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“Heavenly” by Shiny Darkly is That Rare Song About Conflicted Emotional Malaise

Shiny Darkly, photo by Jonathan Svante-Hjorth

Shiny Darkly lead us gently into “Heavenly” with a hazy, contemplative synth and a simple shimmery guitar riff. It’s a song about falling in love and then falling into a sustained complacency in the relationship. Though tones bloom, there is a momentum in the song, it all serves a mood of resigned acceptance of things basically being over without an actual break-up. Melancholy songs usually sound more anguished, this song sounds like things are beyond that basic level of pain. Unless the lyrics were misheard the chorus of “You and I can drift in our own charade” spells it all out. The earlier part of the song with words about being ecstatic and that it’s hard to come down from that triggered by the way someone holds your hand and anticipation of great things. But then in the next part of the song there is talk about the “way we lose our shit” and other troubles mentioned matter of factly, almost casually. That just makes the chorus hit harder because you’re in a place where the word charade suggests that maybe you feel like you wonder if you have anything anymore but you don’t yet want to let go. It’s an emotional complexity that the early part of the song and its romantic notions might not lead you to believe is going to manifest the longer you listen. Musically it’s reminiscent of a song by The Church pre-Starfish but with a fractured rhythm but with a similar complexity and poetry of sentiment or a more brooding Iceage song. Whatever the roots, the song is moving and thought-provoking at once. Listen to “Heavenly” on Spotify, look for the EP HEAVY out February 4, 2022 on Crunchy Frog Recordings and connect with Shiny Darkly at the links provided.

Shiny Darkly on Facebook

Shiny Darkly on Instagram

lil busy Contemplates the Existential Challenges of a Creative Life on Darkwave IDM Track “thumbdrive”

“thumbdrive” by lil busy isn’t a long song at one minute fifteen but it packs a lot of ideas musically and in terms of sentiments and feelings expressed. There is a sense of menace in the low end synth line that draws out with a tone like the electronic version of a brass instrument. This contrasted with the vocoder and the contemplative string part, urgent background wail and bursts of white noise conveys a sense of pressure from inside the songwriter’s head and from the expectations of others. Singing about he’s putting lots of dreams on a thumb drive reveals he has learned to operate through slender means in order to realize aspirations and holding on to his work not even on a portable hard drive but a thumb drive. One imagines working on the music at a friend’s place, at the library, at a college computer lab, wherever he can put in some focused time while keeping his mind on the end goal and hoping it’s going to take him places in a world that up to now has only offered challenges, stumbling blocks and discouragement yet what do you do when you have a creative or personal vision you’re pursuing? Give up? This song isn’t about the “grind,” it’s about that impetus that some people have to work on their art when it’s not easy, when it’s not convenient and under severe limitations on their chosen art form and doing the best they can with what’s available. The production is hip-hop style but the sound palette has more in common with a darkwave or IDM yet this song doesn’t fit into a narrow, established genre and its cross genre aesthetic is part of its appeal. Listen to “thumbdrive” on Spotify and connect with lil busy on Instagram linked below.

lil busy on Instagram

Xena Glas’ “Feet” from the Body EP is a Tonal Mantra for Staying Focused in Life’s Most Challenging Phases

Xena Glas begins hew new EP Body with the short song “Feet.” With delicately plucked and strummed guitar Glas sets a tone of delicate textures flowing through her ethereal vocals. In the background one hears what sounds like samples of wind and running water. At one point she counts off paces that feel like an internal system of timing rather than something that regulates the organic meter of the ambient layers of the song proper. In the notes to the EP, Glas says this song as well as the track “Hand” represent the aspect of her “lived experience with autism” referred to as “stimming in situations of sensory overload” with counting, tapping fingers and pacing. But one need not have experience with autism on any end of the spectrum to be able to relate to this neurological phenomenon in moments of extreme boredom. Stimming just sounds like good, easy and pragmatic practice for keeping the mind active when things feel overwhelming and when it might be helpful to stay focused on something to derail what we’re supposed to think of as a normal reaction when we have no choice but to deal with a challenging situation. Glas’ composition is a model for calming the mind with simple layers of sound that provide a sonic mantra to help weather a passage of peak stress. With obvious guitar loops, vocals, reverse delay and signal processing, Glas’ spectral introductory song to an EP equally inventive throughout sets the stage for a chill yet engrossing listen. Fans of Phew, Laurel Halo, Loraine James and Alice Coltrane will appreciate the transcendent moods achieved by Glas across the five songs and the undeniable and expansive sense of the possible that permeates each song executed with elegant performances and a keen ear for subtle details and dynamics that the dreamlike quality of the music conveys. Listen to “Feet” on Bandcamp where you can also listen to the Body EP in its entirety. Follow Glas at the links provided.

