Stefan Kasapovski is a Stockholm-based singer/songwriter and musician — and the creative mastermind behind the emerging solo recording project Santero Projects. Kasapovski’s Santero Projects full-length debut will reportedly feature 11 songs written performed and recorded by Stockholm-based artist in one take, without overdubbing or digital effects to capture the material at its most genuine.
Kasapovski’s latest Santero Projects single, the gorgeous an sparse “Knossos” features the Stockholm-based artist’s sonorous baritone accompanied by atmospheric synths and strummed acoustic guitar. The end result is a song that — to my ears, at least –sounds quite a bit like acclaimed Swedish folk artist Jose Gonzalez.
Murillo “Muca” Sguillaro is a Brazilian-born, London-based songwriter, guitarist and producer, who has built up a modest following through a number of various recording projects — including Muca and La Marquise. Since the release of a handful of attention-grabbing singles and videos with that project, Sguillaro has been rather busy: the Brazilian-born, London-based songwriter, guitarist and producer recently became a father — and to celebrate such a wondrous occasion, Sguillaro collaborated with British singer/songwriter Alice SK and legendary Bossa nova pioneer Roberto Menescal on “Until We Meet Again,” an old-timey and breezy take on the Bossa nova sound I adore so very much with subtle elements of indie folk and pop.
Sguillaro can trace the origins of this new collaboration back a little bit. He recently finished working on Alice SK’s debut EP and believed that her voice would be perfectly suited for Bossa nova, and for a composition he had written. Sguillaro asked the British singer/songwriter to write lyrics and sing on the track. Muca originally met Menescal when the Bossa nova pioneer was in London on tour, and the two Brazilian artists managed to exchange ideas and shared love for Brazilian music and other music. Sguillaro and Menescal recorded the bulk of the song’s arrangement in Rio de Janiero — with Sguillaro and Alice SK working on the final arrangements and vocals in London.
Featuring gently galloping rhythms, Alice SK’s gorgeous and expressive vocals, Menescal’s shimmering and looping acoustic guitar, bursts of cinematic strings, fluttering flute, “Until We Meet Again” is centered around an nostalgic longing for much simple and more innocent times, summer nights dancing all night and reunions with loved ones — whether in this world or in the next.
Although formed in 2011, the Portland, OR-based art rock duo Lore City — Laura Mariposa Williams (vocals, keys, guitar) and Eric Angelo Bessel (percussion, keys, guitar) — can trace their origins to when the duo met in 2003 while attending Syracuse University’s College of Visual & Performing Arts. Williams and Bessel manned to reconnect years later, formed Lore City and got married shortly after that.
As the duo explains their music is “born from the transformational power of sound. We hand over words, instruments, and rhythms; trading back and forth until everything belongs to both of us. Until we are distinguishable. We create from the belief that we all are one, and that we’ve been here before. Song fragments are shimmering all around us, ready to transport. We tune in and transcribe. Deep knowing, alongside the unfathomable unknown, is where we reside. Sonic soundscapes give way to archetypal figures and voices materialize. Sometimes we are just singing along with the ghosts that emerge from our chorus of effect pedals.”
The duo’s fourth album Participation Mystique is slated for a July 23, 2021 release through the band’s own imprint. Sonically the album finds the duo meshing elements of psych rock, post-rock, krautrock, post-rock, dark wave and dream pop into a difficult to pigeonhole, mesmerizing sound. Thematically — and perhaps even sonically — Participation Mystique is inspired by a once every 500 year celestial occurrence that happened in early 2020: Saturn directly aligning with Pluto within the constellation of Capricorn. According to astrologers essentially hard lessons joined forces with transformational evolution when it came to the infrastructure between the spiritual and the material.
Participation Mystique’s latest single “I Know You Know” is a brooding and cavernous mix of krautrock and psych rock centered around propulsive and blown out tribal beats, chanted vocals drenched in copious reverb, droning synths. The end result — to my ears — is a song that evokes a trance-inducing shamanistic ritual, meant to bring you closer to both one’s ancestors and the universe.
The duo describe “I Know You Know” as “a trait drone-rock anthem vibrating with tension between material and spirit.”
