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Buick Audra’s “Afraid of Flying” is an Emotionally Complex Song of Self-Acceptance and an Embrace of Life’s Ambiguities

“Afraid of Flying” is the kind of reflective song that could feel more melancholy or resigned. And there is a note of resignation in Buick Audra’s lyrics but her tone is more about self-acceptance and owning up to her development and shortcomings as a human who is struggling with her own insecurities and flaws to live with dignity and integrity and trying to learn about how she relates to herself and other people and not get lost in someone else while still somewhat lost in oneself from time to time. The expressiveness of Audra’s vocals is perhaps the most impressive aspect of the song and paired with imaginative rhythm guitar that lends the track a free flowing warmth its pretty irresistible as a pop song with some emotional complexity and depth to it that stays with you not as a weight but as an uplifting energy that comes of hearing someone express ideas and feelings that don’t fit into the positive or negative paradigm of how we’re supposed to feel about life and relationships. In the music video Audra changes outfits and in a way that makes sense for the song and its message sheds outmoded ways of being and puts on those that better suit an evolved mindset that is more sustainable in life lived as a real human being. Watch the video for “Afraid Of Flying” (maybe, maybe not a nod to Erica Jong’s 1973 novel Fear of Flying) on YouTube, connect with Buick Audra (also of Friendship Commanders) at the links below and look out for her new album Conversations with My Other Voice out September 23, 2022 with a memoir to follow.

Buick Audra at Facebook

Buick Audra on Twitter

Buick Audra on Instagram

The North Country Amplify an Instinct Toward Insightful Self-Examination on Orchestral Indiepop Track “Inside Outside”

The North Country, photo courtesy the artists

A sense of what might be called restrained calm pervades The North Country’s “Inside Outside.” Acoustic instruments weave through contemplative and soaring vocals. A processional pace in the rhythms magnifies the self-examination in the song’s lyrics as often we need to take the time and the attention to recognize the granular details of our lives in order to attain consciousness of the assumptions and privileges under which we are operating so that actual person growth can begin rather than simply living life as though our reality is “normal.” The opening lyrics “I’m awash in a sea of my own dull comfort/While outside the fire burns/It turns four hundred thousand throats to choking ashes/I’m inside baking bread.” So yes, the album from which the song hails, Born at the Right Time (Exquisite Corpse) out July 15, 2022, was written during the deep time of quarantine with band members contributing to the composition of all the songs but out of this collective work there was an acute awareness of the limitations and challenges of people outside the band’s immediate social circle. And this level of self-awareness permeates the album with a self-critical sensibility minus self-flagellation that is always refreshing to see and hear. The orchestral arrangements of “Inside Outside” adds to intimate feel of the song by amplifying the experiental element of the songwriting and how these feelings impact you rather than an externalization and abstraction of those emotions. Listen to “Inside Outside” on YouTube and follow The North Country at the links below. The limited edition vinyl of the stylistically eclectic and beautifully crafted Born at the Right Time (Exquisite Corpse) releases around September 14, 2022.

The North Country on Facebook

The North Country on Instagram

Panda Riot Breaks the Clichés of the Adult Breakup Song With the Expansive Melancholy and Grit of “Ultramarine”

“Ultramarine” sounds like the end scene or a movie but it sits in the middle of Panda Riot’s new album Extra Cosmic. The guitar melodies seem to be flowing forth in a slow moving geyser of uplifting moods and intermingling with effervescent keyboard sparkles in a sustained state of bliss. The distorted edges of the rapid flow of atmospheric haze convey a sense of crystalline structure paradoxically coursing and evolving as though change its lattice composition every moment as the turns of emotion hit. For a song that seems to be one of acceptance of complex emotional dynamics and the mixed feelings that can make things messy unless you find a way in your heart to not be too attached to the way you think things need to be instead of how they are but without being doormat. It evades the clichés of songwriting by taking a different perspective than the agonized sense of betrayal and loss and by turning a melancholic chord progression into something expansive and wistfully hopeful. Even the title of the song suggests blue moods and the green of new growth in a single word and that’s more poetic and clever than you often get in rock music. Listen to “Ultramarine” on Soundcloud and follow Chicago’s long-respected shoegaze band Panda Riot at the links provided.

