Category: New Single

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Norwegian-born, Los Angeles-Based Alma Owren Shares Cinematic “Outcast”

Alma Owren is a 19 year-old Norwegian-born, Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and actor, whose musical work is shaped by her synesthesia. Her music combines vivid soundscapes with powerful, emotion-driven storytelling rooted with vulnerable, relatable lyrics that will deeply resonate with listeners.

The Norwegian-born, Los Angeles-based artist’s debut EP Under the Surface will be released through AWAL. The EP’s first single “Outcast,” is a gorgeous folk pop tune that pairs an arrangement of strummed acoustic guitar, bursts of cinematic strings anchored by Owren’s gorgeous and emotive delivery.

The young artist explains that the song explores themes of isolation and identity through a cinematic soundscape.

Simply put, this young artist reveals a self-assuredness and emotional depth well beyond her relative young. I fully expect that she will have a big, bright future ahead of her.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Paris Duo La Punta Bianca Shares Eerily Dreamy Single

Paris-based synth pop/synthwave duo La Punta Bianca — Francesca Diprima (vocals) and Phillipe Brown (vocals, synths, drum machines) made a name for themselves in the Parisian alternative and indie scenes with their debut EP, 2019’s Demian. The EP saw the duo firmly cementing their sound: Diprima and Brown’s dreamy melodies are paired with equally dreamy synth-based soundscapes.

Initially released on cassette tape, the EP was then pressed on vinyl twice. The EP’s success in the synthwave scene enabled the duo to tour across France and the European Union.

The Parisian duo’s highly-anticipated and long-awaited full-length debut, Disquiet is slated for a March 18, 2025 release through Detriti Records. The album, which continues a run of material rooted in absurdist romanticism and Lynchian strangeness, sees the pair drawing from Angelo Badalamenti, John Barry and Leonard Cohen with songs being sometimes dancey, sometimes melodramatic. Lyrics were written and are sung in French, Italian and English throughout. All of this is paired with carefully programmed synth and drum machine-driven arrangements.

Disquiet‘s first single “Extanimal,” is a dream-like song featuring twinkling synth arpeggios, Casio synthesizer-like beats as a lush yet atmospheric bed for Diprima and Brown’s eerily uncanny boy-girl harmonies. The result is a song that reminds me quite a bit of Young Narrator from the Breakers-era Pavo Pavo — but with a nouveau vague sensibility.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Gabriella Lima Shares a Quiet Storm-like Bit of Samba

São Paulo-born, Paris-based singer/songwriter Gabriella Lima relocated to Paris back in 2014. And since locating to The City of Light, Lima has been busy crafting material that pushes genre and cultural boundaries. 

Lima’s 2021 full-length debut, the nine-song Bálsamo found the Brazilian-born, French-based artist writing material that drew from soul, pop, samba, chanson and several other styles. Back in 2022, I wrote about album closing track, “Samba de l’amour,” a breezy song featuring twinkling keys, fluttering synths, strummed acoustic guitar and gently swaying samba rhythms paired with Lima’s gorgeous vocal singing bittersweet lyrics in French and Brazilian Portuguese detailing love gained and quickly lost. 

Lima’s latest single “Meu Lugar” is a Sade/Quiet Storm-like touch on samba and Bossa nova featuring an atmospheric yet percussive arrangement with strummed acoustic guitar that serves as a lush bed for the Brazilian-French artist’s achingly tender delivery.

She explains that the song’s lyrics talk about a deep emotional delivery and the transformation of an intense and true relationship.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Big Fish Shares Brooding and Folksy Industrial Hymn “Vad blir kvar (What Will Remain)”

Back in 1988, four Uppsala, Sweden-based teens decided to start a band after returning from a trip to West Berlin. Heavily inspired by the avant garde scene there, Big Fish‘s original lineup featured vocals, upright bass, samplers and scrap metal percussion. With the addition of a guitarist in 1990, the newly-minted quintet became part of an emerging local scene that would subsequently birth acts like Watain,Misery Loves Co., Lost Souls, Malaise and Defleshed. 

Throughout the better part of the 1990s, the Swedish outfit recorded three studio albums, including 1996’s Micheal Blair-produced Andar i Halsen, which they supported with frequently touring across Scandinavia, playing over 500 shows. 

