UK jazz singer Jazz Morley enters the realms of electro-soul in ‘Safe Place’.
The song considers the idea of Jazz moving back to her seaside hometown of Bournemouth, to escape the stresses of city life;
‘This is a love song written about where I live and who I have in my life. It marks a shift in my own mental health, happiness and creativity. Being a full-time musician, life can be exciting, spontaneous and hugely rewarding but also chaotic, unpredictable and at times, unstable. For the first time in my life, I am happy with who I am, and where I reside – next to the sea, along the beautiful Dorset coastline.’
We receive a huge amount of submissions via SubmitHub, and unfortunately cannot review all of the tracks, so we have decided to compile those tracks into a weekly segment of gems we’ve particularly enjoyed.
Dream Lake – Midnight Sun
Swedish electro-pop duo Dream Lake share the dreamy ‘Midnight Sun’.
This song perfectly encapsulates the airy, long days of light during the summer in Sweden, with dreamy vocals and romantic keys.
Vanguards are a indie pop focused four-piece from Brighton.
‘Rosie & The Blackheart’ is a bittersweet love song that echoes 80’s guitar legends. The track was recorded live and produced by Steve Harris (Kodaline, DaveMatthews, KaiserChiefs).
Sounds like: INXS, Kings Of Leon, The 1975, Kodaline
US-based Tigers and Thieves share ‘Change Your Mind’, an indie rock track that has all the markings of a hit, despite being recorded in their garage studio. It’s been mixed by Brian McTear (TheWar on Drugs, Sharon Van Etten, LocalNatives).
Sounds like: Local Natives, Foster the People, The Neighbourhood, alt-J, Surfer Blood, The Temper Trap, Nick Mulvey
Los Angeles-based pop duo ALKE release ‘Without You’.
There is no denying the obvious chemistry shown between Jameson Flood (production, guitar, keys) and AK Karrasch (vocals) on the track as it explores love versus independence.
‘Someone’ is the lead single taken from Anna Of The North‘s debut album, ‘Lovers’.
From the get go, ‘Someone’ is a spellbinding explosion of 80’s inspired synths, and is set to be the soundtrack to your summer.
Speaking about ‘Someone’, the band say,
“We think almost everyone has woken up after a big night, instantly regretting something that happened. It’s about how easy it is to break your promises when you’ve had a couple of drinks. Going deeper, the song is about accepting that you’re only human and to learn how to forgive yourself for your own mistakes and accepting that sometimes we need someone to save us from repeating any old habits.”
‘Lovers’ is due for release on 8 Sept via Different Recordings / Honeymoon / +1 Records.
Anna’s vocals also feature on Tyler, The Creator’s new single ‘911’, alongside Frank Ocean, out last Friday.
Sounds like: Shura, Grimes, Ballet School, Claire, MØ, Lykke Li, The Chain Gang of 1974, Chvrches, I Am Karate
Jagara are three sisters from London making genre-bending mature pop music, or so their press release says.
When reviewing music, we usually enjoy having a good listen through what we get sent before we even cast our eyes on what we’re supposed to think about it, so putting the press release out of mind is a good starting point.
On first listen nothing about their new single ‘Real Love’ drags us in, then nothing is making us switch off either. Musically it is quite simple with an under-produced feel (in a good way), good arrangements with a strange and interesting appeal. There is a vague but pleasing sense of familiarity and that coupled with that by the third and fourth listens the vocals begin to become really catchy means that we can see how this three piece are building up a great reputation.
Jagara have recently been on tour supporting Bastille on their sold out arena tour and we can see and hear the link to a group like Bastille, and fans of Bastille will definitely be on board, even though we feel ‘Real Love’ displays a more pleasant subtlety to it than most of what we’ve heard from Bastille.
There are definite elements of past pop triumphs with plenty of influences rooted in the 80’s but Jagara have used only hints of these to give a sense of something you might know and their abilities as writers and musicians carry these through to make a good, albeit slightly uninspiring piece of music. On the whole ‘Real Love’ will no doubt push Jagara further to where they need to be, it’s catchy, it’s poppy, it’s familiar but it isn’t pushing the boundaries of their abilities let alone the boundaries of music. We feel there is much more to come from Jagara and we’re really looking forward to hearing how the next single or two develops from here.
Sounds like: Shura, Bastille, New Order, Grimes, Blondie
Headed up by front woman Edith Violet, best friends, FOURS, have a lot to say on a few topics.
Possibly entitled after the well known alcoholic drink has a reputation for making men lose control, their new track ‘Stella’ is about “calling out all the sleazy men that go out on their own, wait for you and your girls to get drunk, then spend the night non consensually dry humping your leg and ignoring your repeated rejections. Fuck you, and get off my arm.”
Sounds like: Fickle Friends, Florence + The Machine, Foxes, Shura, Wolf Alice, The Hunna, Two Door Cinema Club
Alayna now resides in Brooklyn, where she has been working with Astronomyy on her new track, ‘Falling Autumn’.
Reminiscent of a 90’s R&B chart topper (note key change at 2:15), but offering something modern at the same time, ‘Falling Autumn’ is about “finding the stillness and comfort in someone else…It’s about connecting with someone on a deeper level and being confident in what you want, crave and feel.”
It’s out now via 20XX.
Sounds like: MUNA, IDER, Shura, Chinah, Ji Nilsson, Delaire
The Agostina Gálvez-directed video for ‘Keep Running’ by the Brooklyn based songstress oozes sex appeal and instantly takes us back to that Flake advert from the 80’s, but this time it’s a mic and not a chocolate bar.
Tei Shi’s debut album, ‘Crawl Space’, is out 31 March on Downtown/Interscope Records.
Time for some sumptuous indie from a boy duo called joan (aka Thomas and Steven Rutherford).
Their debut track, ‘take me on’, is a strong contender in the current musical field of pop. Potential BFFs to Shura, ‘take me on’ echoes of retro synths, sending us back to a time where anything was possible.
Co-produced and mixed by Tim Pagnotta (Walk the Moon, St. Lucia, WildBelle, SaintMotel), ‘take me on’ is “about spending tonight and forever with the one you love.”
Sounds like: Shura, Two Door Cinema Club, St. Lucia, LANY, Great Good Fine Ok
A funky and humble track, ‘Running’ is bang on the pop trend for 2017.
It’s the first offering from B.Miles’ self-titled EP, out 17 March. The EP was written in the same storage-unit-turned-studio where ‘Twenty Fifteen’ was recorded, alongside co-songwriter Eric Nizgretsky and Brooklyn-based production duo Noise Club. Producer Matias Quarleri was also added to the mix this time around.
Sounds like: Rhye, Years & Years, Jess Nolan, London Grammar, Banks, Ji Nilsson, Lyves, Broods, SOHN, The Weeknd, Jesse Ware, Shura, Noosa, James Blake, July Child, The xx, Jai Paul, Rationale, Austra
