Kempt is MC Wolfe and former Asobi Seksu guitarist James Hanna. The duo started Kempt in the winter of 2018 in Brooklyn and brought to the band a great deal of polished musicality as evidenced by the single “Commune.” What is striking about the track for anyone more than familiar with dream pop and electronic post-punk is that Kempt draws upon nostalgia for 80s synth pop without sounding like a later era chillwave band too late to that movement’s sell by date. It has an upbeat, even effervescent quality that is enhanced greatly from strong vocals from both Wolfe and Hanna. That the lyrics are about to evoke a sense of empathy and affection for a suffering loved one without maudlin sentimentality is an achievement in itself. But listen for yourself below and take in the entire five-song EP.
Afternoon Author is a band from Phoenix, Arizona that is currently in a cycle of releasing a song every six weeks until the release of its album later in 2019. “Gila Bend” is the group’s third single and what struck me about the song was how it captured a deep sense of introspection by employing multiple layers of sounds, a variety of textures and tones that not every band would think to place in a chill track. In some ways its reminiscent of 90s indie pop weirdos like Olivia Tremor Control, at times of a non-rock Shriekback for the sheer otherworldly quality in the realm of pop. The use of organic samples and ending on a passage of what sounds like what represents the track breaking down or the tape warping down into slow motion. The song’s hypnotic intro and whispery vocals really bring you into this dream journey of a song. Get lost in the song below.
Keep up with Afternoon Author and its progress toward album completion at any of the following links:
With her latest single “Issues,” Denver-based singer and vocalist YaSi takes a deep dive into emotional complexity and loss. Shades of nuance and a surprising level of honesty about personal shortcomings imbue the soulful vocals with a depth of meaning that flows well with the low end swells, textured percussion and evolving dynamics that hit downbeats with a satisfying finality without interrupting a sense of fluid momentum. By talking about the death of friends and other people close to her and how she never learned how to process certain kinds of feelings or to trust others and how she fears that her father doesn’t think she loves him, and turmoil in intimate relationships, YaSi identifies the issues and gives them a form that maybe felt like confusion before buried by the inertia of the demands of every day life. Whether these words reflect a strict, biographical truth, YaSi expertly casts forth these normal, maybe even common, issues that many people share that she describe as a “monster” in the song, into a shape we can look at and start to unravel and come to terms with the roots of our issues. It’s a promisingly deep cut from her forthcoming new EP titled Unavailable, a title that hints at much given the subject matter of “Issues.”
YaSi premiered the track on April 23 and has since headlined Fem Fest in Denver on May 18 and a video for the song at Alamo Drafthouse on May 19. Though there is no date announced yet for the release of Unavailable, you can catch YaSi at the Fasor Records Pop Up event on May 25 at Moxy Hotel, opening for Ghostbusters at Film on the Rocks on June 3, with Raja Kumari at Knitting Factory Brooklyn on June 5 and at The UMS in July. Listen to the track below.
Queen City Sounds and Art 
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