The band broke up in 1997 after its members left Uppsala for work and studies. But their fanbase’s clamoring demand for hearing their material live resulted in the Swedish band playing a handful of reunion shows in 2016. 

2022’s surprise fourth album, Kalla döda drömmar was released to critical praise and was supported by extensive touring across their native Sweden. The band spent the next year writing and recording material, including six planned singles which will appear on the band’s forthcoming fifth album, Frya liter stoft (Four liters of dust) slated for release in May.

Late last year, I wrote about “SNÖ (Snow),” a brutally forceful and thrashing ripper, anchored around down-tuned and rumbling bass, fuzzy power chords. thunderous syncopated drumming and rousingly anthemic and enormous hooks and choruses paired with urgent and punchily delivered vocals singing lyrics in Swedish that describe a return from a bleak, metaphorical winter of isolation — or perhaps intoxication — and discovering that nothing is left. But at its core, the song captures uneasy, brutal nature of our bleak, mad, mad, mad existence.

Album single “Vad blir kvar (What Will Remain) ” is a brooding yet folksy industrial hymn that evokes bleak, dark and harsh winters; trudging through snow, ice and slush to some equally harsh, soul-crushing industrial workplace to make widgets, ball bearings and ammunition; of recognizing that there are small moments of breathtaking beauty and humanity that can be a respite in a brutal world.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Dead Vixens Share Arena Rock Friendly “Corroded Love”

Dead Vixens — Lucius Man (guitar), Sarah Weiss (drums), Tiffany Rivera (vocals) and Bruce Macchione (bass) — formed back in 2021. Initially formed as a trio featuring Man, Weiss and Rivera, who originally joined as the bassist, Rivera assumed vocal duties as a result of her background as a classically trained singer after about a year of writing material. In 2022, the band met Macchione and the band’s sound and thematic concerns evolved into the politically-driven, social punk band with distorted guitars, hard-hitting rhythms and powerhouse vocals they’re known for now.

The band’s debut EP DANGER! RESET! serves as an introduction to the band. Three of the EP’s songs were written by the band’s founding trio and represent the band’s early sound before Macchione joined the band, and that portion of the EP are much more prog rock influenced. Macchione brought in more punk-leaning influences which will reportedly be reflected in future releases, including their forthcoming full-length debut. But in the meantime, DANGER! RESET!‘s latest single “Corroded Love” is a swaggering, arena rock ripper that recalls Foo Fighters, Tigercub and Amyl and The Sniffers, among a lengthy list of others, delivered with an effortless self-assuredness.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: TONNUP Shares 90s EDM-Inspired, Club Friendly “SpyMaster”

TONNUP is a mysterious and emerging American electronic music producer and artist. Late last year, they shared “I’m So Into You,” a club banger anchored around glistening synth arpeggios, skittering beats, tweeter and woofer rattling low […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Glasgow’s Theodosia’s Revenge Shares a Bruising Ripper

Theodosia’s Revenge is an emerging, Glasgow, Scotland, UK-based metal outfit. Their latest single “Walking with Fire” is a bruising and primal ripper with scorching riffage, raise your beer high-in-the-sky hooks and choruses and thunderous drumming that recalls early Metallica and the RidingEasy Records roster.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Trentemøller’s Hard-hitting Remix of A Place to Bury Strangers’ “Fear of Transformation”

Late last year, New York-based JOVM mainstays A Place to Bury Strangers — currently Oliver Ackermann (vocals, guitar), John Fedowitz (bass) and Sandra Fedowitz (drums) — released their seventh album Synthesizer through Dedstrange. 

While Synthesizer is the album’s title, it’s also a physical entity, a synthesizer specifically made for the album — and a synthesizer that you too, can own (in part), if you buy the record on vinyl. The album’s cover art doubles as a circuit board and functional synth for curious and enterprising fans. “It’s pretty messed up, chaotic. But it feels really human,” the band’s Oliver Ackermann says. 

In an era of making music where so little is DIY and so much is left up to AI, never setting foot in a practice room or a home studio, making something that feels deliberately chaotic, messy, and human, is entirely the point. The album celebrates sounds that are spontaneous and natural, the kind of music that can only come from collaboration and community. 

The writing sessions for Synthesizer started in the band’s Queens studio, shortly after the release of 2022’s See Through You. The new lineup which featured Ackermann and his friends John and Sandra Fedowitz was especially inspiring for Ackermann. “It felt like a fresh new thing,” he says. “I wanted to write songs everyone was excited about playing.” 

