Song Review – Page 4 – Queen City Sounds and Art

Dren’s Pastoral Cosmic Art Folk Single “Fading” Features Soulful Vocals From Sophia James

Dren’s new single “Fading” features soulful vocals from Sophia James. The music video of a flower developing and blooming pairs well with a song that has in the background an evolving harmonic drone and bass pulse with the vocals in the foreground almost traced by a repeating guitar figure like scaffolding for James to dance elegantly about with her voice in modes both intimate and soaring. Hearing the emotional character of the song its reminiscent of an unlike collaboration between Tindersticks and Cocteau Twins with Jeff Buckley arranging. It has an enigmatic quality like taking a journey into a mystical internal space with imagery that combines organic structure with mythical symbolism of human beings brushing with diving inspiration and gleaning bits of eternal wisdom from an experience that communicates in methods that don’t have a direct analog to human language but which we can comprehend and express through art and music meanings that approximate knowledge just out of reach standard vocabularies of transmitting information. In that way the song is like a dream that feels like something we’ve experienced but is best experienced as something felt rather than something fully understood with linear logic. If genre tags need be used to convey how this song might appeal sure it’s sort of dream pop folk and art rock in a modern classical mode yet a piece of music that resonates with the listener on its own accessible terms. Watch the video for “Fading” on YouTube and follow Dren McDonald at the links below. The new Dren McDonald album Vox Pterous releases July 31, 2026 via Appearing Records.

drenmcdonald.com

Dren McDonald on Bandcamp

Head Full of Stars Elegantly Express a Sense of Loss and of Being Lost on Elegant Shoegaze Single “Burning Hearts”

Head Full of Stars, photo courtesy the artists

“Burning Hearts” starts out quietly and gently fitting its subject matter of loss and being haunted by the presence and memories of the people who are no longer with us but whose influence on us lingers. The song by Head Full of Stars is flowing with strong melodies that flow and soar and stir the emotions as the song takes off into the far reaches of the psyche while remaining grounded in an emotional immediacy. One might think of the song as psychedelic rock or shoegaze but of the variety more akin to Low and that band’s focus on songcraft as a vehicle for embodying emotion and exploring the essence of what we feel rather than getting a little trippy and rocking out. There is an economy to the songwriting here that honors what it truly feels like to lose people and also feel a little lost yourself in the wake of that loss as you try to make sense of a world without the physical existence of those closest to you. Listen to “Burning Hearts” on YouTube and follow Head Full of Stars which includes former Sky Cries Mary member William Bernhard at the links below.

Head Full of Stars on Instagram

Head Full of Stars on Bandcamp

Bank Myna’s Live Video of “No Ocean of Thoughts” and “The Shadowed Body” is Darkly Cosmic, Heavy Post-Rock Evocation of Spiritual Catharsis

The live video for Bank Myna’s performance of “No Ocean Of Thoughts” and “The Shadowed Body” was filmed at Chapelle des Petits Augustins in Paris, France on February 4, 2026. The setting with the old art pieces along the walls and subtle lighting plaster casts and bas-reliefs line the walls with a replication of Michaelangelo’s Last Judgment, images of French Renaissance monuments and other sculptural images enhances the majestic sound of the music that is a fusion of heavy post-rock and moody post-punk reminiscent of late 80s Dead Can Dance. During the second piece the band strikes upon an urgently menacing section halfway through that juxtaposes dynamic footage of the band with the classical statuary invoking and channeling some kind of ancient energy that predates classical music and reaches something more Gothic, even tribal and the band builds the tension expertly that fans of Swans, Museum of Light, SUMAC and SOM would appreciate. When that build breaks into more ethereal moments, bass thrumming from being struck by drum mallets, the group escalates the sound into an even more intense build that is sustained through a noisy and hypnotic repetition that tumbles into a crushing processional outro and intensely cathartic release. Watch the video of Bank Myna performing live at Beaux-Arts de Paris on YouTube and follow Bank Myna at the links below.

