Category: New Single

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Swimming Bell Shares Lush and Dreamlike “Meet My Shadow”

Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter and musician Katie Schottland is the creative mastermind behind Swimming Bell. Her five-song, Rob Schnapf-produced EP Somnia is slated for a May 16, 2025 release through Perpetual Doom.

Somnia invites listeners to an ethereal sonic realm, a sort of underwater dreamworld where melodies drift effortlessly and rhythms pulse like ocean currents. Schottland envisioned the EP as an escape from the crushing weight of reality, a space where listeners could feel suspended — as though they were floating — between wakefulness and dreaming. Collaborating with Schnapf, Schottland embraced a much more percussive approach, allowing textures and rhythms to guide the listener through the material’s shimmering soundscapes.

“I wanted this EP to feel like sinking into water, where everything is softened and suspended,” says Schottland. “Given all the stress and tension in the world, I wanted to make a feeling of escape – something hypnotic and transportive. Rob and I explored percussive layers in a way that felt both grounding and dreamy, creating movement within.”

Somnia’s first single, “Meet My Shadow” is a shimmering mix of Laurel Canyon, Nick Drake-era psych folk and country featuring shimmering pedal steel, twinkling keys, gently rolling percussion, strummed acoustic guitar, and a supple bass line serving as a lush and dreamlike bed for Schottland’s gorgeous yet effortless delivery.

“With this song, I wanted to strip things down and focus on the feel – letting the groove take the lead and allowing the melody to float within it.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Dead Pioneers Share An Incisive Ripper

Denver-based punk outfit Dead Pioneers — Josh Rivera (guitar), Abe Brennan (guitar), Shane Zweygardt (drums), Algiers’ Lee Tesche (bass) and acclaimed indigenous visual and performance artist and activist Gregg Deal (vocals) — will be releasing their sophomore album PO$T AMERICAN on April 11, 2025 through Hassle Records. 

Deal, who is a member of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, is a visual and performance artist and activist, whose work frequently includes exhaustive and detailed critiques of American colonialism, society, politics, popular culture and history. Through paintings, murals and performance art, Deal critically examines issues within Indian Country such as decolonization, stereotypes and appropriation among others. His work has been exhibited at cultural centers nationally and internationally including at the Smithsonian Institution and the Venice Biennale. 

After a 17 year stint living in the Washington, DC area, Deal and his family relocated to Colorado, coinciding with his time as Native Arts Artist-in-Residence at the Denver Art Museum. Dead Pioneers can trace their origins from a 2020 performance piece The Punk Pan-Indian Romantic Comedy, a deeply personal one-man show that explored themes of music, personal experiences and meaningful connections. A grant allowed Deal to expand upon the project, incorporating original music written specifically for the performance. 

The Denver-based punks pair a DIY ethos with a mission to champion the rights of marginalized communities, including Indigenous, Black, Brown, Asian, LGBTQ+ folks, as well as workers’ rights. The band’s work sees them boldly and unapologetically confronting the social, political and cultural issues in the United States — a focus that’s central to their identity. 

The Denver-based outfit self-released their self-titled full-length debut last fall. Clocking in at 22 minutes, with only one of the album’s 12 songs exceeding three minutes, the album’s material may be a breakneck and furious roar, but it covers a huge amount of ground. The album caught the attention of Hassle Records, who signed the band and then re-released the album. 

PO$T AMERICAN‘s material was written last February and records last July. The album forecasts the turmoil of our last Presidential Election and reflects on the fears and disilluionsments of modern life, “The title PO$T AMERICAN reflects a collective disillusionment with the so-called American Dream,” Dead Pioneers’ Gregg Deal explains. “It critiques capitalism, colonialism, and white supremacy while imagining a path toward unity beyond those oppressive systems.” 

The album’s material sees the band balancing minute-long punk rock explosions, impassioned explorations of modern-day America and spoken word interludes with the shifts in form and tone not distracting from its central themes. Sonically, the album draws from Rage Against the Machine, Chuck D, Public Enemy, Johnny Cash, IDLES, Black Flag, Rollins Band and Dead Kennedys among others. 

