Song Review – Page 15 – Queen City Sounds and Art

Adrianna Krikl’s Ambient Jazz Noir EP The Shadow Lounge is Imbued With a Spirit of Menace and Urgency

Adrianna Krikl, photo courtesy the artist

Inspired by film noir Adrianna Krikl’s new EP The Shadow Lounge is a trio of tracks that layer textured rhythm, echoing trumpet processed almost into abstract atmospheres and harmonic synth backdrops that give each song a baseline mood of suspense and mystery lurking beneath the surface with a touch of menace. Which is what you want when evoking the kind of noir that David Lynch seemed to execute so well over the course of his filmmaking from Blue Velvet onward. The title track sets that expectation and “A Memory of Tomorrow” would suit well Jim Jarmusch’s own adventures into noir with a song imbued with more forward momentum and electronic strings evoking an exotic setting and sensibility. Violins streak with a tense urgency across a slow roiling wave of a dynamic in the rhythm and you feel like something ominous is quickly approaching. Concluding track “Fading Lights” is more ethereal in its orchestration of dark things afoot. Like the listener is wading through the aftermath of the skulduggery suggested by the earlier tracks. The spectral winds blow through the song and the threads of tone ripple and drift slowly into a hazy infinity. Listen to The Shadow Lounge on Spotify and follow Adrianna Krikl at the links provided.

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Jouska Soothes a Sense of Lovesickness With the Luminously Warm Dream Pop Single “Flower Moon”

Guitars sketch faint tonal lines of melody in the opening parts of Jouska’s dream pop single “Flower Moon.” Jouska’s voice is soft yet evocative in describing a situation of melancholic yearning. Wanting a sign from a loved one that seems uncommunicative after a disruption in the relationship. The warm harmonic keyboard figure that illuminates the song’s backdrop embodies the underlying sadness that informs the song and with the sweeping percussion it all establishes a beautiful atmosphere that soothes the morning and lovesick feeling one can get into in those moments where you feel left wondering what comes next with no real sense if anything will. Listen to “Flower Moon” on YouTube and follow Norwegian dream pop artist Jouska at the links below.

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Clark Stiles’ Introspective Synth Pop Single “Keep On Trying” is a Song About Affection and Perseverance in Pursuing Life Affirming Inspirations

Perhaps with a title like “Keep On Trying” is may be obvious that Clark Stiles’ song has themes of perseverance and commitment. But with the beautifully saturated synth layers and electronic horns over a subtle, shuffling beat there is a gentle momentum that the song sustains. And the lyrics go further than merely pushing ahead but also to challenging oneself to pursue new inspirations and to be open to new things that spark one’s imagination and curiosity. Without getting out there you only have your immediate experiences and stimuli to draw upon. Stiles also incorporates ideas of how people can enrich their commitment to each other through these adventures into new realms of experience and the tenderness with which he delivers lines like “It’s why I get out of bed/To help each other” and when he sings “I’m pushing back/I’m pushing back/For whatever sparks my interest” we get the sense that he is driving away the psychic forces that keep him in penned in to the familiar and complacent. It’s a gentle song about growing and the bonds that sustain us while doing so. Listen to “Keep On Trying” on Spotify and follow Clark Stiles at the links provided.

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Band of Muses’ “Cinnamon” is Infused With Kaleidoscopic Melodies and Transporting Rhythms

Band of Muses, photo courtesy the artists

Band of Muses infuse its psychedelic single “Cinnamon” with a touch of that hazy Laurel Canyon sound from the 70s. The video utilizes kaleidoscopic imagery while its members are show with a crystal ball and otherwise like Southern California esoteric types, New Age vagabond mystics who generate hypnotic melodies and rhythms that keep you swept up in their colorful, ethereal charms. But around the edges the band trades in choice guitar leads that jangle and transport. Fans of the likes of L.A. Witch with find a similar sonic allure here as well fans of Sky Cries Mary’s more cosmic, expansive compositions. Watch the video for “Cinnamon” on YouTube and follow Band of Muses at the links below.

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Blue Bayou’s Unconventional Vocals, No Wave Jazz Melodies and Left Field Rhythms Make “Hide & Seek” an Undeniable Eccentric Bop

Imagine early James and Talking Heads infused with Bartees Strange’s more jazz-inflected moments and you’ll arrive at something resembling the charm and sonic detail of Blue Bayou’s “Hide & Seek.” The unconventional vocals are completely eccentric in their appeal as the band switches dynamics from loud to quiet in a moment before building to heady dance rhythms. It sounds like the kind of music that might have come out at another era but felt decades ahead of its time because the songwriting ideas are out of step with trends and that stylistic contrast exists here too but its sonic touchstones feel like something from another era. It’s a fascinating effect and makes the song into a bit of an ear worm. Listen to “Hide & Seek” on Spotify and follow Blue Bayou on Instagram.