Bank Myna on Facebook

Bank Myna on Instagram

atmos bloom’s Tender Dream Pop Single “Everything” is a Warmly Rendered Soundtrack to Hopeful Reflection

The uplifting, delicate energy of “Everything” accompanied by the music video with layers of cityscapes with the band atmos bloom superimposed over it, or vice versa, feels like a soundtrack to hopeful reflection. The guitar leads seem to dance over a buoyant rhythm even in the more melancholic and meditative moments. Tilda Gratton’s vocals seem to switch with complete facility between vulnerable and warm and yearning and urgent all with a delicacy of feeling that is accented and anchored by a minimal but comfortingly ever present bass line locked in with percussion that expertly guides the moods of the song with its pacing. The melodic shift in the last third of the song with a little more grit in an otherwise fairly ethereal song for just a few moments truly sets this song apart from a standard modern dream pop song. Watch the video for “Everything” on YouTube and follow London’s atmos bloom at the links provided.

atmos bloom on Facebook

atmos bloom on Instagram

atmos bloom on Bandcamp

AUTORHYTHM’s Retrofuturist Krautrock Pop Single “Symmetry” is Imbued With an Intense Sense of Hope

AUTORHYTHM in bed making music. New album Self Help Manual out 2026.

Joakim Forsgren as AUTORHYTHM appears to have tapped simultaneously into the explorative end of 1970s electronic Krautrock and late 70s power-pop on “Symmetry.” Tones zip by, resonate, fade out, zip in and flare and trace a sonic landscape anchored by a minimal electronic percussion rhythm that resonates in the brain with both “Autobahn” and “My Sharona” and that’s a combination that shouldn’t work but it does. It feels playful and like the soundtrack to a Rudy Rucker novel in that it sounds both retro and futuristic like its channeling the energy of a utopian future as imagined in the 1970s that actually manifested in the present rather than the dystopian, oligarch dominated global order we’re experiencing now. In that fashion it’s an intensely hopeful work. Listen to “Symmetry” on Spotify and follow AUTORHYTHM at the links provided. The project’s sophomore album Self Help Manual released May 29, 2026.

AUTORHYTHM on Instagram

AUTORHYTHM on Bandcamp

AUTORHYTHM on YouTube

applied communications Deftly Weaves Sly Cultural References Into Surreal Indie Pop Single “cowboy bebop & eric’s trip” to Cathartic Effect

applied communications, photo courtesy the artist

Prepare for some colorful and inspired weirdness before watching the video for applied communications’ single “cowboy bebop & eric’s trip.” It looks like something that was imagined in a part of the 80s before the artist was born but with image references that could only come from the 90s to now with the proper video tools to produce something that intentionally looks retro in a way that hasn’t been done a million times since the late 2000s. The music too is like something that absorbed Why? and late 2000s indie pop including post-punk weirdos The Mathematicians through the lens of late 90s Modest Mouse. But none of those comparisons does justice to the appeal of the song that seems to reference going to ambient shows which is not something many other artists seem to do and for anyone that does go to those kinds of performances, much less plays them, this feels like a real nod to that rarified reality. He also mentions “geologist’s bag” – a reference to the member of Animal Collective who does sound manipulation and provides many of the samples for the band? Nevermind the title name checking a beloved animated series and both an obscure, underground alternative rock band (whose membership included later indie rock darling Julie Doiron) and the Sonic Youth song after which it was named. Even if not, the potential triple entendre fits the vibe of the song which feels like someone coming out of a place of psychological and emotional stasis and climbing the ladder through familiar cultural reference points to a place of being ready to embrace new experiences which doesn’t happen nearly often enough in music much less with something so individual in sound and visual presentation as this. Watch the video for “cowboy bebop * eric’s trip” on YouTube and follow applied communications at the links below.

applied communications on Instagram

Tugboat Captain’s Moody Dream Pop Single “Us & The Moon” is Brimming With a Palpable Sense of Affection and Vulnerability

