The swirls of ethereal harmonics and melodies in the hazy synths of MAKEUP’s “Finger Driver” pair well with a background of icy tones and a spare electronic beat. The artist’s processed vocals offer an emotional uplift in a song that could otherwise be melancholic. The mood is reminiscent of lightly fogged DIY skate parties in the late 2010s and like a soundtrack for a more hopeful indie science fiction thriller. Fans of Chromatics and Electric Youth will find some strong resonance in MAKEUP’s mastery of tone and organic yet otherworldly and fantastical melodies. Listen to “Finger Driver” on Spotify.
An early morning, dreamlike energy courses through sydastry’s “moonlight.” The songwriter’s vocal style shifts easily from singing to more spoken word passages to suit the moment as the song progresses. It seems as though the more spoken sections represent reflecting in expository fashion and the singing more in the moment and being in the present tense. The music is melodic and ethereal, breezy, luminous and gentle whether in forward motion or lingering on a feeling. It’s the kind of pop song without standard arrangement or structure that has a seemingly intuitive flow of rhythm and tonal flourishes that invites one into its own entrancing logic. It’s like a song that should have been in a Satoshi Kon film that was never made, imbued with a comforting mood as it lays out uncomfortable subjects in a manner that make them seem more explicable. Listen to “moonlight” on Bandcamp and follow Dallas-Fort Worth/based artist sydastry at the link below.
Sasha & The Bear display a command of mood and pace on “Peaches.” The warm and intimate vocals are reflective and soulfully melancholic are framed initially by a soft synth melody before the minimal beat comes in and backing vocals augment the sense of loss and emotional pain at feeling left abandoned by someone with whom you felt you had a connection and a bond stronger than something casual. The confusion and hurt in the final lines of the song “you said it wasn’t me/but I watched you choose” is familiar to anyone that has ever experienced being abruptly dumped without fully knowing why by someone who may have their own demons to tangle with but who is lacking the psychological self-awareness and appropriate language to articulate why they have to leave a relationship that doesn’t seem to be toxic. The masterful use of texture, the tonal richness and the duo’s expert crafting or rhythm feels like processing a deep sadness and giving oneself the psychic space to really lean into one’s feelings without having to hold back or be overwhelmed by them. Listen to “Peaches” on Spotify and follow Sasha & The Bear at the links provided.
“Is That Blood?” begins with a spare but urgent piano line before Sara Diana’s strong and soulful vocals come in with a brooding backdrop of cycling low end and a minimalistic beats. The song seems to be about a romance that is deep and caught up in a mutual acceptance of aspects of those involved that they feel the need to keep secret or hidden from most people for fear of judgment. In the song’s orchestral arrangements the songwriter perfectly places the emotional beats of the song. Fans of the early music of Lorde will find something resonant here but in a darker dream pop vein yet both artists seem to draw upon inspiration from modern R&B production. Listen to “Is That Blood?” on Spotify and follow Sara Diana at the links provided.
Pulses of melody course through &Tilly and BlauDisS’s single “Chaotic Neutral” like drifting photons of tone, trailing in the field of hearing. In the music video the singer seems to be sitting in a bathtub and contemplating a moment adrift in a mood, in a state of being. The title of the song is perhaps a reference to the alignment in Dungeons & Dragons most motivated by impulse and being neither malicious or guided by a particular moral framework that one would identify as “good” it can be difficult to predict. But in real world terms it might encapsulate a sense of being adrift when most things that have anchored anything to values or a system of values has been eroded and you can easily get to a place in the mind when you start to wonder if anything has any inherent meaning and if anything is truly worth doing except what intersects with your mind in any given moment. Most thoughtful, sensitive people who may have once really believed in something only to have the foundation of that thing or set of principles supporting it undermined and discredited. This can be a cultural, societal, political, spiritual or interpersonal thing that was at the core of your sense of self and if you don’t have a solid sense of self separate enough from any of those things you can feel like it’s all nonsense even if for a short or extended period of time. The song’s gentle rhythms and melancholic moods suits a sense of disconnected yearning that remains when you’re not sure if anything matters but you can sometimes feel like you want something, anything, to resonate with you deeply. Watch the video for “Chaotic Neutral” on YouTube and follow &Tilly at the links below.
In the churning whirlwind of noise and melody of Taleen Kali’s shoegaze track “Crossed” one hears the touch of Going Blank Again-period Ride, maybe a hint of The Vaselines in the sheer embrace of raw sound in a pop hook. The rippling/repeating synth line that opens the song is like a primer for the glorious flood of sound that carries you through the rest of the song. The songwriter’s vocals soar in harmony and solo over the proceedings while not dominating the mix. The lyrics seem to express an inner change and acceptance of transformation and change rather than holding on to outmoded ways of thinking and being. The music and its layers of atmospheric guitar and texture at headlong pace supports this untangling of self into more expansive states of spirit and the song hits as triumphant rather than melancholic. The single is also available as a limited edition lathe cut on Bandcamp. Listen to “Crossed” on Spotify and follow Taleen Kali at the links below.
Angel T33th seems to channel Dazzle Ships-period OMD and the manifestation of those sounds in Future Islands in the expansive and lush “Mika 2000.” The sound has an energy that feels explorative and reflecting on what wonders may be ahead. The steady pulse of harmonic distortion and hand clap percussion and the more more insistent synth melodies convey a sense of romance and tragedy that the vocalist in her breathy turns of phrase seems to sketch a story of interacting with a person, an entity who is always around but exasperating but whom one comes to appreciate on a level that can only really happen when familiarity turns to affection. Overall the song feels like a piece of a futuristic story of isolation in the far flung corners of the human intergalactic diaspora. Listen to “Mika 2000” on YouTube and follow Angel T33th at the links below. The debut album A Message to Myself dropped on August 11, 2025.
Guitars sketch faint tonal lines of melody in the opening parts of Jouska’s dream pop single “Flower Moon.” Jouska’s voice is soft yet evocative in describing a situation of melancholic yearning. Wanting a sign from a loved one that seems uncommunicative after a disruption in the relationship. The warm harmonic keyboard figure that illuminates the song’s backdrop embodies the underlying sadness that informs the song and with the sweeping percussion it all establishes a beautiful atmosphere that soothes the morning and lovesick feeling one can get into in those moments where you feel left wondering what comes next with no real sense if anything will. Listen to “Flower Moon” on YouTube and follow Norwegian dream pop artist Jouska at the links below.
Queen City Sounds and Art 
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