Mati Zundel is an acclaimed Argentine producer, musician and DJ best known worldwide as Lagartijeando. Throughout Zundel’s career, his work has been deeply influenced by his travels through Latin America: his psychedelic dance tracks often feature traditional folk sounds from the Bolivian altiplano, shaman chant and charango loops, Brazilian jungle beats and contemporary electronic production.
The Argentine producer, musician and DJ will be releasing a new album through Wonderwheel Recordings, which is slated for an October release Interestingly, the album’s latest single “Sideral Cumbia” is a sculptured soundscape centered around minimalist drums, a bouncing baseline, brief bursts of staccato guitar, delicate synth arpeggios, traditional Latin percussion and an enormous horn section that keeps the song tethered to the earth just before it’s about to float off into the stratosphere. The song will further cement the Argentine producer, musician and DJ’s reputation for blurring the boundaries between Latin music, folk. funk and electronic music with a mischievous flare.
Rising Hull, UK-based post-punk act Low Hummer — Daniel, Aimee, Steph, Jack, John and Joe — can trace their origins through the individual members’ connections to their hometown’s DIY scene. After meeting and bonding over mutual interests, the sextet quickly established a regular rehearsal home at the DIY venue The New Adelphi Club, where they were able to develop and hone their own danceable take on post-punk that thematically focuses on their lives in East Yorkshire, their place in a consumerist world and bad news stories sold as gospel.
September 2019 saw the release of the their debut single “Don’t You Ever Sleep” through Leeds-based label Dance To The Radio. The members of Low Hummer quickly followed that up with their second single “I Choose Live News” that October. Both singles were released to praise from the likes of Clash, Dork, Gigwise and BBC 6 Music Recommends — with airplay on BBC 6. Building upon a rapidly growing national profile their subsequent singles “The Real Thing,” “Picture Bliss” and “Sometimes I Wish (I Was A Different Person) received praise from NME, Gigwise and Under The Radar Magazine and were championed by BBC Radio 1’s Jack Saunders and Huw Stephens, BBC 6’s Steve Lamacq, Marc Riley, and Tom Robinson.
The Hull-based act’s highly-anticipated full-length debut Modern Tricks For Living is slated for a September release through Dance To The Radio, and the album’s first single “The People, This Place” is an angular post punk anthem that’s danceable yet full of seething disgust and frustration that makes the song a spiritual mix of The Clash and Wire– while voicing, the sort of frustration felt when you live in a dead-end town, with dead-end people and no real options or opportunities.
Acclaimed Seattle-based folk/indie rock act The Head and The Heart — currently, founding member Jonathan Russell (vocals, guitar, percussion), Charity Rose Theielen (violin, guitar, vocals, Chris Zasche (bass), Kenny Hensley (keys), Matt Gervais (vocals, guitar) and Tyler Williams (drums) — can trace their origins to a series of open mic nights at Ballard neighbor based bar, Conor Byrne Pub back in 2009: At the time, the band’s Jonathan Russell relocated from Richmond, VA — and Josiah Johnson (vocals, guitar, percussion), who had relocated from Southern California were both relatively recent transplants. Russell and Johnson met Kenny Hensley, who was relocated the previous year to pursue a career in film score writing. Charity Rose Theilen, who returned from a year abroad studying in Paris became the band’s fourth member. Russell knew Tyler Williams from the Richmond music scene: Williams was a member of Prabir and The Substitutes and he quickly relocated to Seattle after Russell sent him a demo of Down In The Valley.” Chris Zasche was a bartender at the Conor Byrne pub and was a member of Seattle-based bands The Maldives and Grand Hallway before joining The Head and The Heart.
As Johnson explained in press notes the band’s name came from a very relatable situation that many musicians have in which “Your head is telling you to be stable and find a good job, you know in your heart that this [the band] is what you’re supposed to do, even if it’s crazy.”
Since their formation, the Seattle-based folk/indie rock act have released four critically applauded albums — 2010’s self-titled and initially self-released debut (which later caught the attention of Sub Pop Records, who re-issued it), 2013’s Let’s Be Still, 2016’s major label debut Signs of Light and 2019’s Living Mirage. And with each successive release, the band has received greater critical and commercial success while earning a rising profile: They’ve opened for the likes of Vampire Weekend, The Walkmen, Dr. Dog, Dave Matthews, The Decemberists, Iron & Wine, My Morning Jacket, Death Cab for Cutie and Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers among a list of other equally acclaimed acts.
