Song Review – Page 31 – Queen City Sounds and Art

Joona Vainionkulma’s Downtempo Ambient Song “Moon Garden” is a Cinematic Swim Through Conflicted Feelings to a Satisfying Resolution

The clarity of tone that Joona Vainionkulma employs in the beginning of “Moon Garden” makes the most of a bubbling minimalist synth tone by suggesting something more exciting over the horizon. When the percussion kicks in and the strains of piano the composition takes on a cinematic aspect like something from a more hopeful Alex Garland film. It transitions from minimal synth to a lush orchestral sound that recalls the soundtrack work of both Giorgio Moroder and John Murphy for the pure evocative impact of the way the music swells and switches to a stark spaciousness on a dime without it seeming sudden. Like swimming in fast moving waters into a those more tranquil for precious moments then back into the stream. The song is at once melancholic and hopeful and leaves you with a sense of resolution. Listen to “Moon Garden” on YouTube and follow Joona Vainionkulma on Spotify.

“Carry On” Finds UK Dream Pop Duo CATBEAR in a More Darkwave Mode Reflecting on the Need to Sustain Ourselves Through Challenging Times

“Carry On” finds UK-based dream pop band CATBEAR in a more darkwave mode. The brooding bass line and icy synth establish a more somber mood and the vocals this time seem even more introspective. The lyrics seem to catalog all the things we’ve done to struggle through times and situations in life and in the world with no seeming end to a need to restart, retool, re-strategize, re-imagine ourselves, our situations and our ability to keep going on. Thus the title of the song. Sometimes it feels like you can only tell yourself that sort of thing to keep from falling completely into despair when challenges and setbacks just keep falling into your path and our collective journey as a species. But the glimmer of melody that flashes into the song hints at moments when something a little more than the usual breaks through what could be a gloomy present and the strong rhythms of the song like a fortifying internal momentum to hang onto. Listen to “Carry On” on Spotify and follow CATBEAR at the links below.

Nappy Nina’s Cosmic Downtempop Hip-Hop Single “Groundhog Day” is a an Urgent Yet Chill Song About Not Getting Lost in Everyday Static

The restless and smooth percussion on “Groundhog Day” alongside the incandescent keyboard tones with Nappy Nina’s steady flow of lyrics creates a uniquely engaging dynamic. It sounds both soothing and chill but intense and energetic. It’s a dreamlike stream-of-conscious arrangement that is matched by the music video wherein we see the rapper working at her music playing piano with images of dragons and an apartment, distant darkened mountains like fantasy and reality mixing together befitting the lyrics. Later we see Nappy Nina flying through the air in a nimbus of fire and in a convertible driving down a cosmic freeway after appearing in a blaze of light like something out of Repo Man and all the while she seems to be taking it all in stride hinting that even though life can seem like we’re repeating experiences in our lives like the film Groundhog Day we can maintain our inherent sense of self and because of that through it and maybe, just maybe, take some moments to do what we really want to do and not get lost in the hustle and rush of everyday static. Watch the video for “Groundhog Day” on YouTube and follow Nappy Nina at the links below. Her new album Nothing Is My Favorite Thing dropped October 23, 2024.

Nappy Nina on Instagram

Reindeer Flotilla’s “Today” Lends a Lushly Cinematic Quality to Its Retro Art Pop Flavor

Reindeer Flotilla’s new album Radio Silence LP will be out in early 2025 but for now you can see the video for “Today” and it’s vintage nature documentary visuals and lush guitar and synth interplay. Musically it’s reminiscent of mid-to-late 80s Talk Talk before that band went fully into pioneering post-rock. The processed guitar sound has that flare and edge favored inf that era and the vocals landing somewhere between soulful New Wave and a jazz fusion sensibility. The song has a cinematic quality that recalls the aesthetics of a previous decade when art rock bands were on mainstream radio and Michael Mann and Jonathan Demme films featured cutting edge left field rock. And yet there’s an immediacy to the energy of the songwriting and production that grounds it in the present befitting the title. Watch the video for “Today” on YouTube and follow Reindeer Flotilla at the links below.

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Reindeer Flotilla on Facebook

Reindeer Flotilla on Instagram

Natalie Clark’s Chamber Pop Single “Nothing Left to Lose” is a Reminder to Not Let Yourself be Limited by Your Life’s Past Narratives

Natalie Clark, photo courtesy the artist

Natalie Clark begins her song “Nothing Left To Lose” singing about having found an old notebook filled with ideas, plans, dreams, aspirations as well as memories of never having until now really followed through with those impulses. But the rest of the song builds on finally having set aside the personal blocks and hesitations in holding herself back from doing what feels important and not setting up artificial barriers like thinking you’re going to lose some part of your life or yourself or the “right” way to do things or the proper things to say. It’s a common issue most people have when you’re conditioned and encouraged to do what other people think you should do or what ascribed roles you should pursue according to culture and what is immediately and obviously available for you as a life path. Clark breaks free of these preconditions in the song and makes it seem like such an easy and natural path for anyone and one that feels better than simply going with the flow of a way of being and living that doesn’t suit you. Clark’s expressive phrases and breathy vocals are centered in the song but a spare bit of guitar work and strings lend the whole song an uplifting orchestral quality that makes its message hit as immediately accessible. Listen to “Nothing Left to Lose” on Spotify and follow Natalie Clark at the links below.