Perhaps as a result of the direct influences of its creation, the album manages to eerily presage the mood and state of our country right this moment: The fear, uncertainty, the bitter divisiveness, the racist scapegoating, the gaslighting, the gross incompetence, the oppression, bullshit and buffoonery we’ll face every day for the next four years — or even more.

“What we wrote was relevant politically and socially. We felt good about it, and moved forward in that confidence,” the band says. “It’s sad that scathing statements about fascism, white supremacy and racism in the American political landscape are somehow more relevant just because of an election, but here we are.”

And yet, the overall feeling is one of cautious optimism. “Although we didn’t expect the political relevance to become more relevant, we have no illusions to the American dream, or to where we seem to be going. But we have hope that we can get to a better place for people to have what they need. It is an album that speaks to and for this precise time and place; that perhaps could not exist at any other time. It is an album for now.”

Earlier this year, I wrote about album title track “PO$T AMERICAN,” a bruising ripper that sonically and thematically reminded me of Pearl Jam‘s “WMA” and “Push Me Pull Me” anchored around righteously furious critiques of America and American politics. If you’re a member of a marginalized community — and I guarantee that most of you readers actually are — the song should capture the distress, anger, insult and the bitterness that you feel right this second and will continue to feel for some time.

“We, like many people in our communities, are incensed by the overt and jarring political and social moves of United States Politics,” Deal says. “From the current administration to the administrations before it, there has been a trajectory in this country that has brought us to the critical moment we are all looking at. Our hope in this song is maybe, just maybe, we are saying something you feel too.” He continues, “I wrote this song on White people’s day of Independence, July 4, 2024. I wrote it sitting next to my oldest son while watching fireworks and having a discussion on what this day was supposed to mean. It went into a discussion of everything that was happening at that moment. Little did I know at the exact moment, that the relevant things would escalate, and become more stark. This was written to be scathing, honest, saying the quiet thing out loud. As we look upon the United States political landscape, this is very much how we feel.”

PO$T AMERICAN‘s latest single “The Caucasity,” continues a run of bruising art punk. Featuring propulsive and tribal rhythmic pulse and squiggling, reverb-soaked guitar blasts paired with Deal’s bemused and frustrated spoken word delivery, the song as the Dead Pioneers frontman explains “. . . tells the story of a true moment with a common set of languages and communications by non-Native people. While tongue and cheek, it’s also a true reflection of a marginalized person being asked to justify their actions, if not their entire existence.”

“This piece is the true story of an interaction with a shamelessly bold white college student that turns into a perfect example of the word while also showcasing the hurdles put in front of professional People of Color despite age, education or perceived authority. These are everyday occurrences in public spaces, academia and throughout our lives.” 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Chatom Shares a Sleek and Futuristic Banger

Chaton is an emerging electronic music artist, whose debut single “From the Future” is a melodic bit of hard-hitting deep house that may remind listeners 

a bit of Tour de France-era Kraftwerk and JOVM mainstay LutchamaK.

Fittingly “From the Future” is inspired by futurism, the aspirations to create technologies to enable a better life for all.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Martin Oh Shares Breezy and Euphoric “Neverland”

Martin Oh is a rising singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer, who recently released his SOHN co-produced debut EP Better Place. The EP is features shimming, euphoric electro pop that specifically designed to get you dancing — and to set hearts on fire.

Better Place EP’s latest single “Neverland” is a slickly produced breezy bop that recalls a mix of 80s pop, St. Lucia and Rush Midnight, anchored around earnest lyricism and the rising artist’s knack for remarkably catchy hooks. Simply put, it’s a much-needed reminder of joy and fun in our dark, uncertain times.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Julia Powell Shares Brooding and Cinematic “Lazarus”

With the release of her debut EP, 2022’s Ephyra, the Tampa-based artist Julia Powell gained a following for crafting cathartic pop that pairs sultry vocals with punchy, dark pop arrangements — and for a trippy live show that frequently featured mannequin heads and light displays.

