Category: SubmitHub

Sinnet Helps Us to Welcome the Love and Good Things in Our Lives in “Embracing That Dad Rock Vibe (part 2)”

Sinnet, image from artist’s Bandcamp page

Aaron Spransy has spent more than a decade crafting charming pop songs with a variety of collaborators. Think in that Spoon-esque vein with some power pop and psychedelic touchstones. His new Sinnet album Island Town is a bit different and its closing track “Embracing That Dad Rock Vibe (part 2)” embodies that shift in songwriting style and attitude. The title of the song suggests coming to terms with not being in one’s 20s anymore and shock of all shocks being in a stable and healthy relationship that allows for some ability to relax and feel comfortable in a way that seems so antithetical to the cliché of rock music and art in general but need not be. Someone of a more wiseacre-ly inclined might listen to this album and say, “more like ‘Embracing that yacht rock vibe’” because the jazz-inflected guitar hooks and laid back vocal delivery as though waking up from a restful sleep ready to take on the world in a mellow way really is a feature of the music. But There is something undeniably charming and very real about someone writing a song that isn’t about adolescent angst for the umpteenth time in a decade or multiple-decade long career and saying something romantic and not cheesy about their relationship, which Spransy has done on this song. Whimsical, self-deprecating title aside, it’s a song about accepting and acknowledging love of self and the love in your life and not just being okay with it but yes, embracing these positive aspects to your human existence. The touches of Teenage Fanclub in the choruses lend some grit to an otherwise soft pop rock gem. Listen to “Embracing That Dad Rock Vibe (part 2)” on Bandcamp and connect with Sinnet at the links provided.

Sinnet on Facebook

The Irresistible Rhythm of Hotline Syndrome’s “A Faraway Look” Coaxes Us Into Easing Our Inner Tensions

Hotline Syndrome, photo courtesy the artists

“A Faraway Look” by London Duo Hotline Syndrome (comprised of producers sludg3f8ctory and CEO Dreams) slinks in like a kinder, gentler, mellower A Place to Bury Strangers. The accented linger of the bass line propels the ethereal guitar work and whispery vocals before it switches to a more textural, melodic mode. And toward the end incandescent synth tones anchor the ethereal outro into you mind giving the song a strong hook at the end established in the beginning with its irresistible rhythm. It’s rare to hear so many creative elements realized across a three minute plus song but Hotline Syndromes taps into an ambient melancholy and a contemplative, self-aware of exploration of the moods nagging at the edges of your mind with a song with a concise but not austere soundscape and a song structure that guides you through its arc of musical storytelling without nudging. Listen to “A Faraway Look” on Spotify and give the rest of the Heavy Severe 3 EP as well. Connect with Hotline Syndrome at the links below.

Hotline Syndrome on Bandcamp

Hotline Syndrome on Twitter

Hotline Syndrome on Facebook

Hotline Syndrome on Instagram

Sleepwalker Manifests an Invigorating Sense of Possibilities and Nostalgia on “The Last Farewell”

The interchange and intersection of luminous guitar haze, bright synth drone and the sound of piano charting alternate courses from the main wash of melody in the new Sleepwalker single “The Last Farewell” feels like the end of something, certainly, though more a moving onward to greater horizons and expansion of the mind, it is a sound of walking toward possibilities with a hint of nostalgia for what you might be leaving behind. The motes of tone sweeping past you as you are drifting forward through the song’s breezy pace is analogous to what it might be like to pass through a wormhole or through a whiteout blizzard in Siberia with the sun lighting up the landscape but hidden from view. The sound of the song conveys a strong sense of momentum and movement in the emotional and spiritual sense as symbolized by movement in the physical realm. Listen to “The Last Farewell” on YouTube and connect with the Russian transcendent black metal/cosmic drone band Sleepwalker on Bandcamp through the Ksenza Records page and on Spotify.

$YNDRM Articulates Our Collective Discontent With the Era of Mediated Social Experience on “Shadow Life”

At the start of $YNDRM’s “Shadow Life” we’re drawn in by a mysterious, darkly lush tone and the sound of ethereal xylophone to a story about the mediated nature of a large portion of public life. In a melancholic, reflective emotional quality, $YNDRM sings about the dynamic of how the way we are encouraged by social media and public interactions of all kinds to present a manufactured and finely manicured persona and for what? Fake social capital that gets us nothing of substance? Are out lives destined to be fodder for an algorithm that will never see to our substantive needs as living creatures who crave nourishing lives and experiences and not to be a consumer of the surface level data used to market to us the facade of our desires as massaged by the agenda of the most massive of corporate entities? $YNDRM bemoans this state of counterfeit identities “in a world where nothing seems to matter and points out how that is unsustainable and that this reality is showing signs of fragmenting as is much of culture and the political and economic system despite the seeming all powerful nature of it all. The song is reminiscent of the artier rock end of Peter Gabriel, a more pop Legendary Pink Dots and early solo rock Brian Eno. Listen to “Shadow Life” on Soundcloud and follow $YNDRM at the links provided.

syndrm.com

$YNDRM on Facebook

$YNDRM on Instagram

Simone Elisa Keeps Her Vision of a Better Future Alive Against the Odds in “All In My Head”

Simone Elisa is awash in hazy synths and low end drones as she ponders the precarious and uncertain place she is in life on her single “All In My Head.” The hopeful tones reflect the energy of those dreams of a better future than the challenging present everyone has and Elisa employs that sound to give the song an uplifting quality even though her words really get to the crux of living in a time when many of us have been worn down with few if any glimmers of hope for creating a life we want rather than the drab one offered to us by the reality of trying to make it while major political parties work toward crushing everyone under that isn’t already in the oligarchic class through policies or inaction that bolster a state of things when it has become increasingly difficult to survive and much less thrive. The song recalls great synth pop of the last 40 years and turns out a lot of that music is about self-preservation and endurance while times are tough. Elisa sings of seeing signs but not believing them anymore and just hanging on to the fact of her still being alive as the faintest of signs that one’s hopes as symbolized by dreams with you don’t feel you can connect to drive you through the worst of days. She sings of wanting to go back to bed and asks if it’s all in her head and that state of being torn between wanting hope and knowing it’s foolish. Yet it is simply human to keep hoping for something better against the odds and this song speaks to that spark that often seems to be around even during the darkest of times and the most broken of timelines as delusional as it can seem. Listen to “All In Head” on Soundcloud and follow Simone Elisa on Soundcloud.

