Hailing from New York is multi-talented artist Rainlights, who impressively is not only a singer & songwriter but also producer and engineer.
Her stunning debut single ‘When My Phone Dies’ was self-written, produced and mixed. The dreamy track fuses elements of pop and folk, and is all about the feeling of being alone with no access to distractions.
“My favourite songs are the kind that take you away for a moment, wherever you are. That’s the kind of feeling I try to capture with my own work – when your chest is warm and your soul exhales. Whenever I am unsure of where I belong, sound is my solace, and I would like to share that.”
Endlessly inventive Isle Of Wight five-piece Plastic Mermaids return today with an eccentric yet loveable slice of psychedelica-inspired indie rock.
‘Disposable Love’ finds frontman and lyricist Douglas Richards exploring moments of passing relief, as he explains “it’s about wanting to get back to a younger place, a freer place; a feeling of not having much worth, but being nostalgic for that.”
Taken form the upcoming album ‘It’s Not Comfortable to Grow’, released 16th September digitally, on CD, standard black vinyl and a limited edition splattered vinyl.
Already picking up support from the likes of BBC Introducing and Fashionably Early, emerging artist katie phelan could well be one of Ireland’s newest indie-pop faces to look out for.
With its warm acoustic guitar tones and charming lo-fi samples, new single ‘Duvet Day’ is brimming with cosy soundscapes and beautifully delicate vocals.
Montreal-based singer-songwriter Sophia Bel shares details of her upcoming LP ‘Anxious Avoidant’ today, along with the release of new single ‘All F#*king Weekend’. On the album, Bel says:
“‘Anxious Avoidant’ is the most vulnerable body of work that I will have ever shared with the world. It is a collection of emotions and states of mind that are very honest and unfiltered. It expresses sides of myself that I am not always proud of. Looking back at what I wrote during the last year, I see myself projecting my hopes and dreams onto other mortal humans, I see a girl who seeks happiness outside of herself, I feel the infatuation that I mistook for real love. I also see how far I’ve come in learning to communicate, being vulnerable, setting boundaries and growing out of the victim mindset. When I was younger it was very comforting to have artists expressing their vulnerability, so in that sense I hope you will relate to this open diary.”
Bel will be playing three shows to celebrate the release of the LP in May. Catch her at Baby G in Toronto on May 11th, at Bar L’Anti in Quebec City on May 13th and finally at Foufounes Électriques in Montreal on May 25th 2022.
Brooklyn-based Capetonian Sulene releases an intensely captivating blend of dark pop, synth and indietronica through new single ‘Electrosexual’.
The track feels like a perfected hybrid between Nine Inch Nails and Charlie XCX, and further emboldens Sulene’s mark as one of the East Coast’s most promising pop starlets.
To date, Sulene’s work has garnered praise from the likes of Billboard, Daily Motion, BrooklynVegan, Atwood Magazine and AudioFemme.
Taken from the forthcoming EP, ‘In the Style of David Lynch’.
Joshua Idehen constructs a style of music that perfectly blends elements of jazz, indie and electronica into a sound that is both captivating and invigorating to experience.
With an infectious beat and captivating lyricism, debut single ‘Don’t You Give Up On Me’ is both energising and moving in equal measures.
London-based, jazz-soul artist Judi Jackson’s work can only be defined by one word – sublime. This is a sound that is finessed, timeless, and frankly outstanding.
Songs like ‘River’ showcase beautifully constructed melodies that set the scene for Jackson’s almighty vocals to transport you to a whole other world, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for this emerging starlet.
Fast-rising indie bedroom-pop starlet girlhouse announces plans for ‘the third ep’, today, along with new single ‘cool guy’.
“The term ‘cool guying’ means to acquire a slight amount of clout and become a complete weirdo. I wrote this with my friend Mark Campbell when I was feeling a lil zesty about some of the clouty people in my life. In all seriousness, no shade on them, I just had to figure out if that was of value to me. I had an ex that got mad at me for calling him ‘cool’ and that was really confusing to me until he ended up actually being very very ‘cool.’”