After the release of Ephyra EP, Powell took a break from music, and it seems that during that period her life changed. She marked her return to music with the release of “2019” earlier this year. “2019” showcased her daring and honest approach to her music.

Her latest single “Lazarus” is a brooding, song featuring dramatically twinkling keys, subtly malevolent bass synths, skittering boom bap and swirling, atmospheric synths serving as an eerie yet lush bed for Powell’s sultry, soulful delivery. Sonically, “Lazarus” brings to mind a synthesis of Black to Black-era Amy Winhouse and Portishead, full of brooding yet cinematic sense of unease.

“‘Lazarus’ is about coming back to music. After my last EP, Ephyra, I burned out a little and had to focus on life for a minute,” Powell explains. “That was two years ago, and my life is so different now. So I decided it was time to finally come back. I wrote Lazarus as an apology to my fans who hadn’t heard from me for a while, and an announcement that I am back – for good.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Zara Wynn Shares a Swooning Ballad on Heartbreak and Indecision

Zara Wynn is an emerging Uruguayan singer/songwriter. From a very young age, music has been her refuge and driving force, leading her to create songs that both sound good and resonate with the listener. And in a short time, Wynn has received attention explosively authentic songs, anchored around bold lyrics and vibrant melodies and a blend of strength, resiliency and earnest emotion.

The Uruguayan artist’s latest single “Tengo Ganas de Llamarte” is a mid-tempo ballad that effortlessly pairs Wynn’s earnest delivery with a soulful and traditional-leaning arrangement that reminds me of the music you’d hear blaring out of cars, businesses and apartments around Roosevelt Avenue.

Wynn explains that the song captures the tension between the excitement of wanting to talk to that special someone and the fear of being rejected by that special someone. The song’s narrator is in a familiar situation to most of us: that struggle with the crippling indecision and self-doubt that affairs of the heart can inspire — no matter how self-assured we are.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Donïa Nö Shares a Brooding and Eerie Banger

Donïa Nö is a Tuscan-born singer/songwriter and electronic music artist, who relocated to Rome, where she studied guitar at Liceo Musicale F. Petrarca and privately, and graduated with a degree in pop vocals at the Saint Louis College of Music.

After spending some time in both cover and original music projects, the Tuscan-born artist felt the need to express herself completely and she started her first solo project The Silence with which she released her debut single “Intro-Right/Wrong,” and five follow-up singles written and sung in English.

She made her live debut back in 2022, opening for Cigno in Rome and for Le Cose Importanti. She also participated in Firenze Suona and Lazio Sound.

Back in 2023, the Tuscan-born, Rome-based artist rebranded her project Donïa Nö — and with the rebrand, she decided to write and sing her lyrics in her native Italian. As Donïa Nö, her sound is influenced by Nine Inch Nails, Fever Ray, Bones UK, Subsonica, Verdena and others — dark, industrial-like electronica paired with alternating screams, howls and ethereal melodies.

Her latest single “Cenere alla Cenere” is a slickly produced yet brooding bit of goth/industrial music anchored around an alternating eerie atmospheric verses and hard-hitting, club friendly hooks and choruses paired with Donïa Nö’s expressive vocal. Sonically, recalling Marie Davidson and Becoming Undone-era Adult.,” Cenere alla Cenere” makes a reference to Genesis while giving voice to women, who have suffered and have been silenced. She explains that the song “. . . is a ferocious cry and a celebration of the survivors who do not bend.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Lycoriscoris Shares Meditative “Light Leaks”

Yunosuke Senoo, best known as Lycoriscoris is a Japanese multi-instrumentalist, electronic music artist and producer, who over the course of the past decade has firmly established a signature blend of organic melodies made with both analog and digital equipment with intricate sound design. During that same period, he has built a cult following as a part of a new wave of Japanese electronic music producers.