C-Will Shows How Skill, Imagination and Hustle Compliment Each Other in Both the Late Culinary and Rap Game on “Food Truck”

C-Will deftly weaves together the imagery of being a chef/operator of a food truck with being a producer and rapper. With nuanced flow that is both energetic and laid back with a soulful late night jazz moods in the beat with trap percussion and creative cuts and vocal processing to convey a range of moods and the satisfying and heady aspects of the experience of both and how they inform one another and feed the soul in complimentary ways and how both require skills in presentation and assembling the fortifying substance of each as well as sustained hustle for both to be successful. That the song has a late night, relaxed vibe makes it all the more effective in conveying how the life can be chill even as it offers challenges to stay in the game. Listen to “Food Truck” on Spotify and follow C-Will on Instagram.

Izzy Raye’s Triumphant, Anthemic Synth Pop Single “no more” is a Vibrant Evocation of the Disappoint and Anger at the Reality of Human Limitations

The pulsing, distorted synth and shuffling beats of Izzy Ray’s “no more” set an evocative backdrop to the singer and songwriter’s layered vocals. Altogether it serves well the emotional complexity and mood of a song about coming to terms with one’s own perspective and how maybe we all set ourselves up for disappointment and struggle when people are not who we want and expect them to be. But we can all come to the point where we accept people for what and who they are the way we might want for ourselves and come to people with the kind of grace that isn’t cultivated in many cultures, certain in the USA. But that grace though earned through accepting limitations and the heartbreak that comes with it. Yet it is an essential part of growing up or at least dealing with people and life on their and on its own terms and letting go of the illusion of the kind of control their our cognitive framing can give us. The song though in some ways melancholy also contains a spirit of triumph over the limited point of view that doesn’t see the whole or at least as much of the picture of other people and the world in which we all operate and to come to a place of humility at the fact that we can’t fully understand everything and everyone and that it’s often better and more loving to let go of unrealistic certainties. The song honors the disappointment and anger, often justified, when people fail us and when we fail ourselves but also the emotional breakthrough and growth that comes in the wake of that downbeat of life. Listen to “no more” on Spotify and follow Izzy Raye at the links below.

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Nichols+Roark’s Cinematic, Techno Pop Single “CITY LIGHTS” is an Evocation of the Allure of the Night Life in the Cosmopolitan Sprawl

Nichols+Roark, photo courtesy the artists

Nichols+Roark, the London-based DJ/Producer duo, utilize captivating, saturated synth tones and measured yet urgent, techno beats in the dusky synthpop single “CITY LIGHTS.” The effect is one of a sense of melancholic contemplation. When paired with a near-future looking metropolis somewhere perhaps London or some other urban sprawl at night—in the tube, the New York subway, near the Port of London, looking out across the city and its sprawl of lights and lots of foot traffic and darkened side streets. The view wanders in all spaces while you are engulfed by the song and its strong beat like an early 2000s club hit touched by the influence of electroclash and the percussive techno dance pop of Weval. The cinematic feel of the song generates plenty imagination stirring on its own and the accompanying visuals makes one wish this could be in one of the more visually striking horror films of late like Smile 2 or a Danny Boyle vehicle so that people could hear it and wonder who wrote such an entrancing piece of music. Watch the video for “CITY LIGHTS” on YouTube and follow Nichols+Roark at the links below.

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Whitney Walker’s Lively Single “An Owl Hoots Your Name At Night” is Mix of Baroque Pop and Psychedelic Jazz Calypso

Whitney Walker, photo courtesy the artist

Whitney Walker sounds like he’s spent a lot of years picking up musical ideas and inclinations before writing the music for his new EP Where To Go And How To Get There (released June 13, 2025). The sinigle “An Owl Hoots Your Name At Night” has a richly eclectic aesthetic especially considering it’s a mere two minutes thirteen seconds long. Jaunty percussion, swells of carnival-esque keyboards, calypso psychedelia and jazz pop leanings with the band coming in clutch with simple but elaborate arrangements and contributions from Dana Colley of Morphine fame turning in choice bits of clarinet and flute throughout the song. Concise yet cinematic and with a touch of Vaudeville that song has a unique appeal like something tapping into pre-modern popular music and a band like DeVotchKa. The music video is similarly colorful and wonderfully eccentric interspersing animations, collages and live performance in perfect balance. Watch the video for “An Owl Hoots Your Name At Night” on YouTube and follow Whitney Walker at the links below.

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King-Mob’s Harrowing and Hypnotic Industrial Collage Noise Rock Song “Arabesque” is as Haunting as it is Beautifully Unsettling

King-Mob’s use of loops, processed drones, razory and expansive guitar on “Arabesque” is hypnotic in its gritty and menacing yet haunted way. In its harrowing layers one hears resonances with The Body, This Heat and Swans. Pounding, accented, processional percussion interspersed with steady cymbal hits are almost a solid counterpoint to the gloriously scuzzy haze and distended cacophony of the other elements of the music working together and then manifesting as ascending, post-metal riffage but dissolving into ghostly atmospheres. It is refreshingly unlike much else you’ll be hearing this year unless you’re deep into the outsider noise and the weirder end of industrial noise rock and even at that it’s challenging to make any immediate comparisons yet it clearly has a strong creative coherence of its own. Listen to “Arabesque” on Spotify and follow King-Mob at the links provided.

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