Panda Riot on Instagram

La Vie Sauvage and Pet Snake Embody the Dark Inner Impulses of Anxiety Through the Catharsis of Darkwave Industrial Track “Angst”

La Vie Sauvage, photo courtesy the artist

The keening tone and textural drone that opens “Angst” by La Vie Sauvage is unsettling enough. But when Pet Snake’s vocals come in like a demon whispering from the darkness of one’s own inner depths the song takes on a quality like experiencing a possession firsthand. The sound of metal on metal setting the pace, the chittering drone that runs throughout in swells and valleys, the squelched siren tone all conspire to make for a track that is a supernatural horror movie experience in the first person experienced through your ears and while that may not sound like a fun experience it is certainly interesting and different and more original than a conventional piece of music and a different take on the realm of darkwave and industrial especially given some of the synthwave compositions that La Vie Sauvage has put into the world. Listen to “Angst” and its catharsis of anxiety through the embodiment of that pervading sense of menace on Spotify and follow La Vie Sauvage at the links below.

La Vie Sauvage on TikTok

La Vie Sauvage on Instagram

Wild Arrows Eases Wounded Emotional Confusion to Warm, Celebratory Acceptance in the Hazy Ambient Pop of “Here’s the Ghost”

Wild Arrows is a band headed by Mike Law of posthardcore bands EUCLID and New Idea Society but don’t expect that style of music on its new album Loving the Void. The single “Here’s the Ghost” exemplifies the fusion of musical ideas and palette of sounds. It begins as an almost ambient, synth pop meditation on being stuck in a feeling and the repetition of the line “So what if I still love you” the way you can get trapped in your head and the recursive loop of an internal narrative that probably serves to salve your wounded feelings but can be counterproductive in re-establishing psychological health. But halfway through the song the energy shifts and the words to “I only wanted to be with you in a way that you were all your own so here’s the ghost.” It’s a flipping of perspective from an aggrieved self-focus born of hurt to one of coming to terms with the break-up and maybe beginning to see a way clear of the unhealthy aspects of the relationship. The sudden yet somehow subtle shift of pace and tone around the 3:20 mark is an interesting way to show how your psychological orientation toward anything can change without having to lose anything. The uplifting sweep of the song out of a dreamlike melancholia is a dramatic evolution worthy of Mercury Rev. The whole album feels like a tapping into the emotional territory of Law’s other projects but through the lens of early OMD and that unlikely alchemy makes for a collection of fascinating and emotionally vibrant music. Listen to “Here’s the Ghost” on YouTube and follow Wild Arrows at the links below.

Maja Lena’s Lilting Art Pop “No More Flowers” is a Gorgeously Mystical Breakup Song For Friends and Lovers Alike

The lush background synth swells, the exquisitely accented bass line and Maja Lena’s warmly soaring vocals on “No More Flowers” itself sounds like a pagan cognate of something Rubblebucket might someday do. But in the context of the music video filmed, edited and costumed by Martha Webb (who also designed the flag) with choreography by Anders Duckworth and a sword provided by Bob Watson (look out for cameos from Apollo the Goat) it’s like a the mystical journey of a Viking priestess warrior as she carries out the proper ceremonial exercises and gestures to attain the next stage of her development and taking on more aspects of her power and prestige. Which could be a metaphor for the song which poetically mythologizes the ways in which people relate to one another and the barriers we put up so that people can’t get too close unless we want them to and the oblique ways in which we drift apart. It’s a song that delves into a realm of human interaction not often written about with that level of insight and creative imagery of not offering extravagant gestures of good will toward people we don’t want in our lives anymore. Watch the video for “No More Flowers” on YouTube, look out for the full album out on Chiverin likely later in 2022 and follow Maja Lena at the links below.

Maja Lena on Facebook

Maja Lena on Twitter

Maja Lena on Instagram

Gamblers featuring NOVA ONE Offer an Infectiously Charming, Synth Pop Science Fiction Existential Horror Song and Video With “Preach Your Love”

“Preach Your Love” by Gamblers featuring the infectiously melodic yet enigmatic vocals of NOVA ONE taken in the context of its most unusual video packs a lot of content into a 3:42 synth pop song. It’s sound is reminiscent of early chillwave but the spare production probably wouldn’t have been part of that movement of music. Not this way. Yes, the 1980s VHS instructional video aesthetics are there in perfect sync with the song’s gorgeously transporting flow of engrossing layers of saturated tones while making perfect use of space in the mix. But the lyrics sound like something an AI that doesn’t fully understand human language might use to express affection like the line “I’ll drink your blood to see you” and how that sounds like something some alien read about tribes eating parts of the bodies of the recently deceased to symbolically and not so symbolically reincorporate them into the community. All the while images of what seems to be a cognitive test scrolls on with multiple choice questions and delivered by the mysterious National Division of Metaphysical Expanse. That’s like something straight out of the Cronenberg universe and the video itself like a benevolent version of the videotape from The Ring. Who can say what the inspirations for this entrancing and charming track might be but its ethereal tones and light sonic touch is irresistible if you don’t get too caught up with its sinister yet well-intentioned lyrics. Watch the video for yourself on YouTube, look out for Gamblers’ debut album Small World out 9/25 via Symphonic and follow the project at the links provided.

