A rousing fusion of soul, electronic pop and R&B from Hackney’s finest, J Appiah. His new single ‘Breathe’ carries a message that many can relate to, while the melody flows beautifully.
J Appiah – Breathe
Category: Music
New Music: Lees
London talent Lees creates a kind of indie-pop which, on the surface, feels subtle and light – but carries a deeper and more emotive tone lyrically.
‘Honeymoon Suite’ serves as a collage of breakups – within families, or with a lover – and, also, emotional breakthroughs.
“This song is just a mess of memories. I like that it feels lyrically a bit chaotic and confusing because that’s completely what I was feeling when I wrote it. ‘Honeymoon Suite’ is about the good times flooding back, trying to appreciate them, and moving on.”
Lees’ first EP will be released in early 2022.
New Music: Areej
Hailing from West London comes Moroccan-Sudanese newcomer Areej. Citing inspiration from the likes of Nina Simone and Etta James, this talent is effortlessly delivering some of the finest UK neo-soul that I have heard of late. On ‘Guided’ she says:
“Despite being in a place of doom and gloom, which is depicted through the opening verse, the message and meaning behind my lyrics convey my gratitude for the simple and meaningful things in life.”
Moyka – When
Norwegian artist Moyka comes full circle today with the release of debut album ‘The Revelations of Love’ and its lead single, ‘When.’
This stunning electro pop song juxtaposes melancholic vocals with a euphoric beat, and is a perfect example of just why Moyka has established herself as one of the Nordic nations’ most promising starlets.
“To me, love is the most important feeling of them all. It’s so existential ‘cause it’s what I think makes us human. Last year hit us so hard. I felt a lot of grief and sadness because of everything that happened in the world and in my life. As a person who feels a lot intensely, it’s hard to not feel overwhelmed by everything. One thing that kind of woke up the flame in me again, was music that reminded me there is hope to feel good again. To feel love again.”
‘The Revelations of Love’ is out now.
New Music: The Detours
With their authentic spin on alternative and pop rock, Toronto’s The Detours have a sound that is refreshingly original yet still relatable.
A reminder to push forward and keep your head up, ‘Tell Me’ is about battling with doubt and working towards self-discovery.
Basement Revolver – Tunnel Vision
A beautifully raw and arresting piece of music from Canadian outfit Basement Revolver.
The deeply personal new single ‘Tunnel Vision’ focuses on guitarist & vocalist Chrisy Hurn’s battle with bulimia and body dissatisfaction.
Taken from the forthcoming sophomore LP ‘Embody’ which is out in 2022.
New Music: CHILD
Born in New England and transplanted to Southeast US, CHILD constructs a kind of sound that is in equal measures experimental, intriguing, powerful, and intensely captivating.
Through the space of just over a year, CHILD has quickly amassed hundreds of thousands in streams from international music-lovers who have fallen in love with this artist’s refreshingly original take on indie. On new single ‘Say It’ he says:
“More recently, I have carried a burden for what America is becoming… silencing alternative opinions, demonising convictions, driving a society with fear… does anybody else see what’s wrong with all of this? Throughout history, we’ve convinced ourselves we were progressing forward; hindsight, we were actually moving in reverse… so I penned the line, ‘turn the world backwards.’ This is my way of expressing the [seemingly] ‘right direction’ could actually be the wrong one, and we need to move the other way, do a 180-turn as society.”
New Music: GR8SCOTT
Emerging from Copenhagen is 19-year old artist GR8SCOTT. This talented musician and self-taught producer has created one of the most charming and eccentric alt-pop bops of the week in the form of new single ‘Won’t Be Drinking’.
“I’m not a big party guy but I love to hang out with people and just have fun, and like everyone there is more than welcome to get drunk. I just don’t need it to have a good time, and I would hate not to be in control of myself so yeah, no from me. I just wanna have a good time.”
New Music: Bazarian
Bazarian is the project of Armenian-Canadian artist Armen Bazarian. Thanks to a rich scope of sonic adventures (from singing in choirs to composing for TV and film), Bazarian crafts sounds that fuse the worlds of pop and dance together into a distinctly unique mix.
‘Can We Pretend?’ dissects how we can sometimes get lost in the movies we’ve made up in our heads, preferring to live in our fantasies rather than deal with reality.
maxime. – telephone wires
One of Canada’s most exciting newcomers of late, maxime. is back today with a fresh single which is taken from an upcoming EP of the same name.
