Jump Into Limbo | Music Blog x Community

Jump Into Limbo is an independent music blog curated by collaborators and the community. Step out from your musical comfort zone, find a new favourite song, and share it with us!

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öölaps! // nublu

It's summertime, the majority of Europe is on vacation. You're clinking glasses of champagne on the way to the airport to board your plane to Estonia. This is the song playing in the background as you put on your vintage Chanel shades, and grin. Satisfied that your Out-of-Office message is active while your Slack is clearly not (you deleted it off your phone), your shoulders see-saw to the addictive beat.

Home is calling. Gin spritzers, all-day sunshine festivals, saunas and gooseberries. There's war in the East, maybe even two-fold. But for now, it's chill. Ba-da-ba-da-rappp-ba-da-da-da.

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Big Boy // Payday 

This fun diss track takes you on a little carnival carousel. The album art is exactly as you’d expect: throwing up neon while your iPad charges in the wall socket in the bathroom. Payday is gonna be the next Billie Eilish. We’re so happy that Future Classic is still out here bringing the freshest new artists to the fore. 

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3:15 (Breathe) // Russ 

"Who doesn't like toxic?" A friend told me this the other day in a moment of reflective vulnerability. The constant highs, zapping from one moment to the next like cut-screens... What we really miss is the range of emotions, the stimulus that keeps us feeling and experiencing the moment. 

At the far range of this, is what I've been craving. The comfort of waking up and knowing that you're on the minds of others. A mental hug, which is a little more than what we have access to these days. 

They say love's a song for fools who are wise enough to sing along

Russ is a rapper with as much swag as he has sentiment. A player with heart. Songs that scream speed and go slow. And he works hard - he has released so many new tracks throughout these past cursed years that I can't even blink between emotional rollercoasters. Go ahead, wrench your heart out and wring out that throat with one of the slow tracks (I recommend Take You Back feat. Kehlani) and then neutralise it with one of the bumping tracks like Guess What feat. Rick Ross. 

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Butterflies // Skrillex, Starrah & Four Tet

Wouldn't it be beautiful to experience the feeling of falling in love, over and over again? The little dizzying sensation of having your heart in all places of your body, pulsing away, making you feel alive. These moments are yours alone. The stolen glimpses to take in all of another's being, the extra care that is extended to every touch, the chaos that is in your mind.

This song is exactly that interstitial emotion on repeat - including its abrupt ending. I remember this vividly, in a forlorn way of time past.

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Submarine // L’Impératrice

Aren't we all going a little crazy these days, with a year into the pandemic?

My mind in quarantine Body made of plasticine I don’t need to say goodbye Do I?

Throughout this time, I had rarely found anything new and noteworthy. In fact, my Spotify Discover playlist was so unremarkable that The Pudding's Spotify AI playlist assessment had judged it to be hip-hop by TikTok. Yep, all of the things that brought this blog back down from taste-making scene to music diary. L’Impératrice was one of the only discoveries I had been introduced to - the old school way - from word of mouth by an excitable friend who shared a love for Dua Lipa.

L’Impératrice (Italian for "the empress") is a blast from the past, something familiar and calm. Submarine is as quietly incisive as it is a cushiony soft landing of current events. When we're in a funk, the least we could be doing is bopping to something funky.

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Don’t Look Back // Kotomi & Ryan Elder (Rick & Morty) 

The season finale of Rick and Morty’s fourth season was a sucker punch to the gut of fans. Close to tearing up, Rick has never been so human and so vulnerable to his feelings. Morty and Summer have not been so close as bickering siblings. And Beth, kicking ass and making choices of her own, is the free fighting independent woman guided by ethics, whom we all aspire to be. 

But enough with the storytime, the closing song is devastating. Tragic and wistful, it’s all we needed to unlock all of the feelings. It’s the catalyst we had hoped for to dig from deep within during these times of the pandemic lockdown, and cautious reopening: bottled up anxiety, feeling like we’ve been in the dark, the physical isolation. Tomorrow’s one day we know will be the same as the many that have passed, often with little memory, and we won’t be getting it back. 

As the soundtrack to our lives during this time have been the bouncy bops of Doja Cat, Melanie Martinez no longer sounding cutesy psycho killer, and other tunes now made popular by Tiktok, Kotomi (Lauren Culjak) and Ryan Elder have harkened back to an older time of ethereal underwater synth pop a la 2016-2018 hey days. Remember Goldfrapp, Mitski, Marika Hackman? As much as I’m digging the body positivity of throwing it back, can we really say we would prefer not to look back? 

