With the breakbeats and 8-bit style synth tones sprinkled in Reykjavik Kids’ “Sanctimony” has a massive sound like a fusion of 90s electro-Britpop and 2010s indie electronic pop circa Crystal Castles and M83. Except this band with this song has a triumphant spirit even with the even keeled and clear-eyed lead vocals and the call and response harmonies. The rich tonality in the production makes the song a standout even if its subject matter seems to be about anonymous and vicious judgment that can come at you out of nowhere in great numbers in the social media environment. The song feels like a shaking off of that mood. Listen to “Sanctimony” on Spotify and follow the UK band based in Newcastle upon Tyne at the links below.
The nearly abstract pulse of downtempo melody that courses throughout alterity’s “i don’t deserve this” is like a melancholic mood that can hang over you across an entire day or days at a time. But through this murky filter glimmers of clear tones shine through like the flickering of hope when life seems to be going through a period of sustained gloom and prolonged self-examination and processing why you’re tolerating the way things are rather than making an abrupt and immediate change. But trauma can have that impact on you and you can float through longer periods than would otherwise be normal and you cling to these seemingly emotionally tangible motes of hope and joy until the dark times have passed or you have managed to gather the will to push yourself through the things you need to do to get clear of the situations that have you feeling like you’re living in a muted version of a vibrant life. The song captures that feeling that is rarely articulated well in life and in art and fans of Tim Hecker’s most beautifully nightmarish moments will find some moments of solace here too. Listen to “i don’t deserve this” on Spotify.
“less today” by plaster 0f paris sounds like a noir version of a post-punk song. It has breathy vocals and granular guitar tones that together give the song the sound of weary resignation that bears out the title some. For mood think somewhere between True Widow and A Place to Bury Strangers and that starkly vivid intensity that allows for the atmospheric melodies to take center stage in how the song emerges from a more spacious opening into swimming in the sinuous swirl of melancholic yet commanding haze. The project is a new flavor for guitarist and vocalist Tony Bevilacqua who some may know for his time in The Distillers but one that showcases his interest in crafting vivid and evocative atmospheric compositions. Listen to “less today” on Spotify and follow plaster 0f paris at the links below. The 3-song less today EP dropped May 17, 2024.
“Constructing my new world” by Squarewav sounds like the music you’d want to hear if you had to witness a visual representation of the reconstruction of your life in chapters. The sequenced, textural beats and melodic paces are uplifting and bright, hopeful even. The saturated synth tones mid-song are reminiscent of the work of Norm Chambers and his Panabrite project. Later in the song the distorted sounds of a robot construction crew welding, landing rivets and screws and assembling the shiny and tidy final project end the song on a satisfying note like getting closure on an ambitious project that is your life or at least a chapter that began in raw disarray but now feels like a place where you can move forward with confidence and integrity. Listen to “Constructing my new world” on Spotify where the rest of the Beautiful digital, construct my world EP dropped on May 3, 2024 and follow Squarewav at the links provided.
Nihiloceros sounds like an amalgam of sounds and ideas across decades on “Penguin Wings.” The vocal melodies are in moments reminiscent of Lincoln-period They Might Be Giants but the angular, aggressive yet upliftingly melodic guitar riffs with a touch of jangle are like the a fusion of Bob Mould’s post-Hüsker musical projects and the more imaginative end of 2010s emo. The lyrics seem to juxtapose the surreal with the poignant like the band used a cut-up technique to assemble the words to give it a blend of the personal and the fantastical. The song mentions “dark ice balloons” which is also the name of the group’s latest full length that dropped on May 3, 2024 and available on vinyl, digital download and streaming. Listen to “Penguin Wings” on Spotify and follow Nihiloceros at the links provided.
