Era Extraña (2011 Neon Indian album) – Queen City Sounds and Art

Night Hikes imbue the title track from their recently released Perfect Wonder EP (released March 24, 2023) with a dreamlike haze and an uplifting spirit. Its lightly distorted synths have a soothing effect that mixes nostalgic reflection with a hopeful wistfulness of opening horizons that Neon Indian had on the Era Extraña album. But there is no patina of regret and no “Perfect Wonder.” Its very much about accepting how things are now and how current frustrations, struggle and limitations are so often not permanent and with some effort and patience, with no small amount of self-kindness, you can get through those times to reach a better place. The lines “And when the present washes away/I let tomorrow make it okay/Somehow I know it’s all worth waiting for/And I’m inclined to stay and see.” This is not a sentiment of false hope, it is a very gentle pragmatism that requires only to resist egotistical impulsiveness and not blind faith so much as trusting in natural processes you don’t always know or see to work out. Listen to “Perfect Wonder” on YouTube and follow Night Hikes at the links below.

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Rain Carnation’s “Liar” is saturated with tone and emotion befitting the subject matter. Airy backgrounds and sweeps of distorted synth drones splash and splay into fadeout over the vocals as pulsing electronic bass recalls at once some late 80s synth pop and the chillwave of the late 2000s and early 2010s and the way that music often took painful heartache and soothed it with gorgeously expansive music that seemed to dilute that pain in the streams of outward melody and taking the time to fall back into the comfortable places of your mind to recover with the words speaking your emotional truth brewing and emerging with a forcefulness that former dissociation can no longer repress. Fans of Neon Indian’s Era Extraña (2011) will appreciate the vibes presented in this song. Listen to “Liar” on Soundcloud and connect with Rain Carnation at the links below.