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Florence Dore Gives Voice to the Frustrations of Academic Bureaucracy on Rousing Americana Rock Song “Twelve Great Minds (Department Meeting)”

Florence Dore, photo by Lindsay Metivier

Florence Dore’s rousing “Twelve Great Minds (Department Meeting)” sounds like a gritty honky tonk rock song that might be about some hard living and the foibles of life on the road. But it is a different kind of hard road about which Dore is giving pointed words about and that is the dysfunctional world of academia and how normally intelligent people in the rungs of academic bureaucracy and set aside the great ideas and thinkers they studied to get where they are only to set aside high-minded conceits for petty power struggles and the like that happens in higher education. Dore sums it all up succinctly with the spirited refrain of, “Twelve great minds and twelve ways to fuck it up.” If you’ve ever been in academia change the parameters and you can hear in Dore’s song your own struggle. Listen to “Twelve Great Minds (Department Meeting)” on YouTube and follow Florence Dore at the links provided. Dore’s new album Hold the Spark releases May 1, 2026 via Propeller Sound Recordings.

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Lukka’s Synth-Infused Dream Pop Single “Fabric of the Cosmos” is a Ballad of Acceptance of a Universe in a Constant State of Flux

A sense of constant expansion flows through the psychedelic harmonies of Lukka’s “Fabric of the Cosmos.” The song seems to be an extended reflection on the concept of impermanence in an ever changing universe as reflected in our own natures and how every moment is different from the next in ways that we may not notice without taking out a moment to take in that realization and how acceptance of this eternal state of flux and contingent realities can be found in considering essence of the natural world around us like the ocean and the metaphor attributed to ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus about not being able to step into the same river twice. Our culture places a premium on confidence in absolutes but Lukka here seems to suggest the greater wisdom is in being able to live with a more fluid and dynamic existence that is closer to the actual nature of the world in which we find ourselves. Philosophical/metaphysical considerations aside the song is a soothing and bit of synth-infused space rock/dream pop that fans of Stargazer Lilies and Public Memory will appreciate best.

Unwed Sailor’s Brisk and Warm “West Coast Prism” is the Soundtrack to the Anticipation of a Future Road Trip

The summery mood and guitar shimmer in forward motion on Unwed Sailor’s “West Coast Prism” is the right sound for the beginning of a road trip. The music video with a view of a coastline captured on warping VHS or Super-8 with a color shift lends the song’s presentation a touch of nostalgia or maybe more properly that as a lens as something to look forward to from fond memories of previous jaunts. The layers of textural guitar, rhythm and melodic leads alongside uplifting synth and a steadily progressing and brisk beat keep the spirit fresh throughout the song and in typical fashion without words suggest a cinematic experience even without the visualizer. Fitting seeing as Unwed Sailor will be touring this spring from April 21 through May 2, 2026. Watch the video for “West Coast Prism” on YouTube and follow Unwed Sailor at the links below. The new album High Remembrance is out May 8 via Current Taste.

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Field Hospitals’s Romantically Nostalgic “Everyfire” is a Jangle Pop Post-Punk Ballad About Reconnecting With One’s Passions

Field Hospitals from Minneapolis offer an expansion of its jangle pop sound on new single “Everyfire.” Sonically it resonates with the kind of mood and melodies of mid-to-late 80s New Order and The Call at once. There is a sense of romantic nostalgia to the song that puts one in a reflective mood with the guitars and more driving rhythms paired with a background harmonic in sustained synths as the lyrics seem to hearken back to cherished memories and former inspirations and passions that may have been left behind but which can be rekindled if you want with some help which the lyrics seem to ask for. The first part of the song sounds more yearning but the song itself ends on a satisfying note of maybe having decided on acting toward a new sense of self and purpose rather than merely wanting that to come to pass. Listen to “Everyfire” on Spotify and follow Field Hospitals on Instagram.

Lucille Two’s “What’s In My Mind” is a Hazy Slowcore Song About Moving on From a Relationship That Has Already Crumbled

There is a gentle sense of resignation in the mood of Lucille Two’s “What’s In My Mind.” The lyrics seem to outline the words of someone who has long since realized the relationship is over and emotionally broken even if it’s not so easy to let go and even when the excuses for not doing so linger. Trudy Bennett’s vocals are reminiscent of Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star in her ability to make heavy emotional expressions hit with a soft touch and the song itself while more in the vein of a classic slowcore song in the beginning ramps up to something with more sonic conviction to match the sentiments of the song’s ebbs and flows and finishing on a note of self-fortified forward motion out of what might have felt like an enervating denouement to a connection that once felt more life affirming. Watch the video for “What’s In My Mind” on YouTube and follow Lucille Two at the links below.

