Queen City Sounds and Art

stillhungry’s Warmly Melancholic “Sunco” is Makes Taking Accountability For Your Failures Seem Survivable

stillhungry1_sm — stillhungry, photo courtesy the artists

“Sunco,” the lead single from the new, self-titled album by Asbury, NJ-based band stillhungry takes a simple but intricate melody as the backdrop to finely complimentary vocal harmonies that sound like the affectionate but weary letter to a friend or a rehearsal for a serious conversation about life and where it’s going because some conversations are more difficult than others to have when maybe you need to take a different approach than you normally would. The gorgeously composed guitar work and the expertly cast keyboard atmospheres and seemingly steady but subtly dynamic pace is reminiscent of Low in the twenty-first century as is the countrified flavor of certain aspects of the songwriting but that all serves to give the song a crucial earnestness and warmth of tone for its lyrics to work. Everyone has had plans for life that didn’t work out or crashed nearly catastrophically and certainly friends and relatives who have had that experience. Because the seduction of those plans maybe made you ignore some of the warning signs of where it could go wrong. In the line, “Technicolor makes you wonder why it hurts so bad, thought you saw it coming but it was only a dream you had,” stillhungry acknowledges that way we will justify so much in the name of what we want or think we want. And in the aftermath of our world crashing down it’s so tempting to wallow in bitter misery and to reject the world, which the band articulates so well in singing, “You care so much about not caring at all/I know you’ve been slumping wearing dirty rags and sittin’ still/ Promised your mother you wouldn’t break it but you will.” But it isn’t a song about making judgments so much as it is about accountability and a gentle reminder that one needn’t cling to dreams and ideas that aren’t working by punishing yourself by holding the failure so close and doing little to nothing to move on. We’ve all been there if we’ve done anything even semi-significant in our lives. Listen to “Sunco” on Spotify and follow stillhungry at the links below.

open.spotify.com/artist/1bCzAERNkClcbD2V2gznc2
youtube.com/channel/UCNCg6qIbgM1-492uAlWmARQ
stillhungryband.bandcamp.com
twitter.com/stillhungryband
facebook.com/stillhungryband
instagram.com/stillhungryband

Wandour’s “Flux” Coaxes the Mind Into an Emotional Journey With No Set Destination as a Path Out of Mental Stagnation

Wandour1_sm — Wandour, image courtesy the artist

Fluttering breezes of melody swirl around the synth swells in the beginning of Wandour’s “Flux” before vocals come in like speech coming in from real life into a dream. A crystalline arpeggio echoes gently in the distance when the song reaches the cruising velocity it seemed to be aiming for earlier in the song as all sounds floated upwards even as the vocals say, “Going nowhere.” Nowhere physically, maybe but certainly the vibe of the song is transporting and transcending everyday concerns. But no specific destination in mind or through intention. The bright streams of incandescent sound give way to almost atonal, processed bell tones before the the song lands in the fadeout with an effect akin to the heady effervescence of Slowdive’s cover of Syd Barrett’s “Golden Hair.” There is a coolness to the song that parallels the arrival of fall making this latest single by Wandour arrive at exactly the right time. Listen to “Flux” on Soundcloud and follow Wandour at the links provided. Also check out Wandour’s equally entrancing Night Wandering EP on Spotify.

soundcloud.com/wandour
open.spotify.com/artist/3Ak1a7Dr0OryHJZbiFbnFr

MONOGEM’s Latest Single “Soy Lo Que Soy” Is, Downtempo, Latin Synth Pop Homage to Mother Culture

MONOGEM_AveryWheless_lg — MONOGEM, photo by Avery Wheless

The new MONOGEM single “Soy Lo Que Soy” is a sultry electronic pop homage to one’s roots and heritage. The accents of synth arpeggio, shakers and Latin rhythms with the Spanish language lyrics (the title translates to “I Am What I Am”) defies easy categorization. It’s a downtempo song with a sound palette different from what we’re used to hearing in that style of music. It’s also a break from the lush and hazy, soulful synth pop that MONOGEM has released thus far. But as with her other songs, on “Soy Lo Que Soy” MONOGEM makes expert use of space. The vocals sit just right in the mix, the aforementioned arpeggios are quick and just as quickly decay in fast echo. The songwriting gives you the room to take it in on its terms and your own, meeting you partway by leaving the emotional and sonic space in its dynamics. The song was inspired by MONOGEM’s abuela Hortensia to never stop speaking Spanish and holding onto the culture. And thus aside from the language in the song and the touchstones of Latin music, its deeply introspective tones and sonic economy suggests some interesting directions of groth for the artist. Listen to “Soy Le Que Soy” on Soundcloud and look for MONOGEM’s full-length So Many Ways due out October 18. Follow MONOGEM at the links below.

monogem.com
soundcloud.com/monogem
twitter.com/Monogemlovesyou
facebook.com/monogemlovesyou
instagram.com/monogem

Lejonhjärta’s “I Try Alone” is a Darkwave Song About the Struggles of Overcoming Inner Obstacles to Live the Life You Desire