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Eleven:Eleven // Sandunes

Ahead of DGTL Bengaluru, a major discovery has been native Mumbai producer Sandunes and her multi-layered, cross-genre explorations into atmospheric lo-fi and jazz. Eleven:Eleven or 11:11, is the title track of Sanaya Ardeshir’s recent EP, which seems to start out as a cassette tape clicking its way into a meditation session. Have you noticed the time, it seems to ask, or are you lost? Lazy vocals mumble their way into a beat, seemingly reciting pages from a dream. As the lilting running melodies take you on a journey to contemplate the powerful angelic connection, you’re anchored by the freestyle drum beats that have seemed to have their own solo this whole time. 

What I loved most about Sandunes was just how much her production work around all the different elements of percussion-chords-melody-vocals is tight and controlled. It is maximalist, while being restrained and pared down. Slybounce, a tune from 2015 (five years ago!) is a swing-infused glitch-pop track that has the timeless quality of Glass Animals x Chet Faker.

Of the entire line-up for this weekend, Sandunes is the one I’m most looking forward to catching (besides Cats on Crack - Singapore represent!) and Manchester-based Youngr, a multi-instrumentalist whose energy will no doubt be the greatest contrast to Sandunes. 

And yes, a quick update that this blog has now crossed countries and is now based out of Delhi, India. Irregular, not quite on the running beat anymore, but still inspired and overturning sand whenever we can. 

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you should see me in a crown // Billie Eilish 

The amount of pop culture catchet accorded to pop music’s most unwilling princess Bilie Eilish, by virtue of having an entire music video done by THE Takashi Murakami, is insane. Steeped in Pan-Asian absurd contemporary art vibes (i.e. Japanese anime meets Tim Burton), the music video captures Billie’s attitude as the character wearing her Blohsh streetwear merch while retaining Murakami’s signature flowers. The music video starts out with some Para Para Dance fancy footwork, and then Billie is possessed by her hoodie, transforming into a a monster that leaves the town infected. This is what happens when Billie Eilish leaves her Tron pod to explore the world. It’s her world, and we’re just living in it. 

(Shoutout to Junyun for sending me the full video of Billie performing this entire track at Coachella 2019). 

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Gimme // Banks 

Banks is a mood. Pair with sauvignon blanc, RBF, phone battery at 20%, 89 unread messages, trippy neon lights and cucumber vape. Drink up, and pick any part of the song to follow through before hitting repeat - Banks’ honeyed voice and distorted chorale taking turns to engage one another in conversation. This one particularly reminds me of early Britney’s sultry but innocent attitude. We know and love Banks, and this new chapter in her consistent, witchy image is just what we’ve been waiting for. Gimme more, right away please. 

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Western Carolina University Drum Line // High Hopes (PANIC! At the Disco Cover) 

It took a friend to revisit a series of messages from September 2018 that had been bursting with clarity and optimism, and her own story of struggle since that time, to remind me of the importance of having high high hopes for a living. Coincidentally, PANIC! At the Disco has been preaching just that since then. 

Taylor Swift (and Brendon Urie) have continuously reinvented their image into one of unicorns and rainbows in their hot new single Me! recently. (Quick thoughts: Is anyone talking about the musical throwback to The Jackson 5′s ABC? Why does the production remind me of Lil Dicky’s entirely unnecessarily complex Earth music video?) 

The running thread between Me! and High Hopes? The snare drum’s prominent rhythmic position in eking out what is a solid banger. We love this cover by Western Carolina University (WCU)’s drum line, taking it to the next level of syncopation. Fair warning, if you have heart palpitations you might want to give this one a miss. 

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Easy // Mac Ayres

We’re almost a quarter into 2019, which is pretty incredible. It seems like just yesterday Destiny’s Child was in the Top 40s. Each passing decade curates and creates its own unique sound, and artists that embody the sound of their generation come to the forefront. In ‘19, Mac Ayres is that artist. 

Combining chill vibes and clear, smooth vocals, his music is easy on the ear and relevant to our times. No one hit wonder for this guy. His other tracks, such as Waiting and Roses, similarly showcase his distinct style while managing to steer clear of repetition. It’s no wonder his debut EP in 2017 met with critical acclaim.  

While music may be the most important part of the job, who an artist is as a person matters too - not just for fans, but for the artist, and how their craft is continually shaped, and grounded. On socials, Mac comes across as down to earth, passionate about making music, and appreciative of the people who matter to him. Like 2019 and the music in it, that’s pretty incredible.