Gamblers on Facebook

Gamblers on Twitter

Gamblers on Instagram

Sebastian Müller Generates Dreamlike Feelings of Hopeful Anticipation on the Brightly Ambient “Manor Farm / Finding Life”

Sebastian Müller, photo courtesy the artist

The mysterious moods evoked by Sebastian Müller’s “Manor Farm / Finding Life” is perfectly paired to footage of a night drive on a country highway with the foliage at the side of the road lit by headlights and passing by in a kind of blur like the details of a half remembered dream. The ambient synth and processed drone alongside field recordings of distant conversation and rain progresses along until brighter melodic sounds come into the field of hearing and more distinctive sounds carry you along even as the imagery in the video turns more abstract and blurred out into the infinity of the subconscious mind. There is a sense of hopefulness and low level excitement as though traveling toward something promising an elusive which is a quality one doesn’t hear enough in ambient music and the track fades out in a way that finally achieving one’s goal puts an end to the anticipation with one hopes is the payoff of one’s patience and rewarding of the anticipation. Watch the video for “Manor Farm / Finding Life” on YouTube and follow Sebastian Müller at the links below.

“Toothrot” is headboy’s Delicate Then Defiant Song of Solidarity With the Suffering of Friends

“Toothrot” by headboy begins with the vivid image of someone’s tooth falling out of their mouth onto a friend’s palm who picks it up and puts it away for another day. A whimsical and gentle guitar melody accompanies this almost spoken word part of the song before it escalates into distorted intensity as the lyrics bemoan how one can have toothrot and while doing what one can to prevent the continuing ailment. It’s a song about solidarity with daily life misfortunes and the injustice of a world where some people have to just deal with ailments while others can have them seen to without issue. It’s a song commenting on class issues without being so overt about them because at its core is a very roots level compassion for people on a human level even in situations that might draw judgment from people in the ways they’ve been conditioned to denigrate people for perceived carelessness. The dynamic shift from delicate melody to nearly blown out punk intensity is reminiscent of Butt Trumpet’s great 1993 song “I’m Ugly And I Don’t Know Why” though it’s fairly certain that old Los Angeles punk band isn’t in the mix of influences here but that irreverent spirit of defiance and not needing to fit in with a prevailing punk style resonates. Listen to “Toothrot” on Spotify (out now on Blitzcat) and follow the London-based DIY scene connected band headboy at the links below.

Heavy Feelings Gives Voice to a Frustration With Lack of Commitment on the Noisy Post-punk of “Light Contact”

Heavy Feelings, photo courtesy the artists

Heavy Feelings is a Bristol, UK-based collaborative musical project centered around guitarist Ben Shillabeer who is a bit of a veteran of the Bristol music scene as a contributor to, among other musical concerns, Soeza, The John Parish Band and Empty Pools. The single “Light Contact” features the commanding vocals of Nadia Garofalo of the great Chicago post-punk band Ganser. Its cycling guitar riff establishes a mood of impending disaster or dissolution while Garofalo’s voice, reminiscent of PJ Harvey circa Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea, adds her own layer of grit to a song that sounds like harnessed menace and chaos. The song seems to be about, based partially on the title, the habit of many people to not commit to a course of action, a way of life, a project, relationships or much of anything hoping for the proper circumstances to come along that never really will in providing an auspicious time to take the dive into something that could be important even if for a short time. The song with its crackling and and intense energy seems to reflect an anxiety over an all too common misplaced lack of faith that can paralyze one’s effectiveness as a human or to even live a life that might be more fulfilling than playing it safe and being ready to bail when something requires more of you than casual interest. Listen to “Light Contact” on Spotify, follow Heavy Feelings at the links below and give a listen to the debut Heavy Feelings album Power⚡Reflection which released on June 3, 2022.

Heavy Feelings on Instagram

Heavy Feelings on Amazing Radio