His debut full-length debut was released on a Japanese indie label. But since then he has released material through Anjunadeep, KOMPAKT KX and Christian Löffler‘s Ki Records. 2018’s Flight, which was released through Anjunadeep landed in the Top 4 of the iTunes Electronic Albums Chart and received airplay on BBC Radio 1, KEXP and NTS Radio, while receiving international press coverage. 2021’s 9-track Chiyu showcased Senoo’s delicate production style while receiving praise from Mixmag Asia, DJ Mag and DJ Times while receiving spins from Nick Warren, Joris Voorn, Hernán Cattáneo and Eelke Kleijn.

Senoo’s latest Lycoriscoris single “Light Leaks” is a gorgeous track that manages to be simultaneously cinematic, mediative and deeply intimate. Featuring bursts of dramatic and twinkling piano and glistening synth oscillations paired with skittering beats, “Light Leaks” evokes a sense of wonder and awe, the recognition of our smallness in an infinite cosmos, and the recognition of our mortality. Today, things are harsh, uncertain and brutally unfair but there will always be small and profound moments of beauty and joy that you must hold on to with everything you’ve got.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Zay’Marie Shares Lush “Open”

Zay’Marie is a Virginia Beach-born, Washington, DC-based artist, who has quickly established a sound that seamlessly fuses soul, R&B and pop rooted in raw emotion and undeniable energy.

The Virginia Beach-born, DC-based artist’s debut EP Natural was released earlier this month. Thematically, the EP’s material is a raw, authentic journey through love, embracing the highs, navigating the uncertainties while standing firm in self-worth and resilience.

EP single “Open” is a slickly produced track that strikes me as being a sleek mix of elements of Afrobeats, contemporary pop and R&B featuring skittering polyrhythm, atmospheric synths and a supple, sinuous bass line serving as an ethereal yet lush bed for Zay’Marie’s soulful, self-assured yet longing delivery. The result is a song that showcases a burgeoning talent, who can craft a hook-driven yet soulful tune.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Baltimore’s Devin Nash Shares Swaggering and Strutting “Sounds Like Pain”

Devin Nash is a Baltimore-born and-based singer/songwriter and musician, who quickly established a sound that blends contemporary R&B and 80s synth pop with the release of his full-length debut, 2016’s Her. 

Her achieved commercial success with the album’s songs appearing on VH1’s Black Ink Crew Chicago and MTV’s Teen Mom — and he performed at the BET Awards. 

The Charm City-based artist released his latest EP Sounds Like Pain last month. “It is a soundtrack centered around love, relationships and heartbreak,” Nash explains.

EP single, title track and opening track “Sounds Like Pain” is a slickly produced, strutting bop anchored around a sinuous bass line, skittering cowbell-driven beats, atmospheric synths that serve as a lush bed for Nash’s yearning delivery singing lyrics about a love interest, who quickly proves to be cold-hearted and cruel — for no particular reason. But underneath the heartache are moments of self-reflection and pride, in which the song’s narrator realizes “Wait, what the fuck am I doing?”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Rival Consoles Shares Upbeat Yet Cinematic “Catherine”

Ryan Lee West is a critically acclaimed, London-based electronic music producer, best known as Rival Consoles. Over the course of his nearly two-decade career, West’s work has diversified from the challenging electronic output of his earliest releases to gradually becoming more conceptual and metamorphic: 2020’s Articulation used drawings and sketches to imagine and developed each track while 2021’s Overflow explored themes of the human and emotional consequences of life surrounded by advancing technologies, including social media — and was composed for choreographer Alex Whitley‘s contemporary dance production of the same name. 

West’s consistent desire to create a more organic, humanized sound often sees the acclaimed British producer often developing early ideas on guitar or piano; forming pieces that capture and evoke a sense of songwriting behind the electronics. His eighth album, 2022’s Now Is featured some of the most playful and melodic material of West’s catalog in some time, with the album’s material drawing from music, art, film, colors, shapes and even human emotions. 

