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modernlove. – Don’t Wanna

As the name suggests, Irish indie-rock outfit modernlove. explore the complexities of the modern lives of twenty-somethings.

Today marks the release of the group’s new single, ‘Don’t Wanna’. The track sees the band focus on a more romantically-charged side to their sound, marking the song as one of their most heartfelt releases to date.

“‘Don’t Wanna’ is a song about desire. We’ve all had that weird feeling at some point where you can’t decide whether you might be kinda into one of your close mates… It touches on the difficulty of navigating friendships and relationships as a young person when such passionate feelings and sex are involved. We wanted to capture that excitement in the sonics as well, it’s definitely one of our poppiest tunes but still got that rocky edge to it.”

modernlove.

Grant Knoche – MR. INDEPENDENT

American singer, songwriter, producer, actor and dancer Grant Knoche returns with a sensational slice of pop in the form of new single ‘MR. INDEPENDENT’.

Knoche performs the track live on NBC’s American Song Contest today (4th April), as he represents his home state of Texas:

“I’ve been told no and rejected so many times throughout my career and I got to the point where I learned that I can’t rely on or wait for anyone else to help make my dreams come true. I have to be strong, independent, confident, and make everything I want to happen, happen! Texas is such a strong and independent state and I feel like this song represents it in such a powerful way!”

Grant Knoche

Kasien – HOL TYT

Kasien

Haley Gold – Laughing In My Sleep

New York talent Haley Gold returns today with a gutsy fusion of disco and electronic pop in the form of her new single ‘Laughing In My Sleep’.

Deliciously dark yet danceable, the track continues to showcase Gold’s musical prowess, and is certain to garner this artist a whole new legion of fans.

“Can we all just forget about our ex’s and dance?”

Haley Gold

maxime. – rubber checks

You’ll be hard pressed to find a talent who consistently releases superb bops as frequently as Canadian artist maxime.

A master of so many crafts, this talent is a self-released, self-published, self-produced and self-engineered creative who makes premium left-of-centre music from his bedroom.

Today’s release of new single ‘rubber checks’ marks the first of five tracks that are rolling out consecutively, each spaced by a month.

“The idea for ‘rubber checks’ came to me when I was listening to a podcast and heard the term for the first time. I thought it was a cool lil phrase for bad checks that bounce. Since I’ve just recently decided to do the music thing full time and moved to a new city, money has been a little tight, and I’ve been paying rent by cheque. The rest of the song is more or less a patchwork journal entry reflecting the time in my life I wrote it. I talk about being in a new city where you don’t know anyone and touch on relationships etc. I really wanted to capture a happy go lucky feeling with the song.”

‘rubber checks’ EP is released on 21st July 2022. maxime. also debuts his new live show on 27th June in Montreal.

maxime.

Brett Castro – BLUE

One of Brooklyn’s finest pop singer-songwriters returns today with the release of his charmingly nostalgic and melancholic new single, ‘BLUE’.

On the track, Brett Castro presents bedroom-pop guitar sounds with elements of synth, alongside crisp vocals that tell of what Castro describes as “those pandemic days when you felt like an Anvil in bed, all burnt out, and paralysed by anxiety.”

“This song is my response to all the sadness and darkness in the world these past couple years. I wanted to stay honest in my lyrics but have the sounds to be sparkly and fun. I hope this song offers people some grace when they’re feeling like I did. I know we all could use it.”

Castro’s previous releases have landed on Spotify’s Viral 50 chart and New Music Friday, as well as featured in Billboard, HillyDilly, and Lyrical Lemonade.

Brett Castro

PsychoYP – Midlife Crisis / WYDTM

Fast-rising Nigerian rap artist PsychoYP is back with a double A-side single release by way of ‘MIDLIFE CRISIS’ and ‘WYDTM’. Both equally stellar in quality, the songs were produced by long-time collaborator and producer Dylan Scott aka SCXTT.

Recently crowned the best rapper in Africa by The NATIVE and hailed as one of the ten Nigerian artists to watch by Complex, PsychoYP already boasts one of the best rap discographies on the continent. His fourth studio album, ‘Euphoria’ debuted at #1 on the Apple Music Top Albums chart for Hip-Hop/Rap in Nigeria, and has garnered over three million plays to date online.

Midlife Crisis

“The song comes from a special place because I’m used to showing my strengths and hardcore side. This time, I really wanted to tell people the kind of relationships we face right now. They are filled with broken people finding something special in each other. ‘Midlife Crisis’ tells the story of a young boy in love with an older woman. Their bond is formed from the need to escape and craving for intimacy”.

WYDTM

“I spent a lot of time studying UK music and the various styles in the black music scene. This song is pure vibes inspired by the Craig David era that I grew up listening to with my older siblings when I was much younger and we lived in the UK with my mum. It’s an upbeat dance track about turning to material things to deal with heartbreak, and I just had to tap Apex Village prodigy Azanti for the garage-themed tune”.