Tugboat Captain, photo courtesy the artists

“Us & The Moon” by Tugboat Captain is in fact not a liminal zones song, at least not overtly, despite its fantastic music video including lyrics over what looks like video taped or 90s digital video footage of wandering around south London at night. And yet the visuals fit a song about missing someone with whom one may have recently split or there is a needed separation for the best psychological space of both people involved. But the song and its luminous keyboard line and minimal percussion like a pop song incorporating IDM sounds and pacing and putting forth a palpable vulnerability as the vocals express tender sentiments and a fear of loss and wondering if the other person is thinking and feeling similar things in the same setting because of the emotional connection that was or still is there. The low key romantic sensibility and gentle energy of the song really draws you in and keeps you with the song to the end and hoping things work out because it’s obvious there’s plenty of affection there. Watch the video for “Us & The Moon” on YouTube and follow Tugboat Captain at the links provided.

Tugboat Captain on Facebook

Tugboat Captain on Instagram

Tugboat Captain on Bandcamp

Layer Cake’s Jangle Pop Single “numb” Lends Heartbreak and Heartache a Cathartic Sense of Hope

Brisbane, Australia’s Layer Cake channel a bit of 1980s UK and New Zealand indie pop on “numb.” The bright guitar melody with winsome lead vocals that deliver a tale of heartbreak and heartache and how one can feel both too much and, yes, numb when the moment hits you and it feels amplified in your brain but your reaction becomes unpredictable and complicated when you’ve invested so much of your heart in someone and suddenly, or seemingly abruptly, it’s over whether one knew that was coming and it’s difficult to just let go. Fans of C86, Flying Nun, Sarah Records and Slumberland bands would do well to give Layer Cake try. Listen to “numb” on Spotify and follow Layer Cake at the links below.

Layer Cake Canva

Layer Cake on Facebook

Reindeer Flotilla’s Synth Pop Single “Chef’s Knife” is a Vibrant Song About Navigating Challenging Situations

Reindeer Flotilla, photo courtesy the artists

With its new EP Studio City (out May 12, 2026), Reindeer Flotilla seem to have fused an inspirations from 80s synth pop and Animal Collective. This is especially effective on lead single “Chef’s Knife” where the band seems to have written a song about how one can take the poor treatment of others one has chosen to endure or had imposed upon you by a situation that may have been necessary and use that to focus one’s capacity to process and handle the static that comes your way. The way the band crafts pacing with tone and layers of rhythmic and percussive sounds and pairs it with a melancholic melody really draws you in and keeps you in the song and its evolving moods and shifts in tone through to the end. It hits the ears like something from another era but the production is fully modern in a more sound design mode with expert placing of and processing of electronic and analog sources. Listen to “Chef’s Knife” on Spotify and follow Los Angeles-based group Reindeer Flotilla at the links below.

reindeerflotillaband.com

Reindeer Flotilla on Facebook

Reindeer Flotilla on Instagram

The Bodies Obtained Take Us on a Headlong Tour Through Liminal Moods on Zero Chill IDM Post-Punk Single “Utmost”

Detroit’s The Bodies Obtained have long blurred any lines between post-punk and more experimental electronic music and its new album Bouncing Off The Curb (released May 15, 2026) offers some reprieve from the wave of toxic and destructive mundanity that plagues the world right now. The single “Utmost” comes in with a pulsing beat and maximalist layers of flowing sound and texture. It’s like mid-90s Aphex Twin processed through a modern version of techno and Big Beat. But the tonal shimmers that thread through the beat and the slightly echoing vocals lend it a sound like the more recent music from Sextile but more sinister. It’s zero chill IDM and more rewarding a listening experience because of it. The pace is urgent and insistent until the last third of the song where that energy clears up a little but the grit and the hauntedness remains until the rapid sputter out in the end like we’ve been on some kind of tour of liminal spaces and let out after some therapeutic disorientation. Listen to “Utmost” on Spotify.