Debut ‘the girlhouse ep’ and its follow up ‘the second ep’ garnered acclaim from the likes of BBC Radio 1, BBC 6Music, Dummy, Under The Radar, Wonderland and The Independent amongst others.
The combined EPs will also be released as a special standalone vinyl for the first time as part of the 15th annual Record Store Day on April 23rd. the girlhouse eps will include an exclusive demo version of ‘a lot’, on an orange flexi disc.
Riding high off the enormous acclaim for his debut single‘Serotonin’back in November, emerging talent LUCAreturns with euphoria-inducing sophomore single ‘Altar’.
“This song is about falling out of love with a person who can’t accept that things need to end. It leaves you resenting the person you once loved the most.”
To date, LUCA has garnered praise from the like of Early Rising, Earmilk, Luna Collective, RnB Radar, and Before The Data amongst many others, as well as holding a spot on the coveted Fresh Finds Playlist for four weeks straight.
I’m so excited to be welcoming this hugely promising new talent to the Alfitude pages. Natasha Hunt Lee is a rapidly rising Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter, who is currently crafting some of the finest, rawest and most captivating pieces of pop you could imagine.
Latest single “New Things” was co-produced by platinum certified artist Jeremy Zucker and artist-producer Max Hershenow (MS MR, Ryn Weaver, Claud).
“‘New Things’ is about the way somebody can embed themselves into your life so much so that a physical ending doesn’t really affect their existence within it. I think a lot of people recognise the suffocating nature of constantly being reminded of someone, remembering them through all the things that you shared. And the more important someone is to you, the more of those things you have to either avoid, redefine, or accept. Does that make sense? Maybe that’s overthinking it. Ok so, ‘New Things’ is about getting your heart broken and how f*king shitty it feels.”
“We really wanted to emulate the spectrum of emotion within all of that. The sadness, defeat, hope here and there, and also a sense of overwhelming anger.”
London creatives 0171 are back with another interesting release through their new single ‘The Beach’.
Taken from the upcoming EP ‘Welcome Back To My Channel’, the track cleverly fuses elements of indie, electronica and pop with light drum & bass, serving listeners with a sound that is immediately striking and refreshingly unique in character.
“‘The Beach’ was written in twenty minutes at a moment of real sadness and frustration. I (Joe) had had a couple of days trying to write on my own, discarding everything I made, feeling worse and worse, and mainly spending hours in the addictive ocean of YouTube. Eventually I left the studio and went and lay on my bed with just the laptop, no instruments, feeling like I didn’t know how to make music anymore. I scribbled out the lyrics thinking melodramatic thoughts about it being the last song I ever write. Georgie had been getting into Space Age pop and the golden era of 60’s Italian library music, so I threw a couple of her samples in and made a beat, and ended up speaking the words cause I felt too fed up to try writing a melody. So often with music you have to shake yourself out of routine to make anything that excites you. ‘The Beach’ doesn’t really sound like much else.”
Nottingham’s rising alt star Jalle releases his brand new single ‘Downers’, featuring the talents of left-pop newcomer Issey Cross.
Produced with Josef Page (Aziya, Millie Turner), the track carries a central message that rings true to many young people battling with anxieties in the age of the internet.
“My school life definitely had an influence on this song for me, particularly how I felt during my school years. I always hated school and never really felt like I fit in. I always felt like an outsider and was constantly changing myself to try and fit in. Issey and I really connected over this and had similar experiences so ‘Downers’ was created.” – Jalle
“Jalle and I wrote this song in lockdown on zoom. It was the first time we’d met but we got on so well and just wrote a really honest song together about our insecurities and how we would change them if we could!!” – Issey Cross
Rose Gray further sets herself as one of the UK’s most exciting pop starlets with the release of electronic masterpiece ‘Last Song’.
