Comment: What I like about Weathers is that their tracks are quite unconventional, and their new single, “Where Do I Sign?”, is no exception. It is a captivating and energetic song with strong Twenty One Pilot vibes. Weathers‘ ability to blend elements of rock, pop, and electronic music seamlessly is truly impressive and I look forward to listening to their new album, “Are We Having Fun?“, when it drops in May.
Comment: Indie/alternative artist Dylan Grantham, aka Young Ritual, is back after having been featured on T.A.M. a while ago with a new track called Ages, which is a noteworthy departure from the artist’s previous style of soft, folk rock tracks. This song was the product of the artist’s attempt at writing rock music and it starts off strong with a powerful guitar riff that immediately sets the tone for the rest of the track. Overall, “Ages” is a strong showing of Dylan’s versatility and a promising glimpse into the future of Young Ritual‘s musical journey.
Comment: I haven’t done a #throwbackthursday post in a while, but after discovering recently that Augustana was not as well-known as I thought, I decided to feature that musical project today. My intention was to use my favorite Augustana song: “On The Other Side”, from their self-titled album (2011), but for some reason that whole album is not available on any streaming platform. For that reason, I had to settle for my second favorite song, Boston, which also happens to be their biggest hit. If there’s one Augustana song you probably have heard before (even if unknowingly), it would surely be this one.
Augustana has always been led by Daniel Layus, but these days he’s the only member of Augustana left. Boston was part of the band’s debut album and peaked at number 39 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2006, pretty good for an alternative rock band at the time. With regards to the meaning of the song, Layus once explained this: “You know, growing up, I had extended family on the outskirts of Boston, and we’d fly out there for the holidays fairly often, and I always loved it out there, in my mind it always seemed like the farthest point away from California that you could go”.
Comment: Roseburg is an alt-rock quartet named after the city where this musical project started: Roseburg, Oregon. Today, they’re based out of Utah and after two and a half years of silence, they came back last month with a new single, Alice, that was actually written a few years ago, when frontman Zach Knell was just 16. Knell, by the way, has the perfect voice for this type of indie rock music. If you’re a fan of bands like The Fray, check Alice out. You won’t want to miss it.
Comment: Lomon, a young artist from Seattle who was featured here in 2020, got married earlier this year and he sweetly decided to write and perform a song for his new wife: Multitudes. Just like his previous song, Little Visitors, Multitudes got a strong David Bowie influence, but it’s accessible for everybody, not just Bowie fans. The layered track got an undeniably catchy chorus that fits perfectly with every single piece of this complex song.
Lomon’s wife must feel proud of the little gift her husband gave her. A gift she is now generously sharing with all of us.
Comment: That Isn’t Me is a gorgeous folk song about focusing on what’s good in life instead of feeling stuck. Northwest Stories‘ lead vocalist, Adam Fink, got a calming voice you won’t want to stop listening to but, on top of that, they recording this song in 432 Hz as opposed to the standard 440 Hz, in order to make it even more soothing. Trust me, it works.
Northwest Stories is composed of Adam (vocals, guitar, piano) and RJ Rouse (background vocals, producer, engineer) and even though most of their songs are written about God, their music can appeal everybody, not just Christians. That Isn’t Me is a great example of that. Enjoy this lovely track!
Comment: Life is funny. Stephanie Nikolas and Eric Breden were high school friends and neighbors, but it wasn’t until they were in their 20s that they started to see each other as partners, both musically and romantically. This sparked Blue Cove into life, which they describe –accurately, I must say– as a blend of modern indie pop with the “nostalgic shoegaze sensibilities of the 90’s”. With a DIY mentality, Steph and Eric do everything related to Blue Cove, and I mean everything, not just mixing and producing their music: from designing their own merch and artwork to capturing their own press photos to filming their music videos. From what I can tell, they’re pretty good at all of those things.
Thrive is the title track of Blue Cove‘s forthcoming debut album (to be released in October), and it is both dazzling and delicate, if such a combination is indeed possible. Think Mazzy Star, but more dynamic. Lyrically, the song talks about thriving despite dealing with social anxiety and negative thoughts, something a lot of us can relate to. Unfortunately, there’s no music video for this vibrant track yet, but you can check below a little guitar piece they wrote and uploaded to Youtube. Absolutely gorgeous.
Comment: Phoebe Bridgers has been featured here before and she’s pretty much everywhere these days, so I don’t think you need me to tell you who she is. What you may or may not know though is that she recently released a brand new song for the tv show Conversation With Friends, and it is truly gorgeous. She started to write Sidelines with her drummer, Marshall Vore, but left it unfinished while they focused on some other things. When the folks from the tv show reached out to her, she and Marshall decided to finish it and I, for one, am glad they did, as it is too good to be left unreleased.
Comment: Emarosa is a band originally formed in Kentucky in 2006, but they have transformed themselves in such a way that they sound today like a completely different band, and I don’t mean simply the fact that they got a new lead vocalist, Bradley Scott, circa 2012. They went from being a post-hardcore act to an indie pop marvel with some synth-wave and 80’s music influence. Their last full album, Peach Club (2019), charted on the U.S. Billboard charts and led them to a successful nationwide tour.
Last month, Emarosa released a new indie pop song, “Attention”, that is incredibly catchy. The best way I have to describe it is: I guess this is how the child of George Michael’s “Freedom” and Seal’s “Kiss From A Rose” would sound. Give it a listen and let me know what you think!
Comment: A couple of weeks ago, I featured one of Lit’s new songs and this time around, as this week’s #ThrowbackThursday post, it’s time to put under the spotlight one of their most beautiful songs: 2004’s Lullaby. I loved this sweet tune, which guitarist Jeremy Popoff wrote for his then young son after months away in tours, years before I even considered becoming a dad, so don’t feel like you need to be one in order to appreciate it.
Lullaby was the ninth track in the band’s self-title album, aka the black album. Unfortunately, it was never released as a single, so chances are most people have never heard of it. If you’re one of them, I hope you fall in love with it today.
