10. AI – 76
Austin bsed synth-pop duo AI is as futuristic, spooky, and ethereally metallic as you’d expect. Their latest track, ’76’, is an homage to the intricacies and complexities of human dynamics, the constant miscommunications and misalignments with what we’re all thinking. In full embrace of what it means to be misaligned, to be a misfit, AI have crafted a synth driven euphoric summer bop that’ll guide you through your lows.
Clocking in at just under four minutes, 76 doesn’t waste time dilly dallying. It immediately goes into overdrive, with a powerful introduction and a progressively building rallying call of a vocal performance. It’s just ecstatic, purely euphoric. You’ll want to be screaming it at the top of your lungs as you run down an empty road.
9. Strange Unit – Turbulence
Strange Unit is abrasive, aggressive, and in your face from minute zero. The Aussie experimental rock group spare no punches, or moments of mellowness on their song Turbulence. It is as rocky, all over the place, and unpredictable as you’d expect. Turbulence is an absolute rollercoaster of a track that is perfectly emblematic of the weirdness and oddity that Strange Unit perpetuates.
They’re about as noisy and cacophonic as it gets at times, just spewing unadulterated energy with such verve and fervor that you can’t help but be drawn in. The self-described six legged assault on the senses is every bit what they promise. It’s not for the faint hearted, nor the easy listener. It’s for that kick, that almost ridiculous surge of noise that culminates into a fresh day with wide opened eyes.
8. Jayd – Down Day
Feeling that extra bit low today? Wallowing in melancholy? Nothing seems to be going your way? More often than not, this year has had a lot of us in that position. And when we find ourselves so inescapably sad, we don’t really yearn for a jolt of positivity, sometimes wallowing in that sadness is precisely what we yearn for. Jayd’s latest single, ‘Down Day’ is the perfect track to go to when you’re in that mood. It’s soothing but understanding of what melancholy feels like.
On the song, Jayd notes “Down Day’ is about coming to terms with anxiety, giving yourself space and time to understand it. If you’re dealing with anxiety, you might feel very alone and that’s the scariest part of it, but you’re not and once you know that, it gets easier”. It’s a wonderfully quaint indie pop tune that allows you to embrace your low, feel a little more accepting of your anxiety, and acknowledge that there are millions of people world over who go through the same.
7. The Vigilance Committee – Oakfield
In many ways, ‘Oakfield’ is a lot like the classic Springsteen hit ‘Glory Days. Both songs play on the age old adage that your best days, the heyday of your lives simply fly past you before you even realise that they were indeed ‘the good ol days’. But it’s deeply personal for The Vigilance Committee. The song tracks back to a simpler time in the bandmates Peter J. Scoma and Phil Corso life, all the way back when the two shared their first apartment together. While recalling those memories, the bandmates continually make note of how they’ve changed themselves in the years since.
But at its core, Oakfield is about home. It’s about finding a place where you felt belonging in no matter how shoddy or broken down it was. When you move away from that special place, you can’t but help to hold a place of it with you as you go forward in life. That attachment, that undying sense of nostalgia that isn’t anything but a positive memory will long help you grow in life.
That incredibly emotional description aside, it’s also just a damn good and enjoyable indie rock tune that’s great fun to sing along to..
6. Hartigan – Ghost
Ryan Hartigan has a background far from what you’d expect. The rapper took an Honours degree in Neuroscience, graduated and started a marketing agency, and now runs a software company in the automotive and finance industry. But through it all, since he was just 14, he’s been a rapper at heart. He’s a businessman, yes. But he also channels those ideas, that passion, and those real-world interactions into his art.
Part of a larger collection of songs called ‘The Hard Things Project’, Ryan’s latest single ghost also focuses on the difficult process of facing your deepest emotions and fears, the difficulties and obstacles, all the negativity and simply pushing forward. It’s a hustle song at its core, one that’s bound to leave you motivated and yearning to go out there and do something for yourself, something that MAKES yourself. If you needed a jolt of motivation, look no further.
5. KinetiX – Off My Head
Irish electro-pop group Kinetix, composed entirely of three brothers, are simply loaded with relentlessly fun energy. Their production style combines a myriad of influences and styles together to create a soundscape that is luscious and filled to the brim with detail at every level of its multi-layered structure. They combine the more experimental and offbeat sequences of their production with a vocal progression and chorus that is simply far too infectious to not dance along to.