“I wrote ‘Last Song’ about falling for someone on the dance floor, just as the night is coming to a close – the sun’s coming up, the lights are about to come on. It’s that knowing feeling that it can’t last. In essence, it’s a love song to myself; lyrically I play with an inner debate I actually had in the moment about being strong and leaving a situation, keeping it as something short and sweet rather than pursuing a connection. It’s an ethereal house record with a sprinkle of rave and a nod to Kylie early 00’s. I love it.”
The track produced with Nick Sylvester, co-founder of LA-based label GODMODE (yaeji, Channel Tres).
Algerian-born singer Miraa May has been on my radar for a good few years now, so I’m pretty stoked to see that she has finally announced the release date for her debut album.
Serving as a personal ode to her childhood adversities, ‘Tales of a Miracle’ is available from the 27th May 2022 via Republic Records, and features new single ‘Wild Things’.
Amassing over a billion career streams to date, it’s safe to say that American singer-songwriter Alec Benjamin has become somewhat of a pop phenomenon.
Since the release of his 2018 hit ‘Let Me Down Slowly’, Benjamin’s music has hit the mainstream in an impressive and significant way, garnering millions of fans across social media and filling venues across the globe on tours.
With his forthcoming EP ‘(Un)Commentary’ on the horizon, here’s some quickfire questions we asked Benjamin to answer.
What inspires you the most to write your songs?
It can be a plethora of different things… Most often it’s a phrase or a word that someone says to me that I feel incapsulates an emotion I am currently feeling. Sometimes it’s a movie or another piece of art that moves me. It’s just life in general that is inspiring!
Who would be your ultimate dream collaboration be with, and why?
Elon Musk because his brain is so fascinating. He is an enigma to me and I’d love to have the opportunity to spend time with him. I want to be the first artist to perform on Mars.
If there’s one song from your catalogue that you wish everyone in the world could listen to, which one would it be?
My song ‘If We Have Each Other‘. That song is about the importance of family and I think it has a good message.
You are out on the road soon playing across the US and at Festivals. What are you most looking forward to when you tour?
Getting to sing live for people! So much of the interaction I’ve had for the past few years with the outside world has been virtual… I can’t wait to be face to face with other humans again!
Can you tell us more about your new record, (Un)Commentary?
The name is supposed to convey the idea that this record is my uncommon commentary on the world. I thought it would be fun to make a new word to encapsulate the theme of this record. I can’t wait for people to hear it.
Track of the week. With over a million fans on TikTok alone, online sensation Ellie Dixon has rapidly gained a huge following thanks to her style of creating intelligent pop bops from her bedroom studio.
To date, Dixon has recorded a live Maida Vale session for BBC Radio 1, had a featured Track of the Week on BBC Radio 1 Introducing (‘Green Grass’), performed at Camp Bestival and Latitude Festival, as well as reaching over five million Spotify streams across her catalogue.
GRAMMY Award-nominated singer and songwriter Kehlani joins forces with longtime friend Justin Bieber on new single ‘up at night’.
“It’s about having a healthily obsessed relationship. You’re telling someone, ‘I love you so much it keeps me awake at night’. I love what Justin did, and it’s such a fun one to dance to.” – Kehlani
The collaboration follows their joint effort on a song entitled‘Get Me‘, which was taken from Bieber’s 2020 album ‘Changes’.
Kehlani’s forthcoming album ‘blue water road’ is set for release on 29th April 2022.
LA-based, Kuwaiti artist sadie white delivers a sound that perfectly encapsulates the essence of melancholy.
With a hazy blend of alternative R&B, rock and indie, this talent has crafted an intensely moving piece of music through her new single ‘formaldehyde’.
Washington DC band Flasher return with a slice of indie bliss in the form of new single ‘Sideways’ – a groove heavy and trance heavy track that evokes the feeling of a long-distance drive as a means of escape and reflection.
This is the band’s first new music since their acclaimed 2018 debut record ‘Constant Image’, which received praise from the likes of Sunday Times Culture, The Line of Best Fit and Rolling Stone.
Upcoming album ‘Love Is Yours’ will be released on June 17th 2022 on Domino Records.
