Influences: Taylor Swift, Phoebe Bridgers, Tom Petty
Release date: November, 2021
Comment: Josie Arthur, aka JOBIE, is a young and talented indie folk singer-songwriter used to playing at house shows and bars in Boston. She has released three singles so far, and even though Scorpio is the latest one, it was actually the first song JOBIE ever recorded. Written about the universal experience of being infatuated with someone you don’t know at all, which happened to her when she started college, this honest and raw tune features just a guitar and Josie’s sweet vocals. Check it out!
Influences:Regina Spektor, Sara Bareilles, Norah Jones
Release date: February, 2022.
Comment: Angela Sclafani is an independent #singersongwriter from New York City who has released three EPs so far and won numerous accolades as a songwriter. Her new single, Bell Jar, was inspired by Sylvia Plath‘s 1963 novel and is full of evocative lyrics that encourage listeners to challenge those social conventions that keep them down. Melodically, the track reminds me not only of the artists listed as Angela’s influences but also Lisa Loeb and even Sarah McLachlan. If you like sweet melodies with great lyrics, you’re in for a treat.
Comment: Harriette Pilbeam, aka Hatchie, is a 28-year-old Australian #singersongwriter whose debut album, Keepsake (2019), was a huge success. She has announced a new album for April this year, for which she has released two singles already (This Enchanted and Quicksand) and they both sound even better than any of her previous songs. I particularly liked Quicksand, which she wrote after realizing that she will never be satisfied no matter what. There’s always something else to achieve.
Comment: renfortshort is the moniker of 19-year-old #singersongwriter, Lauren Isenberg, who debuted independently in 2019 and has quickly made a name for herself. The talented Canadian artist entered my radar last year several months after the release of her last EP, which is why I didn’t feature her then. The good news is that renforshort is back with a new single, moshpit, that is even better than what she had released before. The song, which is about staying in a bad relationship for way longer than its due date, got a great melody with a chorus impossible to get out of your head.
Comment: I mentioned Of Monsters and Men in yesterday’s entry and then in the comments section I said that I loved lead singer’s Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir’s voice. If the only songs you know of this quintessential indie band are their biggest hits (Little Talks or Mountain Sound), you might not be aware of her sweet and mildly raspy voice. Both songs are great but do not showcase Nanna’s vocals that much. Instead, listen to Organs, an underrated gem that wasn’t even a single off the band’s sophomore album. It’s all about Nanna and her flawless vocal delivery. Enjoy! #ThrowbackThursday
Comment: This song is part of a 3-track EP that was written between Southampton (UK) and Reykjavik (Iceland), so I don’t think it is simply a coincidence that Weekend Punks remind me a bit of Icelandic band Of Monsters And Men. Weekend Punks claim to play Surf Pop with relatively little experience of surf or sun. I think their style is actually some kind of chilled back punk mixed with shoegaze pop and 90s rock vibes. The glue that holds everything together is the lead singer’s magnetic vocals. The Theme from Weekend Punks is the band’s second single and a good example of this very interesting proposition. Check it out!
Comment: I’m glad Phoebe Bridgers collaborated with MUNA on this great tune because I would probably have missed it otherwise, as I wasn’t aware of that music trio until now. Silk Chiffon is a catchy indie pop song with a nice 90s rock vibe, particularly during the intro. It might not be a groundbreaking track but it is deeply enjoyable. At the end of the day, that’s really what matters.
Comment: I don’t know much about this German-born Irish-Canadian #singersongwriter. She achieved notoriety around 2018 with her hit No Roots but I can’t say I liked it that much. Last month, Alice Merton dropped two songs that should be part of her forthcoming sophomore album: Hero and Island. Hero is the one that got a music video recorded but Island is the track that caught my attention. I really dig it and that’s why I wanted to share it here. Hope you enjoy it as well.
Comment: Ukulele-based indie folk music is hardly a novel idea, but when it is done well and has a compelling melody, who cares? That’s exactly the case with Hey?, the latest single from British #singersongwriter Chxrlotte, a talented young artist with a bright future that you should check out.
Comment: The story of School of Seven Bells (SVIIB) is, sadly, a tragic one. It was formed in 2007 by sisters Alejandra Deheza (vocals, guitar) and Claudia Deheza (keyboards, vocals), and Benjamin Curtis (guitar, synthesizers, vocals), but then Claudia left the band in 2010. Unfortunately, Ben, who was Alejandra’s romantic partner, died in 2013 from sudden-onset lymphoma and, as a tribute, Alejandra took some demos Ben had written prior and during his illness and completed the band’s fourth and last studio album, SVIIB, which was released in February, 2016. It is a wonderful album which, despite the circumstances in which it was created, is actually full of hope and even joy.
To me, the best among a collection of great songs is Ablaze, the first track. It’s a cleverly produced song that features Alejandra’s ethereal vocals and sweet lyrics that become even more beautiful knowing the context in which they were written. If you are only going to listen to one SVIIB song, listen to Ablaze, this week’s #ThrowbackThursday entry. You will be happy you did so.
As a bonus, I’m leaving below the link to the video of SVIIB’s cover of Joey Ramone’s I Got Knocked Down (But I’ll Get Up) (it is not available on streaming platforms). It was written by Alejandra and Ben quite literally while they were ‘sitting in a hospital bed’ and released just before SVIIB.