The album captures the band at a place of reinvention, where they take a carefully honed sound and approach and crack it wide open to gut its then reimagine it. And of course, to ever so slightly reinvent one’s sound, one must also built a new instrument — the synthesizer at the core of the album’s overall sound. 

Synthesizer may arguably be one of the band’s most live-sounding albums to date, accurately capturing the rawness and explosiveness of the band in a live setting, which is a fitting for a band that is best in a live setting, where the material takes on a new energy in the presence of a crowd. “We’re artists,” Ackermann says, “Going to shows and bringing that imperfect and beautiful DIY ethos is important.” 

Album single “Fear Of Transformation” is a snarling and scuzzy New Wave/goth punk synth-driven ripper featuring layers of oscillating synths, a relentless motorik groove, explosive bursts of feedback paired with the band’s long-held penchant for rousingly anthemic, mosh pit friendly hooks and Ackermann’s punchy delivery. 

Thematically, the track focuses and delves into the struggle of overcoming internal barriers. As the band’s frontman Oliver Ackermann explains, “Sometimes fear builds up and pins you in a cage. A conversation occurs in my head where I have to convince myself to just fucking do something to break out of it.” The song embodies that internal dialogue, capturing the battle between the compulsion to avoid fear and the push to confront it. And as a result, the song is a raw, uneasy and intense conversation with the devil within.

Acclaimed Danish producer and multi-instrumentalist Trentemøller recently gave “Fear of Transformation,” the remix treatment. The Trentemøller remix adds harder, big beat era-like beats, which manages to add an even darker, industrial electronica-like feel to song. The thematic conversation with the devil at the core of the song has much higher stakes: Damnation and destruction or salvation, which will you choose?

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Cigarettes for Breakfast Shares Churning and Anthemic “Glue”

Cigarettes for Breakfast is the bedroom project of Philadelphia-based singer/songwriter and musician Matt Whiteford and an ever-changing cast of bandmembers and collaborators. The project has made a name for itself on the DIY and shoegaze scenes through crating lush soundscapes and raw, emotive, fuzzed-out performances that capture the essence of classic sheogaze and dream pop — but with their own, unique take and sensibility.

The Philadelphia-based project has shared stages with acts like Slow Crush, The Asteroid No. 4, Mahogany and a growing list of others. And building upon a growing profile, their full-length debut, 2023’s Join the Circus, an effort that showcased their ability to take the listener on a journey while exploring themes of love, loss and self-discovery garnered a comparison to The Jesus and Mary Chain from Rolling Stone.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Glixen Shares Churning and Enveloping “all tied up”

Phoenix-based shoegazers Glixen — Aislinn Ritchie (vocals), Esteban Santana (guitar), Keire Johnson (drums) and Sonia Garcia (bass) — was founded back in 2020 by the band’s Aislinn Ritchie, who then enlisted Santana, Johnson, and Garcia to complete the band’s lineup. Emerging from a scene of local DIY artists, the quartet’s unique sound and look set them apart from their counterparts and led to tours across the US alongside bands like Narrow Head, Cowgirl Clue, MSPaint, Hotline TNT, and They’re Gutting A Body of Water. 

Glixen’s debut EP She Only Said was released in the summer of 2023 through Julia’s War Recordings. The EP saw the band adding themselves to a list of contemporary shoegaze outfits actively pushing the genre in a new direction — through a approach that incorporates ethereal pop vocals and shimmering guitars that are meant to guide you toward the feeling of true self-expression. 

Building upon a growing profile, the Phoenix-based shoegazers’ highly-anticiapted Sonny DiPerri-produced sophomore EP quiet pleasures is slated for a February 21, 2025 release digitally through AWAL and on vinyl through Wichita Recordings. The EP will feature previously release singles “sick silent” and three singles I wrote about on this site:

  • “foreversoon,” a woozy bit of shoegaze built around fuzzy and melodic power chord-driven guitars, thunderous drumming and Ritchie’s tender and ethereal falsetto paired with enormous hooks and choruses. “foreverspoon” sees the Phoenix-based outfit taking up a much heavier sound that seemingly channels Souvlaki-era Slowdive, Nowhere-era RIDE, and contemporaries like JOVM mainstays Blushing. “‘foreversoon’ represents blissful moments of new love and intimacy,” Glixen’s Aislinn Ritchie explains. “The song harnesses melancholy chords, layered with fuzzy red melodies and gliding guitars that pull you in deeper. I wanted my lyrics to feel like a conversation that expresses my infatuation and sensuality. Time is relentless and memories are fleeting, this song encapsulates those emotions forever.”