The band’s latest effort is a lovingly straightforward and gorgeous cover of the Graham Nash-penned Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young hit “Our House,” which appears on the act’s 1970 release Deja Vu. (Admittedly, I’ve somehow just loved the since I was a small. I loved the harmonies — and the melody is an earworm, man.) But most important, The Head and the Heart’s cover is a reminder of two things: Graham Nash is an amazing songwriter and that “Our House” is a pretty song full of longing for the sort of domestic tranquility that’s sadly so very rare. Interestingly, the members of the critically acclaimed Seattle-based act recorded the part of an expansive 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of Déjá Vu, which features an additional two hours of rare and previously unreleased audio.
Of course, it shouldn’t be surprising that the members of The Head and The Heart are huge Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young fans — and that the song holds a deep personal meaning for them: “When we first started as a band, we shared a two bedroom apartment where ‘Our House’ was played so much, it became like a mantra of unity and connection to each other, as we discovered what we wanted to do within our music. To say it’s an honor to be asked to cover that very song is an understatement. Happy 50th anniversary to you legends! Déjá Vu Forever!“
The single art for the cover serves as a homage to the original Déjá Vu artwork and features an image of the actual house in Seattle that was The Head and The Heart’s early home.
Quebec City-based indie pop act and JOVM mainstays New Bleach features a duo known throughout Quebec for their work in acclaimed Francophone indie rock act Caravane — — Dominic Pelletier and Raphaël Potvin. And with the release of New Bleach’s first four singles, Pelletier and Potvin’s newest project proved to be a marked sonic departure from their work in Caravane:
“Awake,” the duo’s debut as New Bleach was an Oracular Spectacular-era MGMT-like single centered around a profound philosophical question: “What if death was just a dream?”
“Silver Lining,” a Quiet Storm R&B meets Beacon-like track that’s one part old-school love song and one part plea for hope in a seemingly hopeless and bleak world.
“High.” Kraftwerk meets 80s New Wave-like track centered around the age-old desire to get into the car for a road trip — and maybe pull over to do some hallucinogens and daydream.
“You,” a slow-burning and atmospheric track full of the aching longing and regret of one’s lingering ghosts that featured Ghostly Kisses‘ Margaux Sauvé.
The JOVM mainstays started 2021 with a gorgeously cinematic live session filmed in the Le Massif de Charlevoix, Quebec. Filmed in a mountainous forest cleaning, just off the coast of the St. Lawrence River, with a morning fog gently lifting, the sessions take place over the course of a day and night with the duo performing behind a futuristic lighting rig. The session features three singles I’ve written about previously — “Awake,” Silver Lining,” and “High.” The setting is breathtakingly gorgeous — in a way that only could be Quebec.
Building upon a growing profile, the Quebec City-based duo’s debut EP Impressions was released last Friday through Coyote Records. And just before the EP’s release, the Quebec City JOVM mainstays released “Stranger,” a breezy and vaporous synth pop number centered around delicate and shimmering synth arpeggios, ethereal vocals, skittering polyrhythm and a sinuous bass line that sonically brought 80s synth soul and pop like Billy Ocean to mind. But at its core, the song asked thematically big, existential questions — namely, if true happiness is actually possible.
Interestingly, the EP’s latest single is the slow-burning and atmospheric “Night.” Centered around an achingly tender vocal melody and boy-girl harmonizing between New Bleach’s Dominic Pelletier and Ariane Roy, twinkling synths, a propulsive bass line, the song evokes brooding, late night/early morning solitude while slowly unfolding into a rousingly anthemic coda. Written in a single night of solitude, the song invites the listener to meditate on the simple things that keep life worth living — and keep us alive.
With the release of their first two albums, 2013’s Sistrionix and 2016’s Nick Zinner co-produced FEMEJISM, the Los Angeles-based duo Deap Vally — Julie Edwards (drums, vocals) and Lindsey Troy (guitar, vocals) quickly established a blistering take on garage rock that some critics described as Led Zeppelin meeting The White Stripes. Although Edwards and Troy have always relished the challenge of working with the limitations of being a duo, after two full-length albums and years of touring, they felt an urge to reinvent their creative process and sought collaborators to break ties and to allow for an organic, majority rules driven process.