PsychoYP

Mayuko – Gravity

Acclaimed German Art pop trio Mayuko return today with another refreshingly original release, in the form of new single ‘Gravity’.

Atmospheric and cinematic in tone, the song is about an immersive journey, an overwhelming trip through picturesque, yet swirling landscape.

A journey accompanied by a comforting friend, that leads you to a destination of ecstasy surrounded by dizzying air and pleasure.

‘Gravity’ is taken from the debut EP ‘Oil And Water’. Mayuko’s sophomore EP will be released later this year.

Mayuko

dani mack – Someday

dani mack (Baylee Barrett) grew up in the small town of Lubbock in Texas before moving to LA at the age of eighteen to pursue her dream of becoming a musician.

Today sees her return after two year hiatus, releasing new single ‘Someday’ as a fully autonomous artist. Self-produced alongside bandmate Chris Reagan, the song borrows its name from the first song she ever wrote:

“I wrote this new single, ‘Someday (2.0)’ while my first real relationship was falling apart. It was very toxic, but despite all the signs, my naivety gave me hope that things would turn around. If I’m being completely honest, this song was a last-ditch effort to save this relationship… It didn’t work out.”

dani mack

Ruth Koleva – Kiss My Attitude

Ruth Koleva’s consistent willingness to push boundaries and challenge societal norms has made her an emerging icon in the current pop scene.

New single ‘Kiss My Attitude’ sees the massively gifted Bulgarian singer songwriter challenge her home country’s long history of homophobia, while offering a beacon of light to outsiders everywhere.

Ruth Koleva

French Alps Tiger – Lost Boys

Welsh rockers French Alps Tiger return today with another energising slice of raw, anthemic indie that is sure to win the promising outfit a whole new legion of fans.

“‘Lost Boys’ is a razor sharp, white knuckle, dirty bomb, from the east side of The Costa Del Swan. Skate-Punk for the Blind Drunk. You didn’t have to think of the last thing you thought of. So why try, Eh? Instead, enjoy this Ode to all those consciously pissing into the wind, just because they’re used to the taste, and feel uncomfortable not being drenched in a mess of their own making.” – Russ, French Alps Tiger

French Alps Tiger

Joyeur – Window Shopping

Los Angeles-based vocalist & songwriter Joyeur returns today with a charmingly playful, whimsical and dreamy slice of pop perfection.

‘Window Shopping’ was born out of feeling tired of the artist hustle waiting for life to begin – something that was only exacerbated by the world-halting pandemic.

“The song is all about the predicament of the dreamer in a world where successes are flaunted as tantalising vistas. You’re so tired of the hustle, but seeing the possibility of the dream become a reality, keeps you going. As a small artist, there’s a feeling of waiting for life to begin, something that was only exacerbated by this world-halting pandemic. Life was put on pause and I started window shopping for a new one, elaborately and optimistically imagining what my life could be like. It was the jolt of escapism I needed for a somewhat bleak-feeling reality – sitting in my bedroom fantasising about flying to St. Tropez with Lil Nas!”

Debut album ‘How to Love Yourself and Not Destroy Everything’ is due soon.

Joyeur

Fatherson – Love For Air

One of the most impressive alt-pop outfits to emerge from Glasgow in recent years, Fatherson are back with their anthemic new single ‘Love For Air’.

The song captures the rush of falling in love, and features a choir-backed chorus, sinuous melodies and euphoric synth lines.

“‘Love For Air’ is about falling in love. How you would replace that love for the air you’re breathing. I’d say it’s the biggest chorus I’ve ever written a combination of screaming melody, voices and lyrics that encapsulated that period of time in my life. I think anyone that’s fallen in love can relate to that overwhelming feeling of joy and I think we captured that perfectly in this song.” – Leighton, Fatherson

Taken from the upcoming album ‘Normal Fears’, which is out on 1^st April 2022 via Easy Life Records.

Fatherson

Mahalia – Whatever Simon Says

The last two years have marked many achievements for Leicester-born starlet Mahalia.

Few R&B talents have been able to craft supreme songs as consistently as this artist, and with recognition from industry benchmarks like the Brits, GRAMMY’s and MOBO’s, it’s clear that her work is rightfully appreciated.

Her new single ‘Whatever Simon Says’ is a poignant song that discusses the ever-oppressive and unrealistic beauty standards that society places on women.

“Everybody who knows me knows that I definitely don’t follow social norms and shitty beauty standards. I’ve always been someone who has never let people try to change me – especially my romantic partners. This song is about wanting it to work with someone but knowing it ultimately can’t because their expectation of what type of woman I should be is just far too high. I feel like “whatever Simon says” is every girls ‘f*ck you’ to the system that has always been set up through a male gaze. It’s us saying that we are going to be everything we want to be because we want it. And not because a man tells us to.”

