“Farewell Warning” by Royel Otis

“Farewell Warning” by Royel Otis
“Farewell Warning” by Royel Otis

Artist: Royel Otis

Song: Farewell Warning

Genres: #chillout #indie

Location: Sydney, Australia

Release date: March, 2023.

Comment: If you are looking for a dreamy and melancholic song to soothe your soul, you might want to check out “Farewell Warning” by Royel Otis. This duo from Sydney, Australia is composed of Royel (vocals, guitar) and Otis (drums, keyboards), who met at a bar and grill in 2020 and decided to form a band. They usually make guitar-pop music with a nostalgic and romantic vibe, but this track, which closes their new album Sofa Kings, is completely different. It is almost an instrumental track, with a hauntingly beautiful melody that will make you feel nostalgic about a beautiful moment in the past.

“Farewell Warning” is a really difficult song to categorize, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that it is deeply enjoyable and almost dreamlike. Give it a listen below!

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Damian Boylan – Expansions

Artist: Damian Boylan

Song: Expansions

Genres: #chillout

Location: London, United Kingdom

Release date: September, 2022.

Comment: With a Master’s degree (MEng) in Aerospace Engineering, most people wouldn’t think Damian Boylan could also have an artistic side, let alone one in which he seems to be good at everything: sculpting, painting, video, and, well, obviously, music. Expansions is one if his latest releases: a poignant, classically-infused electronic track that is basically candy for your ears. Damian also created the audiovisual piece below, the perfect companion to Expansions.

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Simon Mós – Progression

Artist: Simon Mós

Song: Progression

Genres: #chillout

Location: London, United Kingdom

Release date: July, 2022.

Comment: I’m sorry I didn’t feature this great tune, Progression, in time for the summer, but I guess it’s better late than never. The artist behind the track, South London’s Simon Mós, wanted to evoke feelings of nostalgia and melancholy by using experimental guitar recordings into his beats, all of this while maintaining a minimalist production style. Progression is a great example of that and also the perfect way to start your weekend. Enjoy!

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oppidum – Murmuration

Artist: oppidum

Song:  Murmuration

Genres: #chillout

Location:  Bordeaux, France

Release date: July, 2022

Comment: French artist oppidum is undoubtedly one of the best electronic music artists out there. He was featured here two years ago with his single Genius Loci, and even then you could tell he was different. Now he’s back with a new, self-produced, EP, Vignemale, whose lead single is the superb Murmuration. Vignemale is one of the highest peaks in the Pyrenees, and the EP is the story of the five-day journey to reach it. oppidum’s trademark is creating instrumental downtempo electronica tracks that combine acoustic instruments with field recordings, and you will find plenty of that in Murmuration as well.

The acoustic guitar tones in this hypnotic track are phenomenal. I feel I could listen to Murmuration all day on repeat.

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Departure – Calle 63

Photo credit: @santiago_denegurica

Artist: Departure

Song: Calle 63

Genres: #chillout #lofi

Influences: Khruangbin

Location: London, United Kingdom

Release date: April, 2022.

Comment: Camilo Tostón, who produces music as both Departure and for boutique music labels, grew up in Bogotá, Colombia, in a 3-story building inhabited entirely by family members. When he listened to Khruangbin‘s track: Cómo Te Quiero and watched its music video, which depicts the last minutes of a dying grandfather, Camilo got inspired to reminisce about the happy childhood that he had and came up with Calle 63, a magical track that transport you back to those years when we were happy without knowing it.

Calle 63 is Camilo‘s second single as Departure. Something I really like about it is that despite being an electronic track, the main element in this mesmerizing tune is actually a guitar. Outstanding job.

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MIRRORS – Heading Home

Artist: MIRRORS

Song: Heading Home

Genres: #chillout #ambient

Location: Indianapolis, United States

Release date: April, 2022.

Comment: Here’s another chill-out gem. At one point or another in our lives, we have all had to leave the place we considered home in order to start a new life somewhere else, from going away to college to moving to a new city or country because life happens. In the process, we feel homesick for the place we’re leaving behind and, at the same time, excited in anticipation to the environment that will become our new home. How’s it going to be like? Will we get used to it? That’s the feeling that young and extremely talented music producer Joe Morgan, aka MIRRORS, wanted to convey with the fascinating Heading Home. This spellbinding track is simply gorgeous.

The scary part –in a good way– is that MIRRORS, name chosen after what’s has been the project’s main catchphrase: “We reflect what we surround ourselves with”, is just getting started.

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Toteles – Halcyon

Artist: Toteles

Song: Halcyon

Genres: #chillout #ambient

Location: Munich, Germany

Release date: March, 2022.

Comment: Some tracks grab your attention and hold it long after they have finished playing. When this happens with a chill-out/ambient song, it just shows how special that track is. As you probably guessed, that is the case with Halcyon, one of the first singles released by German artist Christoph Sebastian Pabst under the Toteles moniker, which comes from Aristoteles. Christoph has been making music most of his life, initially in projects with some friends and later on under his own name, but Toteles represents a new beginning for him, focusing on electronic music, deep house, ambient, and chill-out music. You need both talent and luck to be successful in the music business. I don’t know how much luck he has, but he certainly got plenty of talent.

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Keeka The Brave – The Messenger

Artist: Keeka The Brave

Song: The Messenger

Genres: #postrock #instrumental

Influences: Tycho, Lymbyc Systym, Boards of Canada

Location: Florida, United States

Release date: February, 2022

Comment: Having received classical training in percussion and after years performing as a drummer in live gigs or as a DJ/electronic music artist, it makes absolute sense that the work of Keeka The Brave –the musical project of American musician, producer, and songwriter: Elon Hiers–, sounds so cool and fresh. The Messenger, for instance, blends post-rock guitar lines with ambient synths and sophisticated beats. Inspired by the beaches near Jacksonville, this mesmerizing track will be part of Keeka The Brave‘s debut EP. Check it out!

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Rosehip – Twilight

Photo credit: @olicutter

Artist: Rosehip

Song: Twilight

Genres: #chillout #lofi

Location: London, United Kingdom

Release date: February, 2022.

Comment: Inspired by the eponymous 1850 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (sampled at 1:16), Twilight is a relaxing and melancholic lo-fi single from London-based producer Rosehip. The poem describes the ocean though the eyes of a child who’s looking at it, in the middle of a storm, from the comfort of home, and that’s the feeling Rosehip wanted to evoke in the listener too: feeling comfortable during turbulent times.

Twilight is part of Stargaze, the new EP by this talented artist. Despite starting pushing the boundaries of lo-fi recently (2020), Rosehip has already achieved over 8 million streams on Spotify. Once you listen to Twilight, you will see why.

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The Auxiliary – Overture

Photo credit: Paul Storey

Artist: The Auxiliary

Song: Overture

Genres: #chillout #dreampop

Location: North Carolina, United States

Release date: January, 2022.

Comment: Russell Howard, the talented musician behind The Auxiliary, has been making music professionally most of his life, mainly as an acoustic singer-songwriter supporting acts such as The Lumineers and Sister Hazel, but it wasn’t until he decided to leave behind the boundaries of that genre and embrace what really inspired him, that he found what he didn’t know he’d been looking for. Overture is his debut single as The Auxiliary, and this one turned out to be a gorgeous electronic soundscape with ethereal vocals and reverberated synths. It feels like the soundtrack of a dream. Don’t miss it.

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