  • “lust” is a woozy track that sees the band continuing to explore a heavier sound — but this time channeling 90s grunge and nu-metal with fuzz and distorted pedaled power chords, down-tuned bass and blissed out rhythms. Ritchie’s yearning vocal ethereally floating over the brooding and muscular arrangement. “lust” is about the yearning and wanting of somebody and the rush that that person makes you feel,” Glixen’s Aislinn Ritchie explains. “It is a feeling that is shallow, yet it feels intense and passionate but only for a moment. We wanted to take the direction of our sound to a heavier place. I wanted the weight of the sound to crush me.”

  • “lick the star,” which begins with an eerily atmospheric sound bath-inspired introduction that sounds a bit like Cocteau Twins and Slowdive, before quickly turning into a wall of sound of fuzzy and swirling guitar textures, thunderous drumming paired with Ritchie’s ethereal yet plaintive delivery before ending with bursts of feedback. 

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site, you might recall that last year was a busy year for the rising Phoenix-based shoegazers: They played SXSW and Treefort Festval. They’ve also had opening slots for acts like Interpol, DIIV, Nothing., Tanukichan, Turnover, Glare, Glitterer, Softcult and Fish Narc among others. 

Building upon the rising momentum surrounding the band, 2025 looks to potentially be a breakthrough year: Along with the forthcoming release of their sophomore EP, the band will be embarking on their first North American headlining tour throughout February and March with openers Suzy Clue and she’s green. The tour will include a March 15, 2024 stop at Baby’s All Right and their Coachella debut in April. Check out the rest of the tour dates below.

The newest JOVM mainstays’ latest single “all tied up” is features churning and stormy guitars, pummeling drumming around Ritchie’s pleading delivery. “all tied up” showcases the band’s uncanny knack for crafting deeply earnest material with rousingly anthemic hooks and chorus that sounds indebted to classic shoegaze — but with a subtly modern sensibility.

“‘all tied up’ is about feeling completely consumed by someone,” says Ritchie. “We definitely wanted the song to feel enveloping. There’s a subtle tension that builds throughout with a push and pull between the guitars and vocals. The song hits hard with its emotional depth, yet breathes with a playful melody.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Jett Jenkins Shares Meditative “Springsteen”

Jett Jenkins is an emerging Brooklyn-based indie pop singer/songwriter. Influenced by Suki Waterhouse, Fiona Apple, Clairo and Blondie, Jenkins’ work typically balances etheral sounds with profound themes.

The Brooklyn-based artist cites a Clairo show as inspiring her to dedicate herself to music, developing her guitar skills and getting involved in musical theater.

Her debut EP, last year’s Through My Eyes received praise for its relatable and emotionally rich lyrics. She supposed the album with a tour across Southern California that included stops in Los Angeles‘ iconic The Whisky A Go Go and Tea Leaf Green. The tour helped informed her forthcoming full-length debut Tender Love Like a Criminal, which is slated for release later this year.

Tender Love Like a Criminal‘s second and latest single “Springsteen” is a slow-burning and meditative track that reminds me of Soccer Mommy, Nat Vazer and San Mei among a lengthy list of others while anchored around Jenkins’ expressive delivery, shimmering guitars and a rousingly anthemic, sing-a-long worthy hook and chorus.

Jenkins explains that “Springsteen” is a deeply personal song that tells an emotional journey, capturing nostalgia, heartbreak and the bittersweet beauty of everyday moments. “My goal with this track was to create an intimate connection with listeners, something that stays with them long after the music ends. To make this release even more special, I’ve paired it with something unique: my own signature fragrance, “Springsteen” Eau De Parfum.

Together, the music and scent create a multisensory experience, evoking memories of growing pains and raw vulnerability. It’s a way to bring my audience into the world of “Springsteen” on a whole new level.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Pure Orchids Share 90s Alt Rock-Inspired “Flood Gates”

Pure Orchids — founding members Bruce Macchione (guitar) and Ian Yori (bass), along with Bella Ashton (vocals) — is an indie rock studio project that can trace some of their origins back to when Macchione and Yori met playing together in a New Jersey-based hardcore band in which they realized they had an instant creative chemistry. Some time later, the pair joined forces in the studio, working on a couple of jams that had a raw and retro feel to them.