Last year, the duo collaborated with The Flaming Lips on the Deap Lips album. Edwards and Troy also worked on songs for their most recent effort, Digital Dream EP with Warpaint‘s jennylee, KT TunstallPeaches, Soko and The Kills‘ Jamie Hince. Of course, those collaborations led to an age-old question for the duo: “Will you ever add a third member?” And Instead of adding a member, they decided that for them, it would be more of a creative adventure to collaborate with a bunch of different artists and friends rather than to commit to just one.
Slated for a June 18, 2021 release through Cooking Vinyl, the Los Angeles-based duo’s forthcoming Josiah Mazzaschi-co-produced American CockroachEP was recorded at The Cave Studio and finds Edwards and Troy continuing their to collaborate with different artists and friends — including Eagles of Death Metal’s Jennie Vee (who’s also an accomplished solo artist in her own right) and Savages‘ Ayse Hassan.
The duo explain that the EP “is a collection of songs we’ve been working on for while that run the gamut for rom deeply personal, to outright satire and everything in between. These are songs for the underdog, the outlaw, the defeated, for days when you feel like no one understands you or you can’t do anything right.” The EP’s latest single “I Like Crime” is an anthemic and sleazy ripper centered around fuzzy and propulsive bass chords and an ass-kicking, name-taking swagger that reminds me a bit of Crocodiles and others.
“Jennie Vee, as it turns out, is our perfect partner in crime,” the members of Deap Vally say of their collaboration. “We had so much fun jamming out and then creating this song with her. She is SUCH a total shredder. As the song formed, it ended up being about the nuances of right and wrong, legal and illegal, and the compulsion we all have to ultimately do what we will.”
Jennie Vee adds “Recording with Julie and Lindsey felt very fresh but natural at the same time. It was the first time I had experienced jumping into the studio to vibe out ideas that would lead to a fully finished song so quickly. Getting started is often the hardest part in the songwriting process, but in this case with the three of us, we just had to show up that day and from there the music took over as our guide. Then it was up to us to piece it all together. ‘ I Like Crime ’ stands out to me as groovy but urgent, a juxtaposition of mood. It rocks, I had a lot of fun, and would show up for Deap Vally and the music any time!”
Rising Dutch producer and DJ Cliff de Zoete has released a couple of attention-grabbing releases through French electronic music label Sinners including the astral “Spacesuit Required” and the tongue-in-cheek “Are You Afraid of the Boogieman?”Iridescence” EP, which featured the hypnotic and minimalist “Are You Afraid of the Boogieman?”
“Orbit,”de Zoete’s expansive third release through the renowned French electronic music label continues a run of Kraftwerk-like material — in particular, Computerworld and Tour De France with the track being centered around a slowly developing groove centered around shimmering synth arpeggios, thumping beats and a sinuous bass line. Simply put, the track is late night, deep house that will make you dance and sweat into the wee hours.
Throughout the course of this site’s 10-plus year history, I’ve managed to spill copious amounts of virtual ink covering the acclaimed Los Angeles-based hip-hop trio and JOVM mainstay act Clipping. The trio — production duo Jonathan Snipes and William Hutson and frontperson Daveed Diggs — have been busy over the past couple of years: they released two critically applauded albums as part of planned diptych — 2019’s There Existed An Addiction to Blood and 2020’s Visions of Bodies Getting Burned — that found the act developing an abrasive and downright messy take on horrorcore, centered around an industrial aesthetic while lovingly twisting familiar genre and sub-genre tropes to fit their politics and thematic concerns: fear, the absurd, the uncanny and the seemingly unending struggle for an antiracist, anti-patriarchal, anti-colonialist world.
But I need to rewind a bit: 2016’s digital-only release Wriggle EP featured six tracks that weren’t finished in time to make it on the JOVM mainstay’s 2014 Sub Pop Records debut CLPPNG. Since its release, the EP has become a fan favorite with tracks like “Wriggle” and “Shooter” becoming staples of their live set. Interestingly, the members of Clipping will release the Wriggle EP as a newly remastered and expanded nine-track set on vinyl for the first time ever on July 9, 2021 — with a 10 track digital version officially dropping today.