xenaglas.com

Xena Glas on Twitter

Xena Glas on Instagram

Overnight’s Emo Dream Pop “Whittier” is a Break-Up Song That Dissolves a Cycle of Abuse

Overnight packs a lot of feelings and thoughts into its song “Whittier.” It’s reminiscent of the more introspective end of late 90s emo made by people who were also into slowcore and Elliott Smith. The structure of the song starts things off with an urgency to match the intensity of the conflicted feelings expressed. The lyrics recount the romantic niceties of someone who isn’t being completely up front with the object of their affections, or one of them, the kind of person who uses their empathic capacities and sensitivity to manipulate other people to get what they want as long as the illusion lasts. But halfway through the song the tone shifts to more ethereal tones and guitar work and the lyrics recounts the realization of how it’s not one’s responsibility to make sure someone that treats one shabbily feels good and supported in their low key emotional abuse and that not wanting to hurt anyone’s feelings doesn’t mean you need to be a doormat. What unites the two parts of the song is an overall mood of what one might call melancholic exuberance meaning you allow yourself to get swept up in a will to both feel all the pain of a breakup and all the confusion, disappointment and anger at yourself for allowing yourself to be in a bad situation, that sort of transmuted guilt, and the psychic energy to exit the situation even if it seems like you’re being mean to certain people. Abusers depend on that social pressure among your friends and family to get hooked back in to a codependent interpersonal dynamic. This song is about having enough self love to declare that someone else’s warped psychology doesn’t have to be a part of your life anymore even if part of you is still in the habit of thinking so. Most break-up songs are informed by too much bravado but “Whittier” is a gorgeously crafted example of of raw vulnerability and honesty with all the edges worn off. Listen to “Whittier” on YouTube and connect with Overnight at the links below.

Overnight on Bandcamp

Overnight on Instagram

Overnight on YouTube

Key Seeyen’s Ambient Jazz Hip-Hop Track “You’re Mine You” is a Beautifully Stylistic Time Travel Experience

Kay Seeyen sounds like the songwriter spent a good deal of quality time watching 40s and 50s cinema and listened to a lot of jazz music of that era as well as classic hip-hop samples as channeled through the lens of J. Dilla. At least on the song “You’re Mine You” there is such an eclectic blend of sounds in the beat that it sounds like you’re getting a cut up tour through time in music to create something that could really only have been made in recent years in this cohesive and smooth a way but demonstrates an appreciation for the compositional skills and ear for melody of another era. The vibe is jazz and classic pop but the style is underground hip-hop and its free associating sonic palette. There’s even a tastefully expressive, echoing guitar riff mid-song that sounds like a nod to dub. Because the song doesn’t sound like it owes allegiance to a narrow aesthetic it actually has an almost orchestral ability to stir emotions by touching those places in your brain where the memory of many good but neglected sounds reside. Listen to “You’re Mine You” on Soundcloud and connect with Kay Seeyen at the links provided.

Kay Seeyen on Twitter

Kay Seeyen on Instagram

Carmen Mellino Exudes Swagger and Charisma on the Bi-Lingual, Dark Rock Ballad “Toi Moi Inc.”

Carmen Mellino, photo courtesy the artist

Carmen Mellino’s powerful vocals on “Toi Moi Inc.” contrast well with gritty, bluesy post-punk guitar riffs that start the song off on a borderline cacophonous note. The drop offs from the crashing, distorted guitar line allow for Mellino’s singing to carry the dynamic builds as she uses both English and French lyrics to weave a narrative that sounds like equal parts clandestine love affair and a brash declaration of independence from being defined by arbitrary social contexts. At times the songwriting is reminiscent of PJ Harvey circa Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea with the beefier guitar sound like early Black Rebel Motorcycle Club indulging the sliver of grunge influence in its own music. That appeal of the song is there but unlike many current artists tapping into 90s alternative rock for inspiration, Mellino sounds like an artist from that era who has returned with her confidence and charisma restored. Listen to “Toi Moi Inc.” on Soundcloud and follow Mellino at the links below.

