Montreal duo Mayfly is convincing on their recent Take Me Away. The initial ASMR affect of the vocal tickles at your senses. Mixed crisp and on top of the mix, it’s as if she’s in your ear. The vocal design evolves with echoing adaptation as it takes on ethereal hypnotic tantric runs before returning to its initial form. In that way Mayfly presents like a shapeshifting siren, exotic and mysterious.
The music enhances the sentiment with its futuristic design and impromptu surprise. There are sonic treats sprinkled throughout, all meant to enhance it’s immersive qualities. This is what we imagine Billie Eilish might sound like if she were produced by FKA Twigs. Those are big name drops and we don’t share them lightly. Take Me Away has instant club appeal, and with its dark but catchy construct, a seductive underlayer that could bring the devil to the dance floor.
Hear Take Me Away now on our Best New Indie Playlist.
Olympic Music pens an instant classic with their new single Crowded Room. It’s first striking feature is the vocalists classic, passionate vocal delivery. Steeped in the spirit and ripe with truth, its born out of Peter Gabriel’s 80s and thrust into the present with emphatic appeal. We hear similarities to The Midnight or Ollie Wride, artists known to the Synthwave movement. Crowded Room has some synthwave vibes, but it leans a little more mainstream in the vein of The 1975, with a spiritual tweak know to Francis and the Lights of even Hozier. It’s a nostalgic appeal that never gets old, and one we just can’t get enough of.
Overall its wonderfully produced with a vibrant layered arrangement and percussion cues that beg you to dance. It brings major crossover appeal, stretching its stylistic breadth with shades of indie pop, new wave, and dance pop. It’s also flying way too far under the radar, it’s too infectious to fly this low. Get in it!
Hear Crowded Room now on our Best New Indie Playlist.
We got wrapped up in the catchy appeal of Anthony, the new single from Romanie. A clever adaption of classic alternative, it brings an updated indie sensibility to this familiar chord design. There’s a semblance of punk or even 5th wave emo influence. It’s heard in the more candid verse section. The choruses, however, bring a smoother polish. That calculation is all part of its charm. Its a sense of time and place, a foot in nostalgia and one in the present.
An understanding that those effigy’s were tied to the mechanisms of their time, and would want us to embrace all that’s possible today. That intelligent care and stylistic alteration, and the general vibe overall, should draw comparisons to Big Thief and Alvvays. A solid tune with a big hook, Anthony is the kind of jam that could put Romanie on the map.
Hear it now on our Best New Indie Playlist.
Isaac Watters caught our attention with his new single Sliding. His rare vocal delivery is his most enticing feature. Slightly broken and arguable tarnished, we see rustic beauty. How he charts the melodic spectrum and plots his cadence is part of his genius. There’s also an emotional affect, and instinctual passion and charm that shines through.
It’s that troubadour wonder, that feeling when you stumble upon some wandering busker whose vulnerability reinfects truth into your routine existence. The music is groovy and dreamy, and that contrast recalls the indie work of Phosphorescent. We also hear the art pop elegance of David Byrne. Fans of the beautiful and less conventional will be sure things.
Dig into Sliding now on our Best New Indie Playlist.
The Wild Is Calling 