natalieclarkmusic.com

Natalie Clark on Facebook

Natalie Clark on TikTok

Natalie Clark on Instagram

Natalie Clark on YouTube

BATTS’ “Vessel of Love” is a Warmly Melodious Trip to a Collective Higher Place in the Heart

BATTS released her third and latest album Just My Luck on October 18, 2024 and the single “Vessel of Love” showcases the singer-songwriter’s warmly melodious vocals and ability to write a song that feels both intimate and epic. BATTS’ soaring vocals and expansive song dynamics embody the part of the song with the chorus that is the title and its suggesting of using the power of love to lift everyone to a higher place if we are able to choose that path rather than those more selfish. The song feels like its going places and inviting everyone hearing to go on that trip and to “Hold space for me” because if people can do that for each other there will be room for everyone in a kinder and gentler headspace for the human community. That said, the song feels like a personal entreaty and not one so abstract and that’s why the song resonates as strongly as it does. Listen to the gorgeously spacious “Vessel of Love” on Spotify and follow BATTS at the links provided.

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BATTS on Instagram

Stephen Becker Coaxes Us Out of Our Comfort Zone on the Beat-less, Ambient Pop Single “Range”

Stephen Becker, photo courtesy the artist

Stephen Becker employs a minimal, melancholic keyboard figure to introduce “Range” fitting the impressionistic lyrics seemingly built out of the mundane details of life that separately seem insignificant but together develop a vivid emotional portrait especially when his vocals join together with those of Alena Spanger and they seem to be reassuring presences for each other. Ghostly tones and textural tones give the otherwise fairly abstract song a tactile quality and one that’s gentle yet slightly unsettled. The lyrics toward the end of the song, “I’m not lost, I’m just outside my range/I’m not lost, I’m just a little spaced,” point to the overall mood of the song in its embodying an uncomfortable acceptance of unfamiliar experiences and settings and a slight feeling of being unmoored emphasized by the realization that the song has no standard percussion yet the rhythms have their own organic sense of order even if it’s unconventional in the realm of pop music. Listen to “Range” on Spotify and follow Stephen Becker at the links below. Becker’s new album, the existential and sonically daring Middle Child Syndrome released on October 25, 2024.

Stephen Becker on X

Stephen Becker on Facebook

Stephen Becker on Instagram

Stephen Becker on Bandcamp

Mystic Toad’s Bittersweet “Hyperreal” is a Lush Synthpop Song About Letting Go

The layered melodies in foreground and background throughout Mystic Toad’s synthpop single “Hyperreal” create a soothing dynamic as each is deeply rhythmic but gentle. In the music video the singer strolls about an incoming tide after sunset but looking and sounding like his is awash in a spirit of acceptance and letting any of the anxieties of life go out with the waves. There is a bitter sweet aspect of the song like that acceptance includes letting go of attachments and assumptions about the way things are and how they should be as building blocks of one’s identity because they’re getting in the way of living. Toward the end of the song the subtle bass line seems to become more accented and reveals itself to be the guiding force of the song’s drifty flow like it’s the lifeline that makes it possible to keep focused on the essentials without being tied to no longer useful notions of what those might be. Watch the video for “Hyperreal” on YouTube and follow Mystic Toad at the links below. The new Mystic Toad album World of Destruction dropped August 15, 2024.

Mystic Toad on Instagram

Mystic Toad on TikTok

Melissa Weikart’s “Easy” is a Delicately Crafted, Melancholic Song About Affection

Melissa Weikart, photo courtesy the artist

Melissa Weikart’s expressive vocals ride the subtle wave of shifting piano work between major and minor chords throughout “Easy,” the title track to her latest EP. In the video we see the singer-songwriter in black and white alternating between white line drawings on black in moments and household items that anchor one’s memories. Weikart seems to be singing about how we make space for others and do little things for those we love or wish loved us so that we are not difficult to have in their lives. But in Weikart’s resonant vocals we hear melancholic overtones that leave the unspoken impression that such gestures of quiet affection are not always extended to us when we need them. Without spelling anything out in granular emotional detail Weikart nevertheless articulates a nuanced personal headspace that isn’t often the subject of pop songs. Watch the video for “Easy” on YouTube and follow the French-American artist at the links provided.

Melissa Weikart on Facebook

Melissa Weikart on Instagram

Elori Saxl’s Ambient Track “Grows Along the River Fast” is a Mind-Cleansing Mini-Vacation From the Flood of Superficial Data of Modern Everyday Life

Like the song the video for Elori Saxl’s “Grows Along the River Fast” builds in tonal clarity with an impressionistic palette. Arpeggiated sequences in layered cycles establish a textural pattern that immerses the listener in a nearly hypnotic flow of sounds like rapidly falling yet gentle raindrops as a harmonic halo hangs in the background. The brisk pace of the song contrasts with its contemplative energy in a way that reinforces the tranquil aspect of the song akin to waking up early on a cross country train trip well rested and not having one’s brain clouded by the “content” to which we’re subjected upon the usual daily contact with human civilization. It is a mind-cleansing listen that is a welcome respite from the inundation of superficial data of modern life. Watch the video for “Grows Along the River Fast” on YouTube and follow Elori Saxl at the links below. The song is from Saxl’s score for the TV series Earth Focus due out on digital download and vinyl on November 15, 2024.

Elori Saxl on Twitter

Elori Saxl on Instagram