psychedelic pop – Queen City Sounds and Art

Cosmic Madness, photo courtesy the artist

The lyrics to “Fine” by Cosmic Madness seems to unspool a narrative of reflection as a means of looking forward, of establishing a personal framing as the foundation of what comes next in one’s life. The guitar and vocal melody interweave and shift in tone from introspective to assertive as the song progresses in a way that feels like something growing and branching out and embracing what nurtures the expansion. The minimalism in the earlier parts of the song fill in with a backdrop of luminous harmonics and guitar allowed to drift in phasing passages that curl around the percussion and rhythm guitar to convey a sense of well being that uplifts the melancholic mood of the song borne of learning to let go of the habits of mind and living that no longer serve the life you want and are already leaning into. Listen to “Fine” on YouTube and follow Cosmic Madness at the links provided.

Cosmic Madness on Apple Music

Cosmic Madness on TikTok

New Wolves return with the more downtempo pop of “Sleep It Back.” Its languid pace and the subdued but slightly haunting tone of the vocals seem to be set back into the mix slightly yet always forward in arrangement of sounds from the band’s signature almost sound design approach with noises coming in and out of the song to give it a cinematic quality like special effects in a movie to convey a deep sense of place. But the sounds here aren’t random so much as idiosyncratic bits of music like horns, crystalline synth glimmering in the background, whooshes of harmonic white noise, ethereal string lines and the ever present bass line and clipped guitar like something from a Bossa Nova band guesting on a jazz record. It all adds up to contribute to this ever so slightly psychedelic song about being caught between contradictory impulses and not knowing how to reconciling them and settling into not making that choice and being comfortable in being a little restless. Listen to “Sleep It Back” on YouTube and follow New Wolves at the links provided. Look for the debut New Wolves album out Summer 2026.