Vivienne Cure Embraces Her Elemental Dark Side With “Fire Flies”

Vivienne Cure, image courtesy the artist

Vivienne Cure sounds like she’s singing from within a tunnel to a parallel universe on “Fire Flies.” The accompanying music video confirms a sense of the mysterious and otherworldly cast in black and white and a changes of visual perspective. Whether right side up, upside down, sideways, Vivienne Cure is bathed in sheets of doomy, distorted guitar, drums pounding in the cadence of a processional epic. The singer looks clothed in black ceremonial dress, at times partially unclothed to emphasize the raw and bare emotions and other times singing nearly submerged in a bathtub as if to symbolize being surrounded by feelings and both nearly overwhelmed by and buoyed by them as a connection to one’s subconscious self. When she sings “embrace my own dark side” at the end of the chorus it is not a declaration of nefarious intent but an acceptance of the side of one’s psyche, of one’s personality, that is in opposition to conditioned ways of feeling and being. It is a poetic recognition of the process of ignoring the so-called irrational and emotional aspect of a whole human denigrated by a patriarchal culture that bell hooks termed “psychic self-mutilation.” Fans of Anna von Hausswolff and Jarboe will appreciate the elemental strength and delivery of the song. Watch the video for “Fire Flies” on YouTube and connect with Vivienne Cure at the links below.

Vivienne Cure on Deezer

Wombo Indulge in Some Lighthearted Creepy Fun With the Video for “One of These”

The aesthetics and the fonts in Wombo’s music video for “One of These” looks like something from a black metal band. In fact it looks like it was filmed in the basement of an abandoned house like something from a reboot of The Blair Witch Project. But Sydney Chadwick’s vocals, while melancholic, is more like the performance for a wistfully romantic surf rock song while the music itself has a languorous pace with the guitar line stretching and compressing in a spiky, melodic progression over a minimalist beat like something out of the recording sessions for an old Pixies or No Joy record. The eclectic yet coherent style and in the context of the visuals point to a playful and experimental spirit within the songwriting. Watch the video to the end because Wombo breaks character and jokingly scare each other at the end of the video acknowledging this visually fantastic representation of their music is kind of creepy but fun in the absurd way of many horror movies.

Wombo on Instagram

Olivero and Alain Pérez Conspire to Elevate Your Mood With the Elegantly Energetic “Juntando Amores”

Olivero and Alain Pérez complement each other expertly on the song “Juntando Amores” (in English, joining or combining loves). Olivero’s energetic, hybrid salsa, flamenco and jazz style in sync with the horns and Pérez’s raw presence and lyrical vocal delivery combine for a song that covers a wide emotional range beginning with a melancholic, yearning tone that fluidly evolves into a mood more confident and affirmative graced with Olivero’s tastefully intricate guitar solos that never steal the spotlight from the other performers. It’s a song with elegant power and grace that draws you in quickly and brings you along for a ride to an elevated mood. Watch the video for “Juntando Amores” on YouTube and connect with the artists at the links below.

oliveromusic.com

Olivero on Facebook

Olivero on Instagram

Kevin Blake Guides Us Through a Lively Process Video With the Buoyant IDM Track “Heartsines”

Watching the video for “Heartsines” it seems like a perfect song to accompany a process video for creating a range of visual art and animation. Paintings in collage with live footage and animated stills are in sync with the bright, playful tones of the song and as the rhythm picks up pace the parade of images matches growing layers of sound from the ghostly background synth to arpeggios of bleeps and textural tones in complexity and energetic expression. The mix keeps your brain engaged with the forward bell tones while other forces musical and visual keep a gentle momentum that keeps your attention and the full six minutes twenty-six secongs of the track passes feeling like half the time. Halfway through the song Blake takes time out from the headlong pace and the song fades to near silence before engaging once again with an even fuller sound and sustained frisson. Watch the video for “Heartsines” on YouTube, give a listen to the rest of the album The Rough With the Smooth on Bandcamp and follow Blake at the links provided.

Sugarplum Fairies “Hold On to Me” from the Altar Songs Collection Brings Together a Deep Melancholy With the Will to Weather the Gloom

With the recent release of the 15 track collection Altar Songs in early December 2021 the Sugarplum Fairies reintroduced the world to its hazy, emotionally stirring dream pop across it’s career thus far from 1998 to 2021. With new versions of older songs, the retrospective is a reminder of singer Silvia Ryder’s great, nuanced vocal range. The single “Hold On to Me” originally came out on the 2009 album Chinese Leftovers and featured on S5E23 of Grey’s Anatomy. But its winsome beginning and float from ethereal tones and Ryder’s warm voice into a triumphant procession awash in distorted guitar and uplifting strings the song hits as timeless. It brings together a deep melancholy and the will to weather through the gloom. Listen to “Hold On To Me” on Soundcloud, check out the rest of Altar Songs on Bandcamp and connect with Sugarplum Fairies at the links below.

Sugarplum Fairies on Instagram

Sugarplum Fairies on Facebook