Queen City Sounds and Art

The Video For “Empty” By Denis First & Reznikov Is a Synthwave Urban Science Fiction Buddy Action Hero Epic In Miniature

DenisFirst_Reznikov_KamilKwiatkowski_sm — Denis First & Reznikov, photo by Kamil Kwiatkowski

For the video of their collaborative song “Empty,” Denis First & Reznikov approved some footage that suggests the banger aesthetic in the form of some action duo road trip video game. Like a demo for some futuristic urban noir mash-up of Duke Nuke ‘Em 3D and The Venture Bros.. The song sounds like it could be for the intro of such a show but without all the pesky telling the story of the show in the lyrics. The beat is urgent and progressive yet gritty like a more pop version of Perturbator or Kavinsky. But this is more clearly a dance song with builds that drop off into space rather than with bass wobble. It’s pulsing melody under gently auto-tuned vocals and contemplative passages gives the song a dynamic quality that would seem to work on the smaller stage or amphitheaters. Watch below and follow the artists at their respective links provided.

https://facebook.com/iamdenisfirst
https://soundcloud.com/denisfirstmusic
https://twitter.com/denisfirst
https://instagram.com/denisfirst

https://instagram.com/vladlenreznikov

Zaydo Takes Us On a Journey of Reaching Creative Focus on “Back In The Mix”

Zaydo1_crop — Zaydo, photo courtesy the artist

Gradients of tone and texture swirl in at the beginning of Zaydo’s “Back In The Mix” as though brought in with the breeze. Warping melodies flutter, bubble up and come in and out of focus as his flow of words anchor the ethereal beat and ghostly backing vocals in a story of grinding in the world juggling priorities and struggling with relationships and situations that undermine your time for your creative work. It’s a song to remind himself and us to not lose sight of our goals and what’s important without needing to couch it in misplaced tough-minded bravado. At just under three minutes the emotional journey of the song subtly runs deep with a soundscape that so vividly expresses a time and place in your life when you need to assess the state of things without getting distracted. The sounds almost representing city sights distant and near while driving or walking about and reflecting on your life and sorting through it all in your head until you reach clarity of focus. In doing so, the song is that process of sorting out but giving it a dreamlike quality that makes it creative rather than simply self-therapy. Listen below.

“Casey” by Jon Wiilde Captures That Post-Existential Crisis Liminal State Where All Seems Lost But Hope Remains

JonWiilde1_cropped — John Wiide, photo courtesy the artist

Jon Wiilde’s calm demeanor on “Casey” is even more obvious in the music video. The echoing synth rhythm casts a hypnotic, dream like sheen over the languid pace of ethereal guitar and minimal percussion to evoke a deep dive into a psychedelic realm of downtempo, melancholic melodies. What Wiilde sings from what sounds like a post-existential crisis place of spiritual weariness in search of an everyday moment of joy to pull him out of the doldrums. As colorful and entrancing as the song, the video is the sort of thing you’d expect out of Gregg Araki revisiting his filmmaking roots or Darren Aronofsky make a film that doesn’t plunge you to the depths of despair—that beautiful use of darkness, shadow and color that makes their work so striking. That mixture of elements is present in Wiilde’s songwriting and informs the remarkable video for “Casey.” Below are both the audio and the video followed by links at which you can follow further Wiilde’s imaginative creative output.

soundcloud.com/jonwiilde
https://open.spotify.com/album/50TF79R1LcTjV07l1PFlIE

Nikita Afonso’s “Good Morning, Sunshine” is a Refreshing Breath of Sunrise to Start Off Your Day

NikitaAfonso_HolyMyHeart_sm — Nikita Afonso, cover of *Holy My Heart* (cropped)

Nikita Afonso’s breathy vocals sound imbued with inner motes of light that hang on the tiny bit of distortion at the edges of her singing. And that quality is appropriately well in place on her new single “Good Morning, Sunshine.” It’s a simple yet poetic love song in the classic mold but transcends tropes through the aforementioned as well as some beautifully orchestrated guitar and electronic elements including a bit here and there near the beginning of the song ascending like the musical approximation of smelling the morning coffee as the sun rises. Think Tangerine Dream’s work for the soundtrack of Risky Business but a more gently exuberant daytime coming out of sleep instead of late night ready to lay down for the night. Listen for yourself on Soundcloud and follow Afonso’s further adventures in songwriting at the links below.