Lejonhjärta2_sm — Lejonhjärta, image courtesy the artists

Lejonhjärta’s new single “I Try Alone” alternates between passages of dense distorted synths and clean, spare passages through which sounds traverse whether that’s a single strand of the aforementioned synths, or ethereal guitar. Through it all the hushed vocals draw you in to a narrative about the personal ghosts of anxiety that keep some of us self-isolating when we yearn to be out doing the things that seem important or even merely normal and how in breaking that pattern we are largely on our own. The contrasting sounds and dynamics of the song provide the dramatic energy not unlike the sort of compositional style as you might hear on an early Fad Gadget track or Xeno & Oaklander channeling their atmospherics and textures into more overtly pop shapes. And although the song seems to be about a kind of soul deep loneliness reinforced by aspects of your personality it is one whose core melody strikes one as being hopeful. Like the song is an acknowledgment of a phase that will pass even though it has felt like forever. Listen to “I Try Alone” on Soundcloud and follow Lejonhjärta on Facebook linked below.

facebook.com/mittlejonhjarta

With Plaintive Robotic Voices and Relentless Evolving Rhythms, Oh Mr James Brings us Along for a Ride Through a Cybernetic Jungle on “Screaming Banshees”

OhMrJames_Primer_cover_crop — Oh Mr James, *Primer* EP cover

“Screaming Banshees” by Oh Mr James is the lead single from the latter’s new EP Primer. At first one hears the urgent breakbeats, alien robotic voices and ambient swells and take into consideration that the project is called Oh Mr James and wonder if that James is Richard D. James of Aphex Twin fame operating under a different moniker as the artist is also from Cornwall and the song wouldn’t be out of step with Aphex Twin’s most recent compositions. Whether that’s true or not, this song doesn’t sound like an omen of death so much as multiple planes of musical ideas working over and with each other in sync. The electronic percussion parallels and reinforces the staccato yet bouncing bass progression sounding like a frantic teletype receiving portentous news. Multiple synths come together throughout the song as the carriers of the melody while background atmospherics are the connective tissue for the song which you come to realize is a bit like the musical model of the functioning of a fast moving animal that races across the earth and arrives at its destination and place of rest at song’s end. Whatever the purpose of the song it takes us on a journey of texture and emotion rich in detail and expertly executed polyrhythms that make it impossible to ignore yet non-invasive enough to stimulate your brain into creative realms of thought. Listen to “Screaming Banshee” on Soundcloud

Marinara’s Playful Video for “Adult Body” Displays the Temptations and Pressures to Resist the Adulting That’s Long Since Become Necessary

Marinara1_sm — Marinara, photo courtesy the artists

Marinara strikes an interesting note with “Adult Body,” the lead single from its debut full length album I Feel Like Dog due out November 8. The music video depicts scenes of adolescent hijinks in the kitchen interrupting the members of the band trying to do something as simple as cooking, an activity that we don’t often think of as adult but which really is. And cooking, not heating up a can of soup, making ramen or putting a frozen meal into the microwave. It represents the temptations to resist being an adult in even the most basic, functional ways as if we need to choose between being being responsible and having fun. The music, the kind of urgent, math-y rock that made and make LVL UP and Palm such interesting bands. The style lends itself well to being both introspective and a rhythmic urgency which Marinara uses to great effect during the course of the song not just to rock out at the end but to create an emotional contrast between the exuberance of youth tempered by the demands of being an adult that knows that partying every day and blowing off mundane responsibilities that need to be taken care of is no way to sustain the life you want long term. The video, directed by Alex Dzialo, looks like scenes from an apartment of a group of young men in their late teens and early twenties living together going to college, or first jobs out of high school and able to delay facing adulthood for a little longer with an exuberance that it’s dawning on them seems foolish and not really glorious because indulging your unevolved ambitious is not truly living your dreams. No one can clean up after you your whole life, take care of all your everyday responsibilities, make your band a well-functioning unit or sustain your best aspirations past the first wave of passionate impulses. It’s, frankly, a fun song about an unfun realization. The line “Never leave the apartment, the fun will never end” speaks so much about the personal epiphany expressed in the song and the necessity of breaking out of the cocoon of your immature self and the sophisticated ways this song embodies that moment. Watch the video on YouTube and follow Marinara at the links provided.

marinaraband.com
facebook.com/yummarinara
instagram.com/marinaraband

The Fantastical Stop Motion Video for Hunting’s Cover of “Gold Day” by Sparklehorse Is a Testament to the Sincerity and Warmth of Mark Linkous’ Songwriting

In giving their cover of Sparklehorse’s “Gold Day” a slightly more upbeat pace than the original, Hunting somehow managed not to kill the utterly sensitive and tender vibe of Mark Linkous’ treatment of the It’s a Wonderful Life track. The way the chords ring out and drip tones like sunlight while nearly hushed vocals bid the best and most wondrous times to the subject of the song preserves its warm spirit. The stop motion video with mice and other animals as the principal characters lends what could be a melancholy song a freshness and wholesome quality that also doesn’t come off saccharine. Rather it’s as though director Jessicka intuited the unironic sincerity and kindness behind the song’s writing as interpreted so well by Hunting. When the mouse with the horse mask sprinkles gold dust on the cat to stave off its hunting instinct, it’s truly a magical moment. Look for Hunting’s new album Whatever You Need due out November 1, 2019.

