New tracks across indie, pop, electronic and nu-grunge.
There’s plenty moving around the edges of pop, indie and electronic music this week.
From Leeds funk-pop and Scottish indie folk to Atlanta electronics, Vancouver dance music and a bit of Salt Lake City grunge, here’s what’s landed on the Happy desk.
Ghost Ochre
Ghost Ochre brings a grounded, unfiltered voice to Australian hip-hop, with a directness that can only really come from lived experience.
Wack – ‘Ask Me Honey (Dance Edit)’
Vancouver’s Wack know exactly where they want you: on the dancefloor. ‘Ask Me Honey (Dance Edit)’ pulls from Talking Heads, LCD Soundsystem and The Rapture without losing its own loose, live-band energy.
Paige England – ‘Our Shared Street’
Nashville songwriter Paige England lets ‘Our Shared Street’ breathe. Ambient pop and soft rock sit neatly together, with England’s vocals and writing carrying the weight.
SEIZER – ‘Man With Cigarette’
Salt Lake City outfit SEIZER bring a heavy nu-grunge streak to ‘Man With Cigarette’. Rough around the edges, loud where it counts and firmly planted in alternative rock territory.
Spooky Marvin – ‘You Make Me Wanna Die’
Glitz, glam and electropunk collide on Spooky Marvin’s ‘You Make Me Wanna Die’. It sits neatly inside the LA artist’s PSYCHOSLEAZE world, which is about as restrained as the title suggests.
Midwest Ten – ‘Little Miss Independent’
Midwest Ten keep ‘Little Miss Independent’ is bass-heavy, repetitive and slightly filthy, it runs on scraped guitars, electronics and pure 2am energy.
Finlay Birch – ‘Weight Will Unwind’
Scottish songwriter Finlay Birch keeps things warm and understated on ‘Weight Will Unwind’. Indie folk, soft rock and a real sense of place do most of the heavy lifting here.
Wimzy – ‘Headlights’
Atlanta producer Wimzy goes melodic on ‘Headlights’, pulling together future bass and indie electronic sounds without overloading the track. San Holo and Louis The Child fans should find plenty to like.
Slo TV – ‘Open Window, Empty’
Slo TV take the long way around on ‘Open Window, Empty’, with field recordings and atmospheric production feeding into something slow, textured and quietly absorbing.
Issynormal – ‘Summer Nights’
Leeds artist Issynormal brings plenty of colour to ‘Summer Nights’, mixing bright pop instincts with a funky electronic pulse. Playful, slightly odd and all the better for it.
Polyvinyl – ‘This Silent View’
Polyvinyl lean into the darker end of indie pop on ‘This Silent View’. Big guitars, synths and Annabelle’s vocals give it the kind of scale that makes sense from a band already working its way onto bigger stages.
Radar Gold – ‘Fortune Teller’
Indianapolis psych-pop outfit Radar Gold load ‘Fortune Teller’ with fuzz, groove and just enough haze. It’s hypnotic without ever losing sight of the song underneath.
Anna Pan – ‘Guillotine’
Anna Pan describes herself as “ex-wife material”, which gives you a pretty good idea of the humour at play here. ‘Guillotine’ is sharp indie pop with a good dose of attitude.
Nola Taylor – ‘She’
At just 17, Oakland songwriter Nola Taylor already sounds remarkably comfortable in her own writing on ‘She’. A promising glimpse at an artist currently putting together her debut album.