Update: Here is also the new music video for “Good Morning, Sunshine.”

nikitaafonso.com
soundcloud.com/nikita-afonso-385720198
twitter.com/NikitaAfonso
facebook.com/NikitaAfonsoMusic
instagram.com/nikitaafonso

“…In The Way You Disappeared” by Fairies! No Mercenaries is a Harrowing Meditation on the Despair of Losing a Loved One

FairiesNoMercenaries_InTheWayYouDisappeared_cover-lg — Fairies! No Mercenaries, image courtesy the artist

Theomar C. Francois of Fairies! No Mercenaries has been using the project as an outlet to transform harrowing experiences and emotional darkness into music that doesn’t downplay any of it but might help others to process their own trauma and emotional stasis. The latest single “…In The Way You Disappeared” sounds like an emo band discovered synthwave and deathrock and mulched it all to produce something that sounds like a true amalgamation and not a clumsy co-opting of styles to fit into a favored aesthetic. Driving distorted guitar gives way to synth leads as Francois’ melancholic vocals tell the heartbreaking tale of a loved one lost and how that pain may recede over time but how the haunting never completely goes away. One wonders if James O’Barr’s original graphic novel of The Crow was in any part an inspiration because it has the same sense of loving despair that strikes deep. But whatever the root spark of the song it’s a fascinating genre hybrid that remains with you long after listening. Listen to the track from the album Eurydice on Bandcamp and follow the artist at the links following.

https://fairiesnomercenaries.bandcamp.com/track/in-the-way-you-disappeared

open.spotify.com/artist/1xxCCT8CqMnPRBbPorH1Br
fairiesnomercenaries.bandcamp.com
instagram.com/fairiesnomercenaries

“Backtrack” is Halen Sykes’ Bittersweet Ode to an On Again Off Again Relationship in a Small Town

HalenSykes1_artwork_cropped — Halen Sykes, image courtesy the artist

Halen Sykes’ “Backtrack” hits you by surprise if you’re a reflective person who has been around a certain locale for any period of time to see things change and how your life intersects with those changes and the relationships and connections to time and place that ground you. And how that can trap you in a revisiting of the familiar and putting you back into situations that no longer serve the person you are now even if they feel comfortable and aren’t inherently negative. But the sense of stasis and how we self-reinforce our patterns that are both healthy and lead people down the path of the mid-life crisis where you wonder what your life could have been. And yet the crisis isn’t in the song, it’s a wistful yet knowing take on an on again, off again relationship cast in beautifully gentle and upsweeping melodies over a meditative but expressive performance on percussion

“Yellow Hearts” by Enjune is a Song to Soothe the Soul of Anyone Suffering From the Pangs of a Clandestine Love

Enjune4_crop — Enjune, photo courtesy the artist

Enjune’s new single off the forthcoming Teal Dreams EP (due June 28), “Yellow Hearts,” is brimming with suppressed feelings clandestinely expressed in the form of a song that could be said to be fiction or about someone else if the object of those feelings asks. You feel for songwriter Jake Goble as it’s not a misplaced or dark wave of emotion that informs the songwriting but a sense of connection for someone special whose personality and the way they carry themselves moves and inspires you beyond some fleeting attraction. Written in the style of R&B-inflected chillwave, it’s a downtempo beat and dreamily melancholic vibe sounds like Goble is trying to make the feelings go down easier for him and anyone who might relate to the song in their own lives. Listen below and follow Enjune at the links provided.