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Hi Life // Slide (feat. Harvie)

First off, this video is soooo fun. It’s basically Hi Life the duo sliding into a bunch of DMs on Instagram - literally all of our faves: Diplo, Flume, Lido, SOPHIE, Cashmere Cat, Louis the Child... and ending up with a gig to open for Alison Wonderland. To be sure, there are plenty of rejections and non-followbacks, laughing emojis and selfies of pets - the literal manifestation of an upside-down smiley. The influences of these guys sure show up in the discordant harmonies, insistent game music pushes and ethereal transitions. Gotta love the hustle of the Soundcloud music producer duo (these guys released this via Future Classic) and the lyrics are basically about letting disappointment slide. 

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No Complaints No Conversation // Watsky

I've built so much armor but ring the alarm

I'm in love with someone who's bringing me harm

I'll pick lovers who got monsters and we bond on mental health

Till they remind me of what's ugly in myself

I just started watching the Norwegian comedy Norsemen and immediately spotted the excessively polite, side-stepping masochism characteristic of corporate culture - except it was coming out of the mouths of hard-nosed Vikings. That same irony mirrors the blasé attitude that Watsky takes as he reels off a litany of red flags to mental health. Schizophrenia, emotional abuse, anxiety, bad-tempered behaviour, vanity, jealousy... Too self-aware to be a braggadocio bluster about resilience, too morbidly detached to be a cry for help, this song is built around the need to be sensitive to feelings, to others, and to live and let live. Ever the wordmaster, Watsky paints an irreconcilable picture: emotionally charged but tongue-in-cheek, using humour to twist a knife stabbed where the sun don’t shine.

Watsky’s latest album Complaint, out 11 January 2019, is a real work of art. Bump it here on Spotify along with the excellent tune Welcome to the Family. 

If you suspect that you are facing mental health-related issues, please seek professional help. Please seek assistance and find some resources at @togetherweare-strong 

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Say It // Maggie Rogers 

I could almost swear that I’ve heard this tune in a past life, which - incidentally - is the title of Maggie Rogers (of Alaska fame)’s new album. As corny as that sounds, I could almost swear that this could be a Sara Bareilles track, with added filters, and a groovy pop break-down. While it’s not the introspective, quietly unconventional follow-up to Alaska that we’d all hoped for, pop isn’t dead. 

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7 Rings // Ariana Grande x Soulja Boy x Princess Nokia x 2 Chainz (Tesher Mashup)

The Internet is awash with buzz about Ariana Grande’s cultural appropriation of black women and their hair (You like my hair? Gee, thanks, just bought it), Japanese anime aesthetic (Sailor Moon hair buns and Harajuku pastel neon dark lights in the music video), minimalist hip-hop trap beats and Beyonce-esque talk-rap, and a few borrowed lines from the Sound of Music. Yes, that dreaded phrase of cultural appropriation, where communities see their closely-held identities put out there - making money - and not for them. Upset and understandably so, musicians have come forward with accusations of their uncredited creativity. 

But let’s take a step back and find that all music is derivative in some way, and that there’s plenty of more pastiche now made possible - like this excellent remix mash-up by Youtube genius Tesher that gives a firm nod to the folks who paved the way for this tune to be within the “Overton Window” of popular culture. Perhaps the one thing Ari did wrong was to make this song about making bank and getting whatever she wants. Now you’d move, bitch, better get out of the way, bitch before the fight gets ugly. We’re on none of these sides; we just like art. Read more about the argument about whether vibe can be copyrighted on Vulture here. 

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Weight In Gold // Gallant (On Planets Remix) 

Sam Smith meets Disclosure, but make it jazz. Frenzied and intense, this song swings. Pulling you along are the vocals - breathy and peaceful - buoyed by the urgent trumpets, the cleverly placed tinkles, and then the house influences sweep you to your feet right after a false start (where is the drop?) - no matter. It’ll push you further and then a satisfying, minimalist trappy beat takes you to a room that is just you, the band, Gallant and echoes for days. We love it. Now lets see Vancouver-based producer On Planet do a b2b with Lido. Who’s with us? 

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I Like It // Makayla Epps (Cardi B cover) 

Fresh from the Twitter instagram video that went viral, Makalya Epps has released a full version of the slow jam rework of Cardi B’s I Like It. The comments are mostly positive on this completely different interpretation, although the general consensus is that bathroom acoustics and a totally relaxed vibe give the attitude and confidence that we love from an amateur performance that’s all about having fun.