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Fugue State’s “Dark” is an Ambient Jazz Dream Pop Song That Soothes and Stirs the Imagination

Dan Langa of Fugue State, photo by Alex SK Brown

“Dark” has an iterative quality to its arrangements with subtle changes in the repeated sequences. For the song Fugue State brings together elements of ambient jazz, truly left field pop and a sort of collage and cut up technique in laying out the rhythms and sounds so that tones overlap with rhythms with an effect of watching a film with layers of varying opacity so that there is an organic flow of what is at the forefront in the mix. The core rhythm is carried by a percussive melodic line and the vocals float dream-like through the song like a fond but elusive memory. There is something soothing and faintly uplifting about the song and it comes across as a retrofuturist dream pop that draws on older musical ideas to create something with new and fresh resonances. Listen to “Dark” on Spotify and follow Fugure State at the links below.

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Blvckhndz Boosts Community Protection on Darkwave Hip-Hop Single “I Am Your Neighbor”

Blvckhndz pairs a spectral melodic synth line with an urgent beat on “I Am Your Neighbor” that complements well rapid but expertly sequenced bars about life in a community today. The title hearkens one to the Kengo Hanazawa manga series I Am a Hero and the artwork shows our own hero of the song, perhaps, giving a kick to the yarbles of an ICE agent instead of a literal zombie. And the song ends with the now familiar refrains of “ICE out!” and concluding with “Fuck ICE.” Who can’t get behind those sentiments that isn’t a bootlicker? The whole song though is like a mini manual for surviving this perilous era and maintain an inner calm even as hectic as it can seem. The song straddles the genre lines of hip-hop, darkwave and synthpop and video game music in a way that expands the boundaries of all by unifying them. Listen to “I Am Your Neighbor” on Spotify and follow Virginia-based artist Blvckhndz at the links provided.

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Mindy Gledhill Inspires Finding Everyday Wonders Around You on Dream Folk Single “Hidden Pictures”

Mindy Gledhill, photo courtesy the artist

The almost layered guitar work under Mindy Gledhill’s vocals, doubled now and then to great yet subtle effect, in “Hidden Pictures” are like a musical embodiment of the songwriter’s lyrics. Gledhill seems to be reminding us of that Buddhist story about being able to see the universe in a blade of grass if only you are open to perceptions of wondrous things around you in everyday life where previously you seemed to only find the mundane. A slight shift in perspective and cognitive priorities is really all it takes, no special powers or bolt of “enlightenment,” it’s a shift that’s accessible to everyone and Gledhill’s melodiously gentle song seems to have a way of coaxing this painless and easy transformation with its soothing energies. Listen to “Hidden Pictures” on YouTube and follow Mindy Gledhill at the links below.

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Oski XD Doski’s “Bonny Wraith” is a Culture Jamming Collage of Post-Punk Psychedelic Folk

Oski XD Doski, photo courtesy the artists

“Bonny Wraith” by Oski XD Doski sounds like it was assembled from glitched out fragments of songs almost collage style to form a song that is at turns lo-fi indie rock, post-punk weirdness and psychedelic rock circa early Flaming Lips. The video has ghosts in frame, paintings of ancient Egypt, archaic cartoons, images of the outlines of the earth and all animated together. It’s obvious the song and the video were created organically and brought together with an analog sensibility in mind. Like the people in the band came up partly on old Nickelodeon shows and Liquid Television and had seen music videos from Residents and Renaldo & The Loaf. Musically the song and its coherent yet eclectic style has a flavor that seems akin to early Ween gone Neo Folk. It’s really does no justice to the uniqueness of the song to compare it immediately to anything else but fans of Sun City Girls may like this as well. Watch the video for “Bonny Wraith” on YouTube and follow Oski XD Doski at the links provided. Gotta appreciate a band using a meme emoticon in the middle of its moniker. The group’s new album Latency Issues released February 15, 2026.

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“Spin Glass” by storyinsoil is an Ambient IDM Piece That Sounds Like the Score of a Utopian, Existential Science Fiction Drama From the ‘70s

The rapid-cycling, almost iterative aspect of storyinsoil’s “Spin Glass” with the intro has a minimalistic quality of early synthesizer music but as the track progresses the modulated, lower end tonal rhythm anchors the song. The circular bright tone increases in volume and brightness and then decreases giving a real sense of space allowing for other layers to express a more delicate emotional coloring from inside its framing. The percussive aspect of the more prominent sounds lends the song a tactile quality and the more subtle sounds one more melancholic yet imbued with a sense of wonder. Toward the conclusion the song gives way to a touch of more conventional melody as the rhythms fade out conveying a cinematic quality to the song like the closing credits of one of those existential science fiction and adventure films of the 1970s and 1980s the likes of which were typically soundtracked by the likes of Tangerine Dream and Popol Vuh. This doesn’t feel like a homage to that era of synthesizer music so much as finding a fresh application of the way that music had an analog tonal quality that was as palpable as it was atmospheric. Listen to “Spin Glass” on YouTube and follow storyinsoil at the links provided.