The expanded version of Wriggle features the original versions of “Shooter,” “Hot Fuck No Love” feat. Cakes Da Killa and Maxi Wild, and “Our Time” feat. Nailah Middleton, along with “Back Up 2021” featuring SB The Moor and a new verse of industrial rap experimentalist Debby Friday. Additionally, the expanded version features previously remixes by drum ‘n’ bass/breakbeat act Homemade Weapons, Classicworks label co-founder Cardpusher, Dave Quam (formerly known as Massacooramaan) and a vinyl-only version of “Hot Fuck No Love” by footwork producer Jana Rush.
The expanded EP’s latest single is Homemade Weapons’ remix of “Wriggle.” The original was breakneck banger centered around a sample of Whitehouse’s influential power-electronica song “Wriggle Like a Fucking Eel,” skittering, tweeter and woofer rocking beats and Diggs’ dexterous, rapid-fire flow and forceful commands to wriggle like a snake or an eel. The Homemade Weapons remix is a minimalist drum ‘n’ bass take on the song, reducing the song to a chopped up and screwed vocal sample and densely layered staccato beats.
Directed by Cristina Bercovitz and Clipping’s Jonathan Snipes, the recently released video for “Wriggle (Homemade Weapons Remix)” features daytime and nighttime footage on Interstate 110, edited in a way so that the cars more in a glitchy fashion to the propulsive beats.
Best known for being a member of Purchase, NY-based lo-fi act LVL UP, Mike Caridi stepped out into the limelight as a solo artist with his solo recording project The Glow Caridi released his The Glow debut 2019’s Am I and in the subsequent years since that album’s release, the project expanded into a full-fledged band with the addition of LVL UP bandmate Greg Rutkin, Hellrazor’s and Potty Mouth’s Kate Meizer and Doe’s Nicola Leel.
The addition of the project’s new members necessitated change in musical and thematic direction — and the band offered a glimpse of that new direction with the recent release of the “Love Only”/”Heavy Glow” double single. “‘Love Only’ and ‘Heavy Glow’ are the first two songs written by The Glow, sorta,” Caridi says in press notes. “I’ve been releasing music under The Glow moniker since 2016 or so, but until now I’d considered it a solo outlet. The Glow live band came together around the 2019 record Am I, and somehow I got lucky enough to play with a bunch of musicians who I’ve known and admired for years; Greg Rutkin, Kate Meizner, Nicola Leel, and Madeline Babuka Black. To be surrounded by so much talent and not be open to collaboration would have been a major misstep on my part. There’s so much joy in collaboration that I missed a lot while trying to do things on my own. ‘Love Only’ is about reflection and growth; I feel extremely lucky to be playing music with my friends, and with these two songs The Glow feels like it’s just beginning to bloom.”
Interestingly, this sense of openness may arguably be most apparent on “Heavy Glow,” the newly minted quartet’s first entirely collaborative song: The track sees Kate Meizner taking on vocal duties on in expansive track centered around dizzying tremolo and fuzzy power chords, Rutkin’s metronomic-like drumming and Leel’s driving baselines. The seven minute-plus track finds Caridi and collaborators at their most dynamic and layered with the track subtly nodding at the textured soundscapes of shoegaze — think of Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine and The Verve — but with a power pop penchant for infectious hooks.
Charleston, SC-based dream pop duo Tape Waves — Kim and Jarod Weldin — have released three albums through San Diego-based label Bleeding Gold Records, which have garnered comparisons to the likes of Mazzy Star, Cocteau Twins and Best Coast while receiving glowing praise from the likes of SPIN Magazine, who once described the duo’s sound as “wistful, lens-blurred dream pop to soundtrack nostalgia daydreams and sleepy weekend afternoons.”
The duo’s two most recent albums were also released through 2670 Records in Japan, where they toured to support 2018’s Distant Light.
The South Carolina-based act’s fourth album Bright is slated for a June 4, 2021 release through Emotional Response Records — and the album reportedly finds the duo combining their long-established sun-drenched pop with the influences of My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive and Teenage Fanclub.
