Comment: Nashville-based duo for KING & COUNTRY is formed by Australian brothers Joel and Luke Smallbone. I wasn’t aware of them even though they have won 4 Grammy awards for contemporary Christian music, but I listened to their latest single, Relate, and found it quite catchy. With a theme focused on empathy and how we can all relate to each other, it’s easy to feel compelled by the lyrics too. This track will not change your life but it is a very enjoyable song nevertheless. Enjoy!
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: Some outstanding electronic music is being produced in India today and Jonquev is the latest example of that. Technicolor Dreams is a mesmerizing track full of immersive soundscapes and hypnotic beats. It’s hard to believe this is just his debut single. I cannot even imagine what his first EP, Electric Heart, Magnetic Soul, is going to sound like. Let’s just say he’s just set our expectations pretty high. I’m looking forward to it.
Comment: DMA’s –which stands for The Dirty Ma’s, their previous moniker– are relatively well known this side of the world but they’re huge in Australia, to the point that they got their own MTV Unplugged special. They totally deserve that success because they are talented songwriters and musicians. Even though they are strongly influenced by late 90’s Britpop bands such as Oasis, it would be unfair to say that they sound just like those bands. You can notice the influence but you can also tell they’re a different band.
That being said, their brand new EP, I Love You Unconditionally, Sure Am Going To Miss You, sounds different, with more shimmering guitars and kind of bolder melodies, but I dig the change. My favorite track, Viol, is not even the lead single but it represents what I just said very well. It got a magnificent rhythm and wonderful hooks. Enjoy!
Comment: Make It Up feels like the soundtrack to the memories of your most cherished summer holidays. According to Ryan Settles, aka Far West, it is a song about “trying to forget the bad and relishing in the good”. He played all the instruments and produced the track in hi garage in Santa Cruz, but the track’s aesthetics are so good that you would think it was recorded at some fancy studio. Definitely check this song out. You’ll have fun!
Comment: Synthpop bands are quite popular nowadays, but very few of those bands can actually stand out. If their debut single, When We Were Young, is an indication, I think that The Last Arcade will be one of them. It helps to have band members with plenty of experience in the music industry: lead singer Steve McNally had some hits in the early 2000’s as a member of the band BBMak; rhythm guitarist and songwriter has even supported Bryan Adams, among others, on tour; and producer and songwriter Steve Erickson has been creating music since the early 1990’s. All in all, it is clear that they know what they are doing and we should pay attention.
Comment: Wembley is a stunning single by Italian artist Carlo Aprea, aka Still Charles. The song is sang in Italian but it’s so good that you will enjoy it even if you couldn’t understand a single word (for the record, you should be able to catch at least a few words). Carlo says that Wembley, which he wrote during quarantine, is a love story told from beginning to end, inspired by a real relationship he had that ended because both of them were too proud. The track was produced by Riccardo Foresi, whom Carlo met in June 2020. Wembley has a beautiful music video as well that looks like a movie and that you can watch below. I hope you enjoy Wembley as much as I do. It’s quite a gem.
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.
Comment: As suggested by his moniker, Aonian (real name: Alkis Livathinos) is originally from Greece and you can certainly perceive a Greek influence in his music. This London-based electronic music musician has composed pieces for brands such as Louis Vuitton and will soon release his debut full album. A problem I have with electronic and chill-out music is that many of the tracks tend to sound similar to each other but that’s not the case with Hideout, Aonian‘s second single. This piece is testimony of the artist’s talent and creativity. Listening to it will transport you to a beach bar in Mykonos.
Comment: Holly Humberstone is a young and immensely talented British artist who in just over one year has managed to make a name for herself in the alternative pop scene. She’s preparing to release her sophomore EP in November, whose lead single is the eponymously titled The Walls Are Way Too Thin. She wrote this song after moving to a small flat in London and it is a catchy piece of “dark pop”. If you were not aware of Holly Humberstone before, write her name down. This won’t be the last time you hear it.