Carmen Mellion on Twitter

Carmen Mellino on Facebook

Carmen Mellino on Instagram

Carmen Mellino on YouTube

Roca.’s Music Video for “VIBRA” Perfectly Embodies Its Shifting and Fluidly Organic Structure and Melodies

Roca. tapped video artist NAOWAO to direct the music video for “VIBRA” and the result is an otherworldly interpretation of the psychedelic and diverse soundscape of the song. An animated landscape with flowing rivers, figures illuminating in time with the minimal percussion, a sunrise comes through the legs of a stylized Shinto torii, a cloaked mystic in reflective, coppery red robes floats appearing to contemplate a dream, puffy luminescent clouds float in the sky. Silvery, fluid shapes course through the air and take on the shapes of dancers and runners and blue vegetation edges the shore with tree leaves similarly blue. The whole video feels like a journey as warm vocals keep us from drifting out into the alien landscape for more than just a visit. The effect is reminiscent of a Björk song with sweeps of tone, strands of abstract melody that intertwine and stretch out with the dynamic of a breeze rushing in and fading out. All whirling around and emphasizing the emotional impact of Kay’s voice. Though the visual flair of the video is somewhat surreal it also seems to feature a landscape of shifting shapes and shape shifters as an analog to the way the composition has an organic, informal quality that keeps your attention even as your mind wanders with the song’s evolving rhythms. Watch the video for “VIBRA” on YouTube and connect with Roca. and NAOWAO at the links provided.

Roca.’s website

Roca. on Instagram

naowao.com

Isserley Exorcises the Dark Corridors of the Wounded Mind on “Nails”

Isserley guides us in to the single “Nails” with lingering, lightly distorted guitar sketches before laying down the caustic heaviness that provides the irresistible moment of the rest of the song. Isserley’s vocals are vulnerable yet powerful imbued with an energy that burns through the dark thoughts the lyrics of “Nails” make so painfully vivid. For anyone that has experienced the deep sense of isolation and enervating psychology of depression, Isserley’s words and delivery couched within the context of epic, doomy drones feels cathartic. Like having to look at and grapple with ideas you don’t want to believe but have internalized over and over even if only on a subconscious level down to how you instinctively interact with the world and your own mind. Less emotionally self-aware people might think such a song is inherently negative or triggers worse moods but paradoxically the honesty of it all affirms the truth of the kinds of things maybe you’ve been feeling or thinking rather than having to shamefully bury it in a dark side of the mind where it festers and becomes an overwhelming monster of your personal psychology. Isserley just set that dark emotional spiral to music that feels like it purges one’s brain of those murky places even if only for a little while and often that can be enough to move onward. Listen to “Nails” on Spotify and connect with Australian heavy music artist Isserley at the links below. Her 2022 album How Do We Know She Is Alive? is now available on Bandcamp for the very reasonable fee of name your price and is not short on other tales of a personal journey through uncomfortable head spaces and psychological horror.

Isserley on Bandcamp

Isserley on Twitter

Isserley on Facebook

Isserley on Instagram

Isserley on YouTube

Talker’s Video for “Don’t Want You To Love Me” is a Retro Therapeutic Shock to the Temptation of Falling Back Into Toxic Love

When the mannequin in talker’s video for “Don’t Want You To Love Me” it seems like an eccentric affectation. But the shiny figure with no emotions is a perfect totemic device for putting someone bad for you and/or with whom you have a bad dynamic behind you even if some of your impulses and automatic emotional reactions draw you to them or in the case of this song back to them and right into the same context, the same kind of emotional turmoil that sidetracked your life. The visual style of the video looks like something out of the 80s with the awkward yet dramatic and colorful montages and that suits the song well as its themes of bypassing emotional self-sabotage is reminiscent of many of the pop songs of that era that treated conflicted feelings with a surprising level of nuance while tapping into the energy of those moments when you can pull yourself out of the psychic quagmire and get a few glimpses of clarity. But talker’s songwriting and vocals are more in tune with more recent artists like Japanese Breakfast and Mitski and their masterful blend of poignant storytelling, exuberance and engrossing melodies. All three have a knack for writing melancholic songs that sweep into a will to defiance against being dragged down. Watch the video for “Don’t Want You To Love Me” on YouTube and connect with talker at the links provided.

Miss Torsion’s Goth Pop Song “Love Parasite” Suggests Giving Up, Giving in and Letting Go of Your Misplaced Inhibitions

Miss Torsion, photo by slayline phototropic

Miss Torsion’s video for “Love Parasite” has a style like something from the 80s with the mix of archival film, live footage of animals and musical performance. But this collage of aesthetics suits the spooky vibe of the song in the beginning and its lightly distorted guitar leads and finely cadenced rhythms. It’s reminiscent of Rose McDowall’s solo records where there is a patina of darkness mixed in with upbeat yet moody pop melodies. The metaphor of love as a parasite that gets into your psyche like a disease and takes over is an apt description of how it can feel out of your control and like something that you can try to fight off but the Miss Torsion song suggests that maybe you can’t and shouldn’t and set aside your ego and “give up, give in, let go.” Miss Torsion aka Mirjam Götschy was the guitarist of her former band Cell Division but her work for Miss Torsion so far seems a touch more playful if her imaginative guitar work remains a feature of her new work. Watch the video for “Love Parasite” on YouTube and connect with Miss Torsion at the links below.

Miss Torsion on Bandcamp