“Tired,” Bright‘s latest single is a lush and sunny track, equally indebted to dream pop and shoegaze, centered around shimmering guitars, cavernous drumming, Kim Weldin’s ethereal vocals and rousingly anthemic hooks. Interestingly, “Tired” reminds me of Slowdive’s gorgeous 2017 self-titled album, complete with a similar sonic depth.
The Civil Union — singer/songwriter Andrew Pahl and visual artist Naomi Pahl — are an Edmonton-based husband and wife electro pop act that can trace its origins to when the duo met while in college: The duo wound up in the same songwriting course, where they both lamented the state of contemporary pop music. And much like any other creative meet cute, they exchanged their favorite indie/alt-pop playlists with each other and their phone numbers. Within a few weeks of their first meeting, Andrew and Naomi started writing songs together. About a year late, they got married and then over the next few years, they have four children together.
To support himself and his growing family, Andrew Pahl took up two full-time jobs as a social worker while managing to write and record several albums. He would play shows whenever possible while Naomi sold her art at local markets. The Pahls continued doing this until Naomi was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and Endometriosis. Naomi Pahl was on medically mandated bed rest while waiting 18 months for restorative surgery. For Naomi, who was typically very energetic, life was on pause — and she was going stir crazy.
Knowing she needed an accessible creative outlet, Andrew started texting Naomi melodies and asking her if she could think of lyrics. This led to over 24 songs together, with the duo realizing that they had material that could be proud of and should be recorded. At that moment, The Civil Union was officially born.
After saving money to buy a laptop and sound gear, as well as to rent drums and other equipment, the Pahls spent weeks recording what was supposed to be their full-length debut, but someone broke into their house and stole the laptop with their music files. Refusing defeat, the Edmonton-based husband and wife duo bought a new laptop and spent the next 18 months writing and recording an even more expansive album, while preparing to play live shows once Naomi recovered from her surgery.
Naomi has recovered from surgery and the Pahls finished their debut album. And much like countless acts across the world, just as they were lining up shows, the COVID-19 pandemic put their plans on hold. Unsurprisingly, their debut album which features pounding drums, reverb drenched synths and lush boy-girl harmonizing speaks to our present moment: written through adversity and pain, the album is fueled by the fact that if you’re with your loved ones, you can probably get through anything together.
The Pahl’s latest single “Dominoes” is an upbeat and breezy pop confection, centered around arpeggiated synths reminiscent of Stevie Nicks’ “Stand Back” propulsive drumming, lush harmonies and melodies and a rousingly anthemic hook that’s perfect to shout along with your friends; but underneath all of that, the song evokes the swooning and contented sigh of profound, soul-affirming love. “It talks about the feeling of creating a different existence, with the person you love,” the Pahls say in press notes.
Stuart Dougan is a Glasgow-born and-based singer/songwriter, who is best known in his native Scotland for fronting French Wives and Smash Williams. Dougan steps out into the limelight as a solo artist, writing and recording every single part of music on his own terms with his latest project The Quilter.
Dougan’s The Quilter debut, Bolt The Door EP is a collection of bold, alt pop songs, som eo which were written and recorded before the pandemic with others written during the initial lockdown. Interestingly, the EP follows upon last year’s immersive and cinematic visual record Dark Cloud/Grey Area, which was equal parts documentary film, live concert and album.
Bolt The Door’s latest single “The Long Weekend,” is an anthemic bit of synth pop featuring shimmering synth arpeggios, a driving groove and a euphoria-inducing hooks and fueled by nostalgia for hook-driven New Order-like dance anthems and for the things we here in the States are slowly getting back — in particular, being in the company of other sweaty and joyful humans at a summer festival and for other mundane things we’ve been deprived of for the past 15 months or so.
“This song was in part inspired by a viral clip I saw from the set of Uncut Gems where the crew had finished filming and were all dancing to ‘I Feel It Coming’ by The Weeknd. It was just a short clip but I wanted to try and capture the palpable sense of joy that was clearly being felt at the time. It was written during lockdown and is basically a love letter to my friends and daydreaming about getting to hang out and have fun in a post pandemic world. I’m very aware that it’s bombastic and over the top in places but I wanted to purposely try and capture a sense of hopeful euphoria that one day, not too far from here, you’ll get to hug all your friends again.”
