Feeling the need to express herself post election, Steady Holiday, the solo project of Dre Babinski picked up a pen on November 9 and composed a collection of tracks in the span of a month. Culminating in an EP called Terror, the effort features contributions from Josh Adams (Jenny Lewis) and Gus Seyffert (The Black Keys, Beck). In the title track, Babinski writes about a fictional character’s fear of the unknown, which also serves as a metaphor for the xenophobia sweeping the country. The dark subject matter juxtaposed with her romantic ’60s-inspired arrangements and soft lilting vocal adds a rich layer of irony to the track.
The follow up to her 2016 breakout LP Under the Influence, the new EP will be released this April on Infinite Best Recordings. Steady Holiday will be supporting Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Mitski on the road this spring, and doing a hometown EP release show April 7 at Resident in LA.
Hear “Terror” along with standout earlier effort “Your Version of Me” below.
Electronica newcomer Kofi Holmes Attivor, aka Mined was born to a Ghanaian family in London and raised on the RnB and soul found in his parents’ record collection. Granted his wish to get his first “sleek, silver Casio,” Attivor began investigating the sonic landscapes of Brian Eno‘s Music for Airports, as well as the work of artists such as Spooky Black, Majical Cloudz and Foals –ultimately developing his own sound embodying his philomathic outlook.
Mined mines earnest emotions mixed in an intricate, minimalistic space, and has been compared to the likes of James Blake, Caribou and Boards of Canada. “I’ve always been more drawn to poignant honest music that evokes a sense of melancholy, or sadness or nostalgia,” Mined explains.
This is readily apparent on “Mistakes,” a piece off his forthcoming EP Loves Low’s. Written as a means of escapism, Mined wrote his latest tracks in his room in London. The EP is due out spring 2017 on Peacefrog Records.
LA-based indie-pop artist RYDER is of the new school musical generation, mixing future-pop melodies with classical structures and striking originality. Songwriting since age 13 and further honing her craft at NYU, RYDER has had extensive training and worked with a range of talented producers since the inception of her budding musical career.
Speaking on her influences in relation to her recent single “Nirvana,” RYDER states: “I grew up around classical music and used to perform in choirs as a young kid, where I’d sing classical choral arrangements and folk music as well as a brief stint in opera. The hauntingly beautiful melodies and harmonic layers from those genres are inspiring motifs I try to constantly incorporate in my music wherever I can. ‘Nirvana’ to me is a blend of classical melodic moments with contemporary pop music.”
Lead by RYDER’s unconventional vocals, “Nirvana” starts out with sparse instrumentation and builds tastefully throughout–bolstered by understated synths and colorful beats to the end. When RYDER reaches the apex of her register around the one-minute mark, she’ll take you right to the song’s namesake–just open the door and tune in below.
Though released in the summer of 2002 and discovered while getting accustomed with the discomfort of adolescence in Canada, Interpol’s inaugural Turn on the Bright Lights will always be inextricably linked in my mind with two things: winter and New York.
From the opening chords of the LP appetizer “Untitled” to the doleful refrains that close out “Leif Erickson”—the whole album’s defining sound shimmers under the cool detached vocals of Paul Banks and Daniel Kessler’s angular guitar strokes–their tone straddling the line between crisp and harsh, balanced against the ebullience of Carlos Dengler’s bass. The whole rhythm section so strongly grounds the understated groove of the record that when it drops out during a few notable moments (the intro on “The New” for example), you can’t help but lean in closer, only to have the warmth of the band’s full sound return to swaddle you.
For all the derision aimed at Banks’ lyrics (fair) and the similarity to Joy Division ‘s Ian Curtis in his warbled delivery, it’s the quality and stylistic consistency of Interpol’s sound that makes the album still resonate so palpably fifteen years later. Be it the opening riff of “Obstacle 1,” the hopeful restraint of “NYC,” or even the sinister whispers underneath the knife-edge creepiness of “Roland,” each component and passage fits together with the same painful detachment that underpins the album.
It’s no coincidence that I’m pressed to look back on this record tonight as New York braces itself for Winter Storm Stella, evoking the title of the eighth track and fan favorite of the compilation. As I sit here overlooking the traffic of 2nd Avenue trickle to a slow drip in anticipation of the impending snowfall, I can’t help but look back on the years since this seminal album cemented itself as a permanent part of my rotation.
Raised in a snowy Canadian town on a constant glut of awareness and appreciation for the city (my mother landed in Queens after fleeing Iran), coupled with the post-9/11 zeitgeist in those years that refracted New York anywhere it could, it’s really no wonder I make the association. Maybe this album was really written by and for turn-of-the-century New Yorkers, taking bumps off their keys somewhere in the stairwell of a Brooklyn walk-up, but frankly, if this stuff doesn’t remind you of the time and place where you started abruptly becoming acquainted with your interior self, then you missed out.
Now that I’ve been lucky enough to live in the city awhile, if ever I’m wandering around in the snow as I’m wont to do in the coming days–turning on this record is one of the few things that will make me reexamine the sights I’ve become prone to ignore—and admire the bright lights anew.
Tei Shi struck a nerve in the zeitgeist in 2014 with hit song “Bassically” and has been running full speed ahead ever since. The NYC-based singer, born Valerie Teicher will release her debut full-length, Crawl Space March 31 on Downtown / Interscope records. The first single of the LP “Keep Running” is sonically aligned with previous efforts — a confident confluence of deconstructed pop, electronic and left-of-centre indie influences.
Speaking on the track, Teicher remarks: “‘Keep Running’ was the first new track I wrote shortly after releasing my last EP. It’s a kind of call to arms to someone you love, to take on and confront all of life’s obstacles together. To fight to stay together through thick and thin. A ride or die kind of love.”
It’s a highly evolved sentiment, much like Tei Shi’s sound itself. Stream below.
Happy weekend everyone! Whether you’re looking to get a party started, get your party on, or find a party this Saturday night — look no further than Sandra Sample‘s new single for some quality preparty motivation. The nascent Australian producer caught our attention with her second single and kinetic electronic jam “Get a Party.” Not much is known about the artist, but look out for more material allegedly on the way this year. Cue the confetti.
poetry in an empty coke can 