‘telephone wires’ is an anti-pop anthem that was written, recorded, produced and engineered by maxime. himself.
The ‘telephone wires’ EP is out on 22nd November 2021.
AJ Wander – Take It All
A powerful blend of pop and indie come together perfectly on AJ Wander’s ‘Take It All’.
This is a bold and anthemic song which is immediately captivating to any listener, thanks to those impressive vocals delivering lyrics that many of us can relate with.
“‘Take It All’ is me learning to let go, reminding myself not to get distracted by glimpses of light amongst the darkness. I wrote the track with my mate, Geth, in his caravan in rural Wales last November in the midst of a toxic relationship.”
New Music: Francis Moon
Swedish bedroom producer Francis Moon has already been attracting a growing fanbase thanks to his catchy and dreamlike style of music making. His new single ‘Let You Go’ takes his sound in a new direction, with more acoustic and folk elements.
The song was inspired after moving to a new country, and talks about the expectations, miscommunications and disappointments that force you to let go and start over from scratch.
New Music: Nicole Dash Jones
‘Lego’ is one of those bops that seamlessly blends nostalgic 80’s synths with a current edge. The track was inspired by the kind of soundtrack you would find in a John Hughes movie, yet it was initially written as a stripped-back piano composition.
After Nicole collaborated on the song with Finnish producer Samuel Hills, it began to take on a new personality, and is now an almighty banger featuring layered synths, rich vocals, and catchy hooks.
Wil Owen – After Dark
Welsh singer and songwriter Wil Owen returns today with a beautifully sincere blend of indie and folk. ‘After Dark’ is richly emotive in it’s tone, carrying some of the most powerful lyrics that I have come across all week.
“’After Dark’ is a song that started out as an image: a crowd of people in a room, completely isolated from each other. I was thinking a lot about our inner lives, how we’re so absorbed by our own thoughts that we sometimes obfuscate our responsibility for them. That’s a hard line to navigate. The song is essentially an inner monologue, a stream of consciousness reaction to all the shit we say when we’re sad and loose and feeling vulnerable. It ends up affording a moment of reflection, of honesty.”
The forthcoming debut EP is due out in 2022 via Tinpot Records.
New Music: Celine Love
Undoubtedly one of the most exciting new R&B talents to emerge from the UK this year, Celine Love only recently graduated with a Masters in Songwriting & Production at Tileyard London – a central pillar of the UK music industry.
‘Twenty-Five’ is all about Love surviving the struggles of her early twenties, and embracing the next chapter in her life. It was written as a way to not only celebrate finding joy, but to also embrace the fact that self-growth is not linear; rather a journey to be proud of.
Estherlivia – hollow
Bad relationships are not a fun thing, but somehow they always seem to turn into great songs. Swedish wonder-kid Estherlivia releases a powerfully expressive and melodic blend of pop and indie in the form of new release ‘hollow’.
“People who can’t speak their mind, and when they finally say something you get even more confused. Misleading love.”
Desta French – Reasons
The UK LatinX artist Desta French returns today with new single ‘Reasons’, and with it comes a rich fusion of R&B and hip hop, seamlessly weaving in some of her Colombian and Italian cultural influences along the way.
“‘Reasons’ is more like a poem. It explores all those little sensations of bliss, much like a stream of consciousness that could go on for days.”
morgen – Sweet 16
Santa Cruz native morgen is back with just about one of the most charming pop releases of the week. With blunt lyrics and flippant humour, ‘Sweet 16’ will have you feeling more validated than ever.
morgen has recently garnered praise from the likes of Elton John and Zane Lowe on their respective podcasts, while Triple J called the talent ‘impressive’.
Dutch Melrose – Calendar Girls
I’ve lost count of the number of times that I have now featured US singer, songwriter and producer Dutch Melrose, which is a testament to just how talented this artist is.
Today he returns with another pop bop that’s both sarcastic and really quite funny, in the form of new single ‘Calendar Girls’. Get ready to have this track stick with you all day – it’s catchy as hell!
“Inspired by the movie ‘Mean Girls’ and every superficial Hollywood girl who is climbing her way to the top.”
New Music: Loviet
A beautifully constructed alt-pop sound from Canadian artist Loviet that feels emotive and relatable.