Macchione met Ashton at a watercolor painting class at their university, and they quickly bonded over their shared passion for creativity. Macchione gave Ashton the opportunity to sing for the band based off a demo track that he and Yori had been working on. That track would eventually become their first official single, “Flood Gates,” which Ashton’s gorgeous and expressive vocals, angular and shimmering guitars paired with a supple bass line, a simple yet propulsive backbeat and an anthemic hook and chorus.

Sonically, “Flood Gates” is a seamless synthesis of 90s/120 Minutes-era alt rock, post punk and goth that’s nostalgic — but while anchored in a lived-in earnestness.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Augu Shares a Banger

Augu is a mysterious and emerging Lithuanian electronic music producer. His latest single “Foreigner” synthesizers elements of John Carpenter film soundtracks with deep industrial house and Kraftwerk-like minimalism into a dance floor friendly, club banger.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Orian Bor Shares Brooding and Cinematic “Hard Road”

Orian Bor is an emerging Italian producer and multi-instrumentalist, who can trace the origins of his music career to when he turned 12 and started playing the piano. Around the time, he turned 15, the […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Jaco Jaco Shares Meditative Yet Soulful “Woman”

Tulsa-born, Philadelphia-based musician and visual artist Jacob Theriot’s career began in earnest when he began writing and recording music in grade school with his brother and childhood friend. Those early efforts led to the acclaimed indie outfit Sports.

After three albums and several international tours, Theriot decided to step out into the spotlight as as solo artist, relocating to Philadelphia, where he began to explore and meld a variety of different genres and visual mediums with his current creative project Jaco Jaco.

Theriot’s Jaco Jaco debut, Splat was released early last year. His Jaco Jaco sophomore album Gremlin is slated for a March 21, 2025 release. Gremlin is a reportedly playful album that isn’t directly inspired by Gremlins but manages to honor the movie’s use of kitsch and camp to explore a prevailing mood of irreverence and introspection. “This record came from a somewhat confused and lonely state of mind,” Theriot explains. “It’s a journey through reflection and longing for something real—an inner dialogue giving me advice on navigating life when it feels like it’s working against you.”

Now, if you were frequenting this site late last year, you might recall that Theriot closed out the year with “Favorite Kind of People,” a seamless synthesis of Thundercat and 70s jazz fusion/jazz funk with the breeziness of Bossa Nova that’s anchored around a strutting bass line, rapid-fire four-on-the-floor, twinkling bursts of Rhodes and shimmering guitar.

“‘Favorite Kind of People’ came out of a phase where I was into some classic Brazilian jazz-funk,” Theriot explained. “I can’t remember which song it was exactly, but I translated the lyrics and loved how simple and earnest they felt. The translation was probably off, but it inspired me to write something direct and real—about just being present with people and not overthinking everything.” 

Slated for a March 21, Gremlin is a reportedly playful album that isn’t directly inspired by Gremlins but manages to honor the movie’s use of kitsch and camp to explore a prevailing mood of irreverence and introspection. “This record came from a somewhat confused and lonely state of mind,” Theriot explains. “It’s a journey through reflection and longing for something real—an inner dialogue giving me advice on navigating life when it feels like it’s working against you.”

Gremlin‘s second and latest single “Woman” is a slow-burning and meditative synthesis of Quiet Storm-like R&B/funk and Steely Dan-like AM rock anchored around a slippery, a slick bass line, bursts of glistening synths paired with Theriot’s plaintive delivery.

The song’s lyrics are abstract, but behind that abstraction, Theriot tackles something deeper: The song explores the complexities and nuances of human relationship. According to the Tulsa-born, Philadelphia-based artist, it’s a meditation on honesty and acceptance, being real with yourself, and being real with your partner.

“‘Woman’ was one of those rare, serendipitous type songs that just kinda happened,” Theriot says. “Everything fell into place pretty quick, lyrics and all. I played guitar along to some random breakbeat and out came the guitar riff(s). I was big into Black Messiah (D’Angelo) at the time, so that influence may have seeped in a bit, maybe? No comparison though, of course. I just wanna be like Pino Palladino when I grow up.”