soundcloud.com/enjunemusic
open.spotify.com/artist/0Q5H7S50NYFVJi7fewkoJs
youtube.com/channel/UC2CzudcS40scL801K8Tk1mw
twitter.com/EnjuneMusic
facebook.com/enjunemusic
instagram.com/enjune.music

“3,000,000 Years” by Peter Kleinhans is a Jaunty Ditty About Collective Human Hubris

PeterKleinhans3_sm — Peter Kleinhans, photo courtesy the artist

Peter Kleinhans comments on the sweep of human history and hubris on “3,000,000 Years” with an irreverent wit. Recounting the endless ways in which our species has discovered ways to progress civilization and being in love with our own cultures with the chauvinistic delusions of exceptionalism. Whether that’s our use and misuse of science, religion, philosophy, politics, concepts of race and so on, Kleinhans playfully punctures the pomposity of the homo sapiens and our willingness to overlook history in pursuit of narrow self-interest as we rationalize the destruction of the world and each other. The upbeat, jangle pop sound of the song gives it a bit of a surreal quality but one that will probably be easier to accept by more people than some song that sounds like the trainwreck of forward momentum into doomsday that is modern human civilization and maybe, paradoxically, songs and art like this will get a few more people to think about things in their proper context and instead of despair be willing to adapt to a necessary shift in consciousness and lifestyle. Listen below and follow Kleinhans at the links following.

hyperurl.co/SomethingsNotRightPK
soundcloud.com/peterkleinhansmusic
open.spotify.com/track/11MBQvv84vBoIfkhmC4sOK?si=p-6IEk3AS5aXa-KmoAw4oA

Shivercrash Stellar’s “Lies Over Toast” Is a Jangle Post-Punk Anthem to Romantic Disillusionment

ShivercrashStellar_WakeUpDelusion_cover_sm — Shivercrash Stellar, *Wake Up Deluision* cover (cropped)

The most impressive thing about Shivercrash Stellar’s single “Lies Over Toast” is that so much sound and so many dynamics are packed into a single song without any of it stumbling over the rest or crowding out the the other elements. Even when the song sweeps into densely sonic passages of great momentum there’s a great use of space with instruments swirling together in the mix around the vocals. Obvious comparisons of the latter to Paul Banks and Isaac Brock in being focused but with a tiny bit of quaver with the force of emotion could be made and a storytelling style and cadence. But there’s a bit more jangle and maybe the influence of proto-alternative rock bands like Game Theory, Let’s Active and REM. But, if you give the group’s new album Wake Up Delusion a further listen, with synths and maybe someone in the band really took to The Strokes’ This Is It in his or her youthful musical development. Whatever the exact ingredients “Lies Over Toast” takes us on a dynamic and sometimes brooding journey about becoming disabused of romantic notions about those we dare to love. Listen below and follow the Shivercrash Stellar further at the link following.

shivercrashstellar.bandcamp.com

Asian She’s Video for “Competitive Mourning” is a Revenge-Themed Horror Thriller In Miniature

Asian She’s video for “Competitive Mourning” has a visual style and thematic elements akin to something dreamed up by Darren Aronofsky or Jordan Peele and a short, dark, revenge-themed horror thriller. Musically the song is a series of descending progressions that switch to minor chords that give the overall mood a sinister quality even though the main guitar melody is jangle-y and bright and is essentially about the kind of performative online behavior engendered by the social media age even when it comes to matters that seem like they should be private. The members of Asian She include Thomas Froggett of She Wants Revenge, frontman Noah Lebenzon and former Peal Jam drummer Dave Krusen and the amalgam of that, if “Competitive Mourning” is any example, is a bit like a cross between Tom Petty and Cursive. The single comes from the group’s forthcoming EP, Kiss Under Kareem, due out in July through L.A. Hall of Records. Follow the group at the links below.

open.spotify.com/artist/3xUroJ9phAHftA25QDMv86
lahallofrecords.bandcamp.com/track/competitive-mourning
facebook.com/AsianShe