‘Off My Head’ is a dance anthem, there can be no doubt. It’s a synth pop piece that is defiant in every conceivable sense of the term. It’s an ode to embracing who you are, with all your imperfections, and declaring self-belief as the secret ingredient to living without fear and achieving one’s dreams. That unbridled euphoria comes out in every moment of KinetiX’s latest song. If you were looking for a summer dance anthem to impress your friends with, you’ve found it.
4. Patient Lounge – Vivid Eyes
Despite only being formed in 2019, Brisbane rockers Patient Lounge have already racked up an impressive resume that’s seen them even open for their country’s poster boy for hard rock, Wolfmother. They are dripping with talent across the board, instrumental juggernauts who are bringing their own version of hard rock to the fore. With their latest single, ‘Vivid Eyes’, they’ve taken a step into the progressive realm, and boy is it a deep one.
Vivid Eyes’ is avowedly the group’s heaviest track yet. It’s accompanied and rife with stadium-sized riffs, constantly pulsating grooves, rumbling low-end, and a chorus that lifts your feet alongside the perfectly cathartic crescendo. showing off the bands musicality and incredible song writing chops. Zach Eather, the band’s vocalist, offers a damning lyrical performance that is as powerful as it is intricate. “They say you better march to the beat, never step out of line, but I’ll stand on two feet and I’ll play out of time… But a leash makes me bite, it’s a constant remind, they’ll fuck with your dreams, just open your eyes”.
It’s all about non-conformity, a refusal to adhere to societal impositions on you. And at nine minutes long, it’s a damn enticing story.
3. Bullpup – Actor
Bullpup self describe themselves as “a band with a flair for the dramatic and an inclination for a manic theatrical style of emo”. They’re not emo in a traditional sense for sure. They’ve added their own spin, their own little oddities and experimentations that mark their sound their own. On ‘Actor’, the group delve into a really creative piece of songwriting and lyricism. The track is about imposter syndrome, specifically with the insecurity we face with our place in the world. It also discusses our obsession with presenting ourselves to conform to others perception of who we should be.
Riddled with such raw angst and emotion, ‘Actor’ is a fresh wave of emo rock that I am all here for. A fast-paced, night erratic guitar riff that leaves you confused, flurried, and slightly angered all at once makes the mood. The whole song just feels like its teetering on a cliff, just on the edge, the very brink of falling part. And Bullpup’s ability to thread that line ever so carefully makes for a uniquely creative listening experience.
2. Koalra – Your Secret’s Safe With Me
If I had to describe Koalra in a single world, ‘subtle’ would be the most appropriate. On ‘Your Secret’s Safe With Me’, the band spend a whole two minutes in what can only be described as mild foreplay. They keep you anticipating, but never actively try to arouse your attention, merely letting you enjoy the mild pleasantries of their instrumentation. But around the two minute mark, the song completely flips it head, turning into a nigh anthemic piece of shoegaze music that’s infused with so much raw emotion and detail.
The Chicago origin, Portland based Indie rock outfit has a penchant for experimental soundscapes, loose rhythms, and mild distortions. They’re not your typical easy going, happy-go-lucky, indie pop outfit. They’re more edgy, experimental, and progressive with their compositions.
‘Your Secret’s Safe With Me’ is a slow burner, one that when it starts to catch a flame, it turns into a fully fledged forest fire. If you enjoy progressive tunes, especially those that have an unpredictability to them, you’re in for a treat.
1. Emma Mae – When Paris Calls
Emma Mae’s music, as she and her friends like to dub it, is ‘b*tch pop’. Her cheeky take on commercial pop is littered with little comments, digs, and really, just being unabashedly who she is. Despite this outwardly amusing face to her own style, ‘When Paris Calls’ does carry a meaning that isn’t so light hearted. It’s about accusations of overreactions when they indubitably merited a strong response. I’m sure many people have had these age old adages thrown at them, ‘why are you so offended, it’s just a joke, don’t freak out’. The song itself is about someone discovering they’ve been cheated on, and the subsequent desperate attempt to find out who the culprit is.
It’s an expertly composed commercial pop tune, with every little section meticulously paid attention to. The chorus in particular is so thematically well constructed, a production backing that almost sounds like a mystery movie soundtrack. All in all, just a beautiful piece of pop music.
On the song’s release strategy, Emma conceived a rather brilliant and innovative marketing strategy. “I created a murder-mystery style marketing campaign to build up to the release of this track – creating suspects (pictures available in my press pack) and leaving clues that my followers had to use to answer the question “who’s calling?”. I recently revealed the culprit as Paris, and have been explaining the meaning behind the breadcrumbs I’ve left over my social media pages since then.”
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