Sloan Stumble is the 20-something Aledo, TX-born, Austin, TX-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and creative mastermind behind the critically applauded and rapidly rising indie rock/indie pop project Dayglow. The project can trace its origins to Struble’s teenaged years, growing up in a Fort Worth suburb that he has referred to as a “small football-crazed town,” where he felt irrevocably out of place. Aesthetically and thematically, the project finds Struble crafting material cen nloater red around a hard fought, hard won optimism.
Much like countless other hopelessly out of place young people across the globe, Struble turned to music as an escape from his surroundings. “I didn’t really feel connected to what everyone else in my school was into, so making music became an obsession for me, and sort of like therapy in a way,” Struble recalled in press notes. “I’d dream about it all day in class, and then come home and for on songs instead of doing homework. After a while I realized I’d made an album.”
Working completely on his own with a minuscule collection of gear that included his guitar, his computer and some secondhand keyboards he picked up at Goodwill, Struble worked on transforming his privately kept outpouring into a batch of songs — often grandiose in scale. “Usually artists will have demos they’ll bounce off other people to get some feedback, but nobody except for my parents down the hall really heard much of the album until I put it out,” Struble recalled. With the self-release of 2018’s Fuzzybrain, the Aledo-born, Austin-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer received widespread attention and an ardent online following — with countess listeners praising the material’s overwhelming positivity.
In 2019, Struble re-released a fully realized version of Fuzzybrain that featured Can I Call You Tonight,” a track that wound up being a smash-hit last year, as well as two previously unreleased singles “Nicknames” and “Listerine.” With the two new singles, the album further establishes Struble’s growing reputation for illuminating emotional pain in a way that not only deeply resonates with listeners but while managing to make that emotional pain feel lighter.
Continuing upon that momentum, Struble’s highly-anticipated Dayglow sophomore album Harmony House is slated for a May 21, 2021 release through his own Very Nice Records and AWAL. After Fuzzybrain‘s release, Struble had started to write material that was inspired by the 70s and 80s piano-driven soft rock that he had been drawn to — and around the time he had been watching a lot of Cheers. “At the very beginning, I was writing a soundtrack to a sitcom that doesn’t exist,” Struble recalls. And while actively attempting to generate nostalgia for something that hadn’t ever been real — as well as something most of his listeners had never really experienced — the album’s material thematically is about growing up and coping with change as an inevitable part of life.
“Balcony,” Harmony House‘s fourth and latest single may arguably be the most upbeat song on the entire album. Centered around shimmering guitars, bouncy synth arpeggios, four-on-the-floor drumming and an incredibly infectious hook, “Balcony” is a summery, feel good house party anthem that will get everyone jumping up and down and shouting along to the chorus. “I wrote ‘Balcony’ quite a while ago, but it’s been through tons of phases & revisions before landing on this final version,” Struble says of his latest single. “I wanted to make a song that felt like The Cure,BRONCHO, and the Mario Kart Soundtrack huddled up. Not sure why— it just feels nice 🙂 Hope you enjoy it and play it at a house party or something cause that’s definitely what it’s for/about”
The rising Texan artist also announced series of North American tour dates that we hope actually will happen. The tour includes an October 17, 2021 stop at Webster Hall. Check out the tour dates below.
North American Tour Dates:
09/09/21 – Dallas, TX @ House of Blues
09/10/21 – Austin, TX @ Stubb’s
09/11/21 – Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live
09/13/21 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
09/15/21 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda Theatre
09/16/21 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda Theatre (SOLD OUT)
09/17/21 – San Diego, CA @ House of Blues
09/18/21 – Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory
09/22/21 – San Francisco, CA @ The Regency Ballroom
09/23/21 – Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
09/24/21 – Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
09/26/21 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox
09/28/21 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot
09/29/21 – Denver, CO @ Summit
10/05/21 – Indianapolis, IN @ Deluxe
10/06/21 – Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl
10/12/21 – Atlanta, GA @ Center Stage
10/13/21 – Charlotte, NC @ The Underground
10/15/21 – Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts
10/16/21 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
10/17/21 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall
10/19/21 – Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club
10/21/21 – Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall
10/23/21 – Toronto, ON @ The Phoenix Concert Theatre