“The title of the record Now Is interests me because it is the beginning of a statement, but it is incomplete. I like art that is open and suggestive of ideas even if they are inspired by very specific things,” West explains. “With my previous record Overflow being very dark, heavy and almost dystopian, I wanted to escape into a different world with this music and ended up creating a record which is a lot more colorful and euphoric.”

West followed Now Is with 2023’s standalone single “Coda,” an incredibly nocturnal song built around an eerie chord progression that slowly twists, turns and morphs as it builds up tempo paired with skittering beats and a relentless motorik-like groove. The composition manages to evoke a somnambulant and woozy buzz of energy.  “’Coda’ started as a really late night experiment around a chord progression that seemed haunting but also had some strange beauty,” West says. “The whole piece is centered around this theme. I wanted to embrace the dark and quiet moments of the nighttime but also the energy of people who were maybe moving around London late at night with a nod to house music.”

West’s ninth Rival Consoles album Landscape from Memory is slated for a July 4, 2025 release through his longtime label home, Erased Tapes. The album’s material blossomed following a frustrating fallow year away from the production desk.

For West, having spent the past decade producing and writing in a habitual way, falling out of love with creativity was a a sort of slowing of the clock that has long made him tick, a sense of being swallowed whole by some elementary force. And yet, the time out of the studio and writing room, helped inform what may arguably be his most invigorating album to date.

Partly stitched together from a scrapbook of discarded audio snippets, Landscape from Memory reportedly demanded a degree of openness and vulnerability from West during its assembly. “There is a kind of strange beauty to it because it involves the past, present and future in a very strong way,” West says.

The album’s climatic productions are frequently characterized by their propulsive quality and driven by West’s own push to step outside his comfort zone, having found inspiration from new and unfamiliar sources. Because his self-built Hackney studio suddenly felt too controlled of an environment, West changed up his creative process, mapping out tracks away from is studio desk. And as a result West’s forthcoming ninth album is a sort of travelogue of creativity on the move, a collection of postcards from a everywhere that features material defined by restlessness.

Landscape from Memory’s lead single “Catherine,” dedicated to West’s partner is a haunted yet remarkably upbeat track featuring propulsive, skittering and shuffling beats paired with a glistening synth-driven melody that twists and turns throughout a cinematic and expansive song structure.

“I recently came across this sketch of a melodic idea that I created many years ago,” West explains. “The title is named after the person who made me realise in that moment, that this idea had something special about it that should be returned to.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Crocodiles Side Project Psychic Pigs Share a Noisy and Gritty Ripper

San Diego-based singer/songwriter and musician Brandon Welchez is best known for being one-half of the grade psych pop duo Crocodiles. Over the past two decades, Welchez’s work has gravitated to the mid fi and melodic end of the sonic spectrum.

However, Welchez’s latest project Psychic Pigs shows a much different side of his work and sound, revealing that the raw and bleeding hardcore punk and power pop bands on the Killed by Death compilations have influenced his work as much as The Jesus and Mary Chain has been on him. The project can trace its origins to when Welchez started writing music he knew was too discordant for Crocodiles’ pop-leaning sound.

Slated for a May 23, 2025 release through Slovenly Recordings, Psychic Pigs’ self-titled, full-length debut was recorded last April in London over a breakneck four day recording session with Fucked Up‘s and Career Suicide‘s Jonah Falco handling production and drums. Once they were finished recording the album’s material, Welchez returned to the states with the goal of forming a live band that could replicate the aggressive, live-to-record sound capture on the recordings.

Connections made throughout Welchez’s two-plus decade music career proved fruitful with the band’s live lineup featuring members of Fake Fruits, Surfbort and Choir Boy, including Welchez (vocals, guitar), Bee Wright (lead guitar), Jeff Kleinman (bass) and John Hodge (drums).