Eudscher’s enigmatically titled “RFU318” sounds like traveling down a long corridor accompanied by pulsing low end sounds and echoing voices and rattles draw out into fading infinity. The music video presents a series of triangles in black coming at you against a hazy off-white background like markers on that corridor to who knows where. In moments it brings to mind the vibe of those “The Backrooms” videos of liminal spaces parallel to our own regular dimensional space or the mood of the chapters of House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski where the characters find the hidden stairways that go on forever lit by a luminous gray light. It is a sustained drone, only small details change yet it is a little hypnotic ever evolving and holds your attention until the end. Watch the video for “RFU318” on YouTube and follow Eudscher at the links below. The album SN24002 released on April 5, 2024 and includes “RFU318.”
Danielle Whalebone’s “Ordinary Things” begins by providing texture and tactile sounds with what sounds like a metallic object being crafted and formed with the repeated sound of metal on metal and resonating drones. There is a chain-like rattle that sounds throughout like a mechanical mantra. Whalebone’s vocals, when they enter the song provides a human touch to what feel like inorganic objects interacting. She sings of being aware of an immense aspect of existence but now she seeks “peace in ordinary things.” The industrial sounds of the song have a post-apocalyptic menace that contrast with that message which is the point. In extraordinary times in the way they are now in all the ways they have been there is a solace to be found in ordinary things and situations. When one has spent much of one’s life in pursuit of the un-ordinary and the remarkable because of how mundane and uninspiring everyday life can be and making art to take one out of those circumstances only to find oneself in situations that set a different standard for what is the usual one can yearn for perceived comfort and stability of ordinary things. Whalebone’s discordant and gloriously noisy song expresses well that contrast and reconciliation of former conflict with instincts and impulses. Listen to “Ordinary Things” on Spotify and follow Whalebone at the links below. Her new album Whispers of Shadows released on May 17, 2024 on streaming, for digital download and as a limited edition vinyl LP.
“Meditation” is a very different kind of song for Australian post-punk band Dick Dudley. Its lyrics are a kind of guided meditation but one that goes beyond the tranquil self-care of a New Age or non-Western spirituality type of exercise. There is an undercurrent of intensity that suits the slinking sense of menace in the music. The latter sounds like the kind of surf rock you’d hear in Apocalypse Now. If Charlie surfed, that is. Dick Dudley hasn’t been short on irony and subversive humor but this song seems to be playing the messaging fairly straightforward while subverting the form of the guided meditation which can benefit anyone needing to focus on living in this current moment rather than being distracted by the forces that take us out of living in the moment. Listen to “Meditation” on Spotify and follow Dick Dudley on Instagram.
The angular breakdowns and resolves from direct guitar lines into splayed percussion that KYCTO uses throughout “War” reflects well the horrific subject of the song. The drama, chaos and violence punctuated by periods of deceptive silence finds itself embodied elegantly in the song which introduces some melodic then blaring saxophone that joins the rest of the instrumentation to create an entrancing cacophony with a paradoxically non-linear precision. The song is at the intersection of progressive black metal and noise rock. Like this band listened to a lot of Last Exit and later period Daughters and in moments its reminiscent of the less hyperkinetic and industrial moments of Killl. Listgen to “War” on Spotify and follow KYCTO on Instagram. The project’s album A concert for guitar, voice and drums released May 3, 2024.
Carlos Antonio’s breathy vocals seem to come from shadow places in in a late night lounge on “Rhodes.” The downtempo beat, moody strings, horns and harmonic drones flow like a slow moving fog with rhythm and tone integrating perfectly to lend the song a cinematic, orchestral aspect like an especially lush trip-hop song. Although the song has a soulful and vulnerable quality its lyrics outline the complicated social aspects of LGBT intimacy even in the twenty-first century. Antonio’s vocals sound like someone who has long been in the practice of shielding their true self but is now sharing a raw yet sophisticated glimpse into the mixture of passion, fear and desperation that comes from being uncertain how one’s authentic self will be received. Listen to “Rhodes” on Spotify and follow Carlos Antonio on Instagram.
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