Mahalia

Motel 7 – Headphones

Now commanding 200k listeners per month on Spotify alone, it’s safe to say that Motel 7 are well on their way to hitting the global mainstream.

Consisting of Anton Khabbaz and Dylan Jagger Lee, this LA-based duo have been on my radar for some time, and the release of their new EP ‘Headphones’ only confirms my thoughts on just how talented these chaps are.

“Our EP ‘Headphones’ is a listening experience. Not a single second thought on any lyric or production choice – everything was first instinct. We literally wrote whatever we felt and what to get off our chests at that exact moment the song was made. We wrote every song in a different emotional state… and state of mind. I (Anton) feel like we didn’t limit ourselves to a specific ‘sound’ for this EP.

A lot of these songs were written in the thick of the pandemic. They were written ‘virtually.’ Dylan and I would bounce ideas back and forth via text to get these songs to the finish line. It was a challenging yet eye opening experience to write music like that.

We called this EP ‘Headphones’ because we want the music to take you away from the world a little. When you wear headphones you almost want to close your eyes.. But sometimes you also want to dance.. And sometimes you even want to go to the beach for a run… We wanted the music to take you wherever you want it to. Whenever you have headphones on, it’s just you and the music.. Nothing else…there’s something so beautiful about that concept.”

New EP ‘Headphones’ is out now.

Motel 7

Lionel Boy – SHADOWBOXING

Hawaiian-born, Long Beach-based songwriter Lionel Boy announces his return with the upcoming release of not one but two new EP’s this year.

Along with the news comes the release of dreamy new single ‘SHADOWBOXING’, of which he says:

“I’ve been trying to write a song like ‘SHADOWBOXING’ for a long time. Something that would feel both nostalgic to me and new at the same time. When I first started playing music it was always the guitar riffs that grabbed my attention and I think the same happened with SHADOWBOXING. Growing up in Hawaii, you automatically take things slower. No rush, no worries… until you piss someone off, then they’ll go 0 to 100. We’re both quick to relax and quick to rush in. This song isn’t about one thing in particular, but some observations I’ve made in myself and in those back home. I know a lot of us are just dealing with our own things, fighting our own demons… shadowboxing.”

‘Up at 4’ is out April 29th and ‘Down at 8’ is out June 17th 2022.

Lionel Boy

Xadi – Evidence

Undeniably one of the most exciting rap artists to emerge from the UK of late, Xadi returns with the sensational ‘Evidence’.

The track showcases a flawless and emotive production that compliments Xadi’s honest and bold lyricism – further solidifying this talent as one to watch.

Xadi

Sam Gellaitry – New Wave

Sam Gellaitry marks his return with latest single, ‘New Wave’. Containing hints of pop, the track perfectly balances a modern electronic sound with elements of nostalgia.

Featuring Gellaitry’s own vocals, the song further showcases the consistent and impressive evolution of this Scottish artist’s work.

Sam Gellaitry

Louie Blue – Call You Up

One of my favourite talents to emerge from Finland recently has been Louie Blue. This artist has been releasing sleek fusions of RnB, alt-pop and indie consistently for some time now, despite still being only 20-years old.

Today he unveils his debut LP ‘Division 8’, and with it the new single ‘Call You Up’. The track delivers an R&B sound that is inspired by the musical aesthetics of the early 2000’s, with the artist himself describing it as an “organic, straight forward, old-school R&B song.” On the LP, Louie Blue says:

“I don’t want to pretend that the album is a calculated or a strategically planned collection of songs in specific order. This album sounds like the journey I’ve traveled inside my head in the last two years making this. A lot of songs were left out, but the 15 tracks that I kept on the album are perfect to describe me as an artist right now.”

‘Division 8’ is out now| Louie Blue

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GIVVEN – Doubts

International trio GIVVEN have released their audiovisual EP ‘Losing Colours‘ today, and with it the unveiling of new single ‘Doubts’.

The melancholic and reflective song introduces a rhythmic bassline that intermittently makes itself at home in your mind, riding the gentle storm of disquietude and thought-provoking lyrics.

“‘Doubts’ immediately grabs your ear, opening with very close and floaty falsetto vocals. Tapping into electronic roots, ‘Doubts’ starts with a gentle verse and chorus before dipping, then diving into a deeply effected vocal chop and bass-led drop. Constantly moving in different directions, ‘Doubts’ mirrors the chaos of an inner voice that’s constantly trying to lead you astray. The music video for ‘Doubts’ is a smokey, magma-infused art piece showcasing a dancer battling with her inner demons amidst an active volcano and dark, steaming lava fields looming ominously in the background of every shot.”

‘Doubts’ is taken from the ‘Losing Colours’ EP, which is out now.

GIVVEN

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