Singer Jackie Marchal took a treasured piece from her past and immortalized it in song on her new single Rhubarb Fields. Jackie brings a special musical poetry in how the track is arranged, the instrumentation, and the production qualities. A poetry that matches the elegance in the natural lyrics.
A young artist showing right out the gate that she can do a bit of everything. We should be on watch. Only her third single release, Rhubarb Fields is notable among the best songs of the year.
A spring reverb lead and palm muted guitar stabs lead to Jackie’s emotional smoky vocal delivery. The music pulls out of the verse and into an orchestrated acoustic soundscape before dropping back into the groovy atmosphere. An apt producer, Jackie introduces new sounds around every corner. She abandons the acoustic in the second break and subs in a piano. You might not notice it if you weren’t listening for it.
Catchy indie pop with dreamy production and soulful songwriting. We can get down with that every day of the week.
For fans of Feist, Bon Iver, Jenny Lewis, and Even Us.
Hear Rhubarb Fields now on our Best New Indie Playlist
VIBES VIBES VIBES. We are feeling it down deep in our bones when we listen to the new single from Pink Milk “Here Comes the Pain.” The Swedish duo is a dark wave/post-punk band drenched in reverb, making occult music inspired by the 80s.
The heavily reverberated female vocal hits like a post punk version of Cults. The New Order era retro guitar vibes would fit nicely along some newer retrowave releases like Trevor Something and Retroglyphs.
The guitar prominence probably excludes this release from the exclusive synthwave scene. The gatekeepers of synthwave typically scoff at guitar based music, but fans of that genre would likely love this release.
Pink Milk has been recognized by some notable outlets, including the Swedish magazine Gaffa who called their last release the ‘best album in many years.” It’s just a matter of time before we are all dancing under the neon pentagram, hear “Here Comes The Pain” now on our Best New Indie playlist.
Bay Area producer Y8S and Philly electro legend City Rain have teamed up on an exciting new anthem Whole World Bounce. This is a late summer festival banger meant to be played loud with friends. Similar to Passion Pit and Grouplove, both Y8S and City Rain have an affinity for true dance music that is undeniably indie in attitude and presentation. The production is crisp and the bass is big.
While Whole World Bounce kicks off with a lot of energy and positive dance club vibes, it’s the space age atmosphere following the second verse that takes the song to next level brilliance. Both producers are sonic Picasso’s and true professors of the game. The artists pull us through space time before bringing the beat back with a Peter Gabriel style tom roll that adds a little retro feel to the modern dance indie vibe.
Straight party vibes are here, get in on the fun and check out Whole World Bounce now on our Best New indie Playlist.
Portland by way of Nashville singer Jenn Grinels has caught our attention with her new single “Easy This Year.”
“Thank God I’m introverted, I like to fade into the scenery… Cause it has been so easy this year to dissappear.” Jenn is being authentic in the moment, and it is important to have some music that defines this experience. It’s been a weird couple of years and Grinels gives us a Springsteen-esque snapshot for our auditory scrapbook.
Some Jenny Lewis and Voyageur era Kathleen Edwards vibes are a nice place mark for this single, but Jenn is a rock and roll chameleon with many shades and colors. She carries a deep prolific catalog including other interesting musical projects like her project Siren Songs with Meredith Kaye Clark. Jenn is a rock and roll troubadour with major tour experience and solid supporting gigs for legends 10,000 maniacs and more.
Hear “Easy This Year” now on our Best New Indie playlist.
The Wild Is Calling 