The project will make its live debut on March 19, 2025 at Los Angeles‘ The Escondite and they’ll play their record release show at Permanent Records Roadhouse in late May. And from my understanding more live dates are to come. But in the meantime, the self-titled album’s first single and album title track “Psychic Pigs” is a breakneck and noisy ripper featuring scorching riffage, thunderous drumming paired with Welchez’s adopting an old school punk sneer. Of course, because Welchez has spent the past two decades as one-half of Crocodiles, “Psychic Pigs” will remind some fans of Crimes of Passion-era Crocodiles — think of a song like “Cockroach” — but with a gritty beer and sweat soaked vibe.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Zumba la Calavera Shares Breezy and Nostalgia-Inducing “Selva Gris En Mi Corazón”

Founded by Roberto Alfaro in Villa Alemana in the Valaparaíso region of Chilé back in 2018, Zumba la Calavera has spent their career exploring different styles of music while crafting songs that discuss Latin American social problems and get listeners to think.

The Chilean outfit’s debut EP, 2020’s Ruidos Modesto’s saw the band creating a sound that meshed elements of funk and rock while tackling global warming, the abandonment of the elderly when they cease to be profitable, the perverse incentives of the healthcare industry and corporate image washing through Teletón, a Mexican TV channel that derives its name from a Chilean telethon that raised money for children’s charities.

The band’s latest album Sistema Pachanguers was released earlier this year. The album is an ode to life’s unexpected nature and absurd twists of fate and Peruvian cuisine — because priorities, right? Sonically, the album sees the band at their most defiantly genre agnostic while featuring lyrics and vocals that range from sarcasm to reflection.

Sistema Pachanguers latest single “Selva Gris En Mi Corazón,” is a breezy, nostalgia-inducing bit of dance floor friendly cumbia that captures the bittersweet nostalgia of old lovers and memories of the taste of fish, salsa and ice-cold pilsners on hot days. It’s those small memories that make us human — and give us life.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay MAGON Shares Freewheeling “Good Song”

Wildly prolific Israeli-born, Costa Rican-based singer/songwriter, musician and JOVM mainstay MAGON recently released his 11th album Tales of a Mountain Child.

In the lead-up to the album’s release, I wrote about two of the album’s previously released singles:

  • Album title track “Tales of a Mountain Child,” a track that possesses the same sort of freewheeling, restless nature reminiscent of early Bob Dylan, Harvest-era Neil Young and Inner Journey Out-era Psychic Ills. And while continuing upon the JOVM’s mainstay reputation for his uncanny knack for catchy hooks, the song captures a familiar feeling for me — the seemingly irresistible push and pull of a life on the road. 

  • “Outer Darkness,” a track that continues a run of material seemingly indebted to 60s psych rock and 70s album rock, with a dreamy yet introspective air. The result is a song that evokes nostalgia while anchored around a modern sensibility. 

Tales of a Mountain Child‘s latest single “Good Song” continues upon the album’s freewheeling nature – and his penchant for catchy grooves and hooks. And much like its predecessors, the song’s lyrics are surrealistic yet paint a vivid picture of late-night musings, fleeting thoughts and playfully odd imagery.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Sunglow Teams Up with Rachael Brianna on Rapid-Fire “figure 8s”

Daniel B. Lynch is a Savannah, GA-born, Chicago-based DIY electronic artist, best known as Sunglow. Lynch can trace the origins of his career in electronic/computer music back to when he was 12. Starting off with experimental, electronic songs, then gradually transitioning to weirdo pop, Lynch’s relocation to Chicago marked a return to his experimental roots.

His collaborations with Furious Hooves Records and Company Businesses Inc™ have led to some rather innovative sonic explorations, which have led to defining his unique “hypo-pop” style.

Lynch’s latest album, the recently released Chocolate, Strawberry, and Pistachio, a collaborative album that sees the Savannah-born, Chicago-based producer and artist working with a series of vocalists. The recently released album’s latest single “figure 8s” feat. Rachael Brianna is a rapid-fire bop anchored around squiggling and squawking electronics, twinkling synth arpeggios and skittering beats serving as a playful and sugary bed for Rachael Brianna’s sarcastic delivery. The song seems to say, when shit has gone dark, might as well make fun on of it.