreshing Take on the Breakup Song on Impassioned Power Pop Single “Hey Chicago”

The Dead Century, photo courtesy the artists

The Dead Century on “Hey Chicago” sound like a classic power pop band in the 80s vein. Fortunately that also means crisp guitar sound, great clarity of tone, sonically and emotionally. The song uses the conceit of referring to someone by the city they’re from rather than have to denigrate a specific name or even assign gender. It’s a different take on the breakup song in which our narrator seems to have come to the conclusion that it’s over but doesn’t want to make an assumption that things are finished even if in it’s not officially so. The seemingly endless moments when everything threatened to collapse but didn’t as embodied so well by the lines “And for a minute we can both pretend/We’ve been counting down the seconds to a second chance/To sift through the requisite waiting/For something more stable.” Sometimes something so combustible can seem exciting but in the end can be so exhausting. But our narrator seems to want the decision to draw the relationship to a conclusion to be a mutual thing. The song has great momentum and an sweeping melody until the last minute six when things go quiet for tranquil moments of contemplation before ramping back up and back down to a quick outro of ghostly feedback. The songcraft is impressive and the sentiments don’t demonize anyone which can be rare in this subgenre of pop music. Listen to “Hey Chicago” on Spotify and follow Minneapolis, Minnesota’s The Dead Century at the links provided.

thedeadcentury.com

The Dead Century on Facebook

The Dead Century on Instagram

“After the Masquerade (Refashioned)” Casts Shaela Miller’s Americana Synth Pop Original Into a Vibrant Dark Wave Mode

The remix of Shaela Miller’s “After the Masquerade (Refashioned)” (the title track of her 2024 album) re-imagines the more synth pop song in a darker, almost industrial mode. The beats hit heavier, the vocals echo into more open spaces. Swirls of drone spiral out in slow motion giving a touch of menace to the song but preserved is how Miller’s melodic vocals shine through the cinematic layers of sound. The music video is like a dark cabaret in a cyberpunk future with warm and cool colored layered to dramatic effect book-ended with a clear image of Miller cleaning up the aftermath of a celebration like the messes and only half regrets of one’s life while still being able to look back with a certain romantic fondness for a time despite its mix of memories. If the original was a step toward dark wave from the Americana of her earlier work, this remix even more so. Watch the video for “After the Masquerade” on YouTube and follow Shaela Miller at the links provided. The song is from Refashioned Selex, a five-song remix EP out May 14, 2026 with tracks originally released on the 2024 album After the Masquerade.

shaelamiller.com

Shaela Miller on Facebook

Shaela Miller on Instagram

“Behold!” by Radium88 is Like the Avant-Garde Synthpop Soundtrack to a Retro-Futurist Dystopian Novel

“Behold!” the opening track of Radium88’s new album Beauty is Lies (released April 4, 2026) feels like a trip back to an alternative dimension where turn of the 80s Hawkwind, early Eurhythmics and Legendary Pink Dots are the soundtrack to children’s shows and public television documentaries. The song brings together analog percussion sounds, bell tones, measured drum machine rhythms and dream like synth drone melodies in a manner that is transporting and soothing to the mind. The vocals are like a spoken piece from book of poetry crafted for a lost classic of retro-futurist science fiction. The song indeed feels like the intro to music for such a work that would bear comparison to the output of Alan Moore and Gene Wolfe. In general the song hits like finding a time capsule with a message for the future during a time of oppression and widespread, imposed austerity. The rest of the album does not disappoint in the richness of tone and a sustained sense of wonder. Listen to “Behold!” on YouTube and follow Nottingham, UK’s Radium88 at the links below.

Radium88 on Twitter

Radium88 on Facebook

Radium88 on Instagram

Radium88 on Bandcamp

Unwed Sailor’s Instrumental Post-Rock Single “Don’t Let Go” is a Buoyant Celebration of Personal Connection

Unwed Sailor, photo by Alejandro Martinez

In the music video for Unwed Sailor’s “Don’t Let Go” we see images of hands being drawn and hands in action through what appears to be the filter of an old VHS tape with the visual glitches like the video equivalent of developing old film or a series of Polaroids that have had some time to age into the images looking like an artifact from another era. The song itself has a joyous and upbeat mood with an expansive melody that feels like a spirit of anticipation and hopefulness. Sometimes the band’s music can seem introspective and this is not the opposite so much in that what reflection one can hear in this song is projected forward to what lies ahead and the celebration of the personal connection inherent to the song title. Watch the video for “Don’t Let Go” on YouTube and follow Unwed Sailor at the links provided below. The new Unwed Sailor album Heavy Age released on May 3, 2026.

Unwed Sailor on Twitter

Unwed Sailor on Facebook

Unwed Sailor on Instagram

Unwed Sailor on Bandcamp

Forever Factory’s Darkly Humorous and Surreal Post-Punk Single “Never Boring” Weighs the Options of Social Activities and Self-Isolating

Forever Factory, photo courtesy the artist

Forever Factory sounds like a long lost, experimental post-punk band from Scotland on the “Never Boring” single. It has a downcast and surreal energy that nevertheless draws you in. Its hypnotic beat is akin to something out of mid-80s The Fall and its gloomy guitar melody and spoken, almost whispered vocals have the intensity of a repeated mantra. The intro to the song going into the song proper brings to mind a bizarre mix of The Residents, Cabaret Voltaire and a minimalistic, spooky Viagra Boys. The lyrics sound like the words of a self-isolating person of misanthropic tendencies contemplating coming out of the comfortable confines of his own sanctum sanctorum because that’s what you’re supposed to do on a Saturday night even if you don’t really want to be in artificial social situations with the deep potential of dull interactions. Why bother when you can stay home where it’s, apparently, never boring. The song’s menace suggests a self-spiraling habit of isolating oneself and finding justifications for how not having at least some stimulation and human contact is not boring, “not if you have something to do it with.” The track is a rare modern post-punk song that doesn’t rely on trendy sounds and dares to go off the deep end into uncommon subject matter with honesty and a touch of dark humor. Listen to “Never Boring” on Spotify and follow Forever Factory at the links provided. Forever Factory’s debut EP Violence Is Everywhere But Not Here released March 27, 2026.

Forever Factory on Instagram