SubmitHub – Page 9 – Queen City Sounds and Art

Eric Angelo Bessel’s Space Ambient Single “Upstate” Evokes the Mood of Seeing the Earth Revealed by Moonlight

Eric Angelo Bessel, photo courtesy the artist

With “Upstate,” Eric Angelo Bessel eases us in with a slightly distant shimmer of sound that is somehow both elusive and intimate. From this shimmer we can glean impressions of images and feelings of wondering like floating in space above Earth looking down upon the planet revealed by moonlight. The controlled and sculpted feedback Bessel uses to great effect like the musical equivalent of distorted video feed and there is something hypnotic and soothing to the song even as its tones sound like they would normally be clipping and overloading he signal. Fans of Flying Saucer Attack and Windy and Carl will definitely key into Bessel’s aesthetic. The track is the second of two from the recent release Mirror at Night B-Sides available now as a 7” vinyl and/or download and for streaming. Listen to “Upstate” on YouTube and follow Bessel at the links provided.

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The Huntress and Holder of Hands Delve Into the Conflicted Human Condition on Doom Folk Song “Promethean”

The Huntress and Holder of Hands, photo courtesy the artists

“Promethean” finds The Huntress and Holder of Hands invoking the archetypal human struggle with akin to that of the mythological figure Prometheus and the burden of having the capacity to reason and what we do with the body of knowledge we believe we possess. The song begins with minimal strings and heavy orchestral moods paired with MorganEve Swain’s weighty vocals contemplating existential issues and our place in the world and how we see ourselves in our own lives. The song progresses into a more full sound that if the instrumentation were different might well be a doom song in a more dark folk mode. Violin, cello, bass all establish a textural and deeply atmospheric sound that fans of the likes of SubRosa and Faetooth may greatly appreciate for its sheer heaviness if not firmly in rhe realm of metal. Listen to “Promethean” on YouTube and follow The Huntress and Holder of Hands at the links provided. The band’s new album Babylon is out June 5, 2026.

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Soft No’s Post-Punk Emo Single “Oxford Street” Is an Exuberant But Heartbreaking Portrait of Friendship and Loss

Soft No on “Oxford Street” sounds so exuberant and emotionally vibrant. The melancholic intro and the sweetly orchestral outro, though, frame the song about friendship and tragedy, fond memories and the preciousness of life perfectly. We hear in the song often startling frank portraits of the kinds of complicated relationships with friends that hit with an instant poignancy because friends who are genuine accept each other on their own terms and it hurts deeply when they’re gone no matter the reason. The music and vocals embody the intensity of memories and what we savor with our connection with others and it is that aspect of a song that transcends narrow genre. Listen to “Oxford Street” on YouTube and follow Philadelphia’s Soft No at the links below. The band’s new EP Super Neutral releases on vinyl, digital download and streaming on May 29, 2026 via Abandon Everything Records.

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Hissuae’s Cinematic, Intimate and Transcendent Art Pop Single “Guilty Pleasure” Mixes the Personal With the Mythical

Hissuae breathes a sense of the intimate and cinematic into “Guilty Pleasure” with her ethereal and vulnerable vocals. The song’s arrangements are orchestral and minimal in their intertwining of sweeping piano and percussion so that the song feels like an immersive, living entity in the listening. In the background the barest touch of synth lends an otherworldly quality that puts the more human elements in the foreground and catches one’s full attention. The singer-songwriter’s singing style is reminiscent of the ways Kate Bush and Loreena McKennitt could intermingle the personal with the mythical in fine nuances of vocal expression. For a song that seems to be about transcending mundane, everyday existence that is the perfect tonal mode for the song to take. Listen to “Guilty Pleasure” on Spotify and connect with Hissuae on Bandcamp.

Genre Is Death Savage Inauthentic Aspirations on No Wave Punk Single “Attractive People”

Genre Is Death, photo courtesy the artists

On “Attractive People” Genre Is Death sound like they took a time machine back to 1980s New York (their hometown) and got to experience bands like Live Skull, early No Wave and Pussy Galore firsthand and shed obvious influences on their return to our era. What we hear is a caustic and noisy, haunting and thrilling song that weds mechanistic rhythms to discordant guitar and a hypnotically driving bass line to create a different kind of musical darkness with which the band shreds shallow aspirations and lifestyle over substantive living and creating. The lyrics are minimal, mostly “You don’t have a life/You just want to be attractive” and “It’s just a lifestyle” that can seem general but when combined with the music’s headiness and confrontational sound it speaks to anyone that recognizes certain social phenomena in the culture when there seem to be people who like the association of cool within a subculture or parasocial attachments without having to do anything to actually be so and live in a way that commits to something real which requires actual effort more than being attracted to the image of authenticity and accomplishment. Watch the video for “Attractive People” on YouTube and follow Genre Is Death at the links below. The band’s LP is out May 1, 2026 on In the Red Records.

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Tory Silver’s Wistful and Hopeful Indie Pop Single “Microwave” Comforts With Images of Reliably Necessary Daily Rituals

Tory Silver mixes nostalgic wistfulness with hopefulness on “Microwave.” The crunchy yet melodic guitars have real grit and though reminiscent a bit of Pixies have a modern resonance particularly with Silver’s charmingly vulnerable vocal delivery. In the video we see what looks like VHS footage and in-camera-style effects interspersed with images of a microwave oven for an effect that enhances the song’s themes of holding onto daily rituals as a grounding for getting through the periods of self-doubt and mundane but necessary and repetitive experiences of life that help string the rest of it together and make it all possible even if it can be easy to forget and get swept up in periods of despair at the thought of possible future catastrophe and stagnation. It’s the kind of song that has a familiar mood and sound to it but mainly because we’ve all been there at some point and maybe even now and it’s comforting to hear someone articulate that state of mind so accurately. Watch the video for “Microwave” on YouTube and follow Tory Silver at the links provided. Silver’s new album In Through the Front with Lasers releases through Michi Tapes on May 29, 2026.

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The Empty Page Eviscerates the Destructive Anti-Aging Rhetoric of Our Society on Brooding Post-Punk Single “A Feminine Ending”

The Empty Page, photo courtesy the artists

The Empty Page sketches in vivid sonic images and lyrics the toxicity of anti-aging rhetoric in culture and media with “A Feminine Ending.” With almost agonized yet cathartic guitar work and vocals that begin reflective and ramp up to furious the song is like an even darker, noisier early Concrete Blonde song. Shredding how our own self-hatred is marketed to us as inadequacy and insecurity cured by some technocratic capitalist method for addressing specific “flaws” and failing that to encourage us to withdraw from being publicly active and not seeing ourselves as having relevance and power even in our own lives. Especially if you’re a woman. The song feels like urgent resistance against a false and destructive narrative that is somehow still rampant in our civilization and just a thrilling song that gives voice to the instinct to reject being discarded as the worn out parts of the machinery of a deeply dysfunctional society. Fans of Latter and Kaput will deeply appreciate the way The Empty Page combines unfettered emotional expression, sharp social critique and creative expansion of out of obvious subgenres of music. Listen to “A Feminine Ending” on Spotify and follow The Empty Page at the links provided.

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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.