The undefinable led the way this week with Mazy Fly, the sophomore breakout from experimental electronic pop maker SPELLLING, being the latest Recommended Listen (and bringing with it a very fantastical visual as well.) Close in pursuit were Bay Area indie rock et. als Club Night showing us how it takes a village sometimes to discover happiness, another frighteningly real good time from PRIESTS, and a unique pairing of collaborations between House of Feelings inviting music biz Twitter personality Hannah Silk Champagne to be their dog sitter, and HEALTH teaming up with JPEGMAFIA to take down their haters. Everything else felt like a dream within a dream in some way or another.
Here’s the best of the rest from the week of February 17th, 2019…
Chromatics - “Time Rider” [Italians Do It Better]
If there is anything we’ve learned about being Chromatics loyalists these last five years, it’s to not hedge your bets that new music is any indication that the arrival of the band’s Dear Tommy, the much talked-about album follow-up to 2012′s great Kill for Love, is imminent. Last year came and went with three new singles in “Black Walls”, “Blue Girl” and “House of Dolls”, and still no trace of the LP (perhaps due to leader Johnny Jewel’s shifting calendar of long list priorities.) Temper your expectations appropriately, but the the biggest hint that Dear Tommy may finally be upon us comes in the form of news that the Portland band have announced their first North American tour in five years, set to begin this April and lead throughout the remainder of spring. Along with it, Chromatics have unveiled yet another dazzling hold-me-over called “Time Rider”, which sets up yet another cinematic scene of escapism with enigmatic figures using signature synth-pop shimmer amid Ruth Radelet’s transcendental singing to tell the story.
Empath - “Soft Shape” [Get Better Records]
Communional DIY label Get Better Records is coming through 2019 swinging with big new signings and releases in the form of Potty’s Mouth’s long awaited sophomore return SNAFU and now, being the home of buzzworthy Philly scene indie punks Empath, who began gaining attention last year with their Liberating Guilt And Fear tape. They’ll be releasing Active Listening: Night On Earth, their proper debut full-length with the label, due out on May 3rd, and bring with it its lead single “Soft Shape”. Though the listen distances itself away from the muddy tape texturization of the quartet’s previous material, Empath continue exploring weird, noise-pop arrangements in their sound, as Catherine Elicson’s vocals gets tossed around a wash of woozy keys, guitars crinkled in feedback, and heavy, percussive distortion. “We’re not as similar / As I first thought we were / And who knew that would be so satisfying?,” she sings in its chorus, answering that with a sound that’s oddly form-fitting despite being incongruous with itself.
Ohyeahsumi - Hopeless Aromantic EP [Self-released]
Ohyeahsumi, the Los Angeles-based twin sisterly duo of Lena and Rena Vernon, made a promising first impression a few years back with their listmaking debut EP Your Friends Are Looking for You, a collection of spellbinding minimalist bedroom pop that had the sultriness of Lana Del Rey in the context of water-pocked bedroom production a la a Captured Tracks. They’ve been quiet ever since, until this past week when they surprise self-released a second EP entitled Hopeless Aromantic. Introducing it as “a really short ride. but we hope you'll think it's a scenic one,” the six songs that make up the listen are just that finding Ohyeahsumi filling out the black spacees in their sound with sparkling effects brought on by a full band, with Patrick Manaquis joining them on guitar and Dana Maier-Zucchino stepping behind the drum kit. Maybe there’s less witchcraft in their sound these days, but the lovelorn dreaminess billowing through the duo’s harmonious indie-pop continues to promise a captivating full-formation.
Hopeless Aromantic by ohyeahsumi
Marissa Nadler - “Poison” (feat. John Cale) / “If We Make It Through the Summer” [KRO Records]
For My Crimes, the 8th studio effort from gothic Americana folkist Marissa Nadler, arrived last autumn as one of the season’s recommended listens, thanks to the songwriter’s careful hand in evoking emotion through soft shadows of solitude and despair. She recorded the effort alongside Justin Raisen and Lawrence Rothman, who alongside Yves Rothman, just launched KRO Records with a new one-off doubling of singles from Nadler to press their foot into the sands of time. Its A-side, “Poison”, is a collaboration with Velvet Underground composer John Cale, and is a lonesome listen where the pair circle around an echoing fingerpicked guitar and quiet swell of strings to comfort the other’s heartbreak. Meanwhile, the B-side “If We Make It Through the Summer” is a balancing out, as Nadler’s serene coos look toward the future with light and hope as instrumental arrangements glisten cinematically like a vintage love song.
Poison Summer by KRO Records
Palehound - “Killer” [Polyvinyl Records]
Ellen Kempner, better known as Palehound, joined the roster of indie rock legends Polyvinyl Records with the release of her rock-solid 2017 sophomore effort A Place I’ll Always Go back in 2017. She’s been in the studio recently working on its follow-up, and this week, we’re given a glimpse into what her latest creative trajectory may hold in the stand-alone single “Killer”. Here, Palehound’s dynamic loud-soft cantanker clears the air for something dreamier, yet altogether menacing as its title suggests -- A turn toward heroic vigilantism, if you will, with the long cast of a wild west sunset off in the distance. “I will be the one who kills the man who hurt you, darling,” she whispers through an icy stare in its chorus. There’s a more serious reasoning behind her super dark big mood, as Kempner explains, “Quite frankly, this song is about the murderous fantasies I have about all of the people who have abused my friends and how they continue to live their lives unpunished.” Bad behavior, consider this your final warning. Palehound also just hit the road (perhaps with more new music in tow!) opening for Cherry Glazerr.
Southwick - “Lying In the Darkness” [Accidental Popstar Records]
Accidental Popstar Records is the newly launched independent music label spearheaded by ex-pop-star-turned-DIY-truther Shamir, who after going through his own industry bull, decided to take matters into his own hands with providing an open space for he and other artists’ creative endeavors. The digital ribbon cutting ceremony comes with the label’s first single from Southwick, the moniker of Detroit-born singer-songwriter and journalist Paige Pfleger, off her forthcoming debut solo EP. “Lying In the Darkness” sounds a bit like a cosmic kindred spirit to the work of Shamir (who produced and guested on the listen) in the way Southwick’s voice initially occupies a vulnerable position at the center of a big bang. Soon, a vacuum of gravity pulls any uncertainty residing within the depths of her heart, and scatters them into a beautiful orchestra of stardust. In being brave, the enormity of Southwick’s small wonder emerges.