Annika Grace Calls Out Obsolete, Judgmental Habits on “Crazy Stupid Bitch”

AnnikaGrace_CrazyStupidBitch_cover_crop — Annika Grace, “Crazy Stupid Bitch” cover (cropped)

One might be excused for thinking a song called “Crazy Stupid Bitch” is an example of internalized misogyny when written by a woman. But Annika Grace calls to attention in her song the ways people tear each other down in myriad ways, dehumanizing each other across a spectrum of criteria by which we’d never want to be judged. If we want something for ourselves, we’re selfish. If we have sex outside traditional relationships and for pure curiosity or enjoyment of course one must be a person of low character. Whatever transgresses arbitrary norms that don’t really match most people’s actual experiences and against which many if not most of us will find ourselves failing to meet if we’re frankly honest with ourselves. Grace, in identifying this crassly judgmental and destructive mentality and put it into language that is plainly absurd and lacking in creativity both critiques and diminishes the power of that way of relating to people. That she chose to do so in a simple, succinct pop song with spare production and lightly processed vocals is a way to present a complex and nuanced social issue in a highly accessible and direct way. Listen to “Crazy Stupid Bitch” on Soundcloud and follow Annika Grace at the links below.

soundcloud.com/annikagrace
open.spotify.com/artist/0GDGlBEVKIishPVmrI8xkX
twitter.com/AnniGraceMusic
facebook.com/Annikagracemusic
instagram.com/annikagracemusic

TROVA’s Enigmatic New Single “Littelwaf Linden” Puts Your Mind in Contemplation of the Long Arcs of Your Life and of Human Civilization Generally

TROVA_Oct1_crop — TROVA, photo courtesy the artist

“Littelwaf Linden” finds TROVA exploring the use of textures and phasing as methods of conveying depth of audio field. The track creates a sense of space in your mind like driving through a part of a future city where the windmills are running slowly in the middle of a warm, midspring night, the blades of the windmills turning slowly as you edge past them, lights blinking at intervals up to their heights to signal aircraft, all but silently providing providing power with a mechanistic grace and efficiency. As you pass a field of them on your way to your destination to meet a friend for drinks and to hang out and discuss plans for the future, the windmills strike you as a constant presence that we will all come to take for granted as a means of a stable energy future that impinges little on our environment compared to the way our civilization now goes about things. Almost like the benefits of an old civilization that for a moment took the time to plan for a more sustainable future. Listening to the track in the present tense it puts you in a contemplative mood pondering how we might put in place new ways of being and living that would afford us the luxury of not always needing to work ourselves to the bone and have the time to ponder longer arcs of human civilization and our own lives as embodied by some of the great, large public works of the past that lasted decades or centuries for the benefit for those beyond the immediate generations of their establishment. Listen to “Littelwaf Linden” on Soundcloud and follow TROVA at the links provided.

music.apple.com/us/artist/trova/59287114
soundcloud.com/user-487741800
open.spotify.com/artist/5pOnm9kSmgcipVGbvyVknv
twitter.com/TROVAOfficial
facebook.com/TROVA.Ambient
instagram.com/trova.official

Mending’s Single “Emma’s Morning” is a Pastoral Contemplation of the Sprawling Family Song Cycle Album We Gathered at Wakerobin Hollow

Mending1_crop — Mending, image courtesy the artists

The gentle oscillating tone at the beginning of Mending’s “Emma’s Morning” sounds like the first rays of dawn trickling through your window. And when the piano comes in, like waking up at your leisure. Then the story in the lyrics takes us into a slice of the life of a woman who takes stock of her life and ponders her existence in the context of her family history and the events that have shaped the direction of her life. It begins like a more conventional folk song but then that convention breaks down into interrupted melodies like a digital TV signal glitching out not unlike the way one’s direct connections to the people and the experiences of our past may distort as we proceed into the next chapters of our lives. It’s a fascinating approach to songwriting and it’s one part of the sprawling, conceptual album We Gathered at Wakerobin Hollow, a four hour, forty song “speculative narrative song cycle” released in nine chapters over eighteen months, using drone, noise, songwriting and tracing “the lives of a family and friends over a 40 year period in a series of connected vignettes.” The story is set in motion by a fire at an oil refinery in Odena, Alabama and follows the diaspora of those connected to the incident throughout the country. The project launched in August 2018 and concludes in January 2020. As a piece of art its reminiscent of some of Jeff Lemire’s poignant graphic novels about life in what might consider mundane places where he finds what is most interesting under the veneer of normalcy and brings it to life in a riveting fashion as he did in his also sprawling Essex County Trilogy and Roughneck. Engrossing and sonically daring, “Emma’s Morning” hints at what promises to be a revelatory story arc of a series of songs. Listen to the track on Soundcloud and follow Mending at the links below.

mendingband.tumblr.com
soundcloud.com/mending
mendingband.bandcamp.com