Nelleke is back with The Return. What can we say about this!? The kind of release that caught us from the first note. For us this is an instant hit with indie folk fans. Its incredibly charming and genuine, with a minimalistic design where the production only lends to accent its inherent genius. She makes songwriting sound easy, but her changes are elegant and nothing short of remarkable. How she paints her voice on top creates harmonious depth. The orchestrated closing honors her exquisite reality.
Flying way too far under the radar, her music recalls the legacy of Nick Drake with an updated indie folk feel. She’s in a league of her own. With melancholy reverence she will instantly connect with fans of Gregory Alan Isakov or more mainstream acts akin to Bon Iver. No matter how you put it, she is a star with widespread potential ready to take over NPR’s World Cafe. To know her is to love her.
The Return is currently on our Best New Indie Playlist.
Credit Electric returns with their dreamy new single archetype. Indie pop with sneaky jammy under layers, the base groove jives while vintage leads swim and pop around the radial spectrum. It’s relatively calculated in its lines but constantly evolving with slight alterations that keep archetype moving. The guitar work is nothing less than exceptional, with beautiful stylistic riffs that employ impressive bends and plucks. They make the guitar speak with percussive flavor to reimagine its utility in pop.
The accompanying atmospheric lap swells and keyboard lines are equally enticing. Digging into their skills with pop flavor, the arrangement honors the legacy of its assumed heroes with modern appeal. We hear the histories of Stevie Wonder and the Allman Brothers with the indie sensibility of Kevin Morby and Big Thief. If that sounds intriguing, it is.
Credit Electric keeps delivering. From Cali by way of Jersey, these transplants have fresh find potential while offering an adaptable composition that they can flesh out live.
Hear archetype now on our Best New Indie Playlist
Say Lou Lou continues to achieve on their recent Waiting for a Boy. The Swedish sister duo reiterates the benefit of singing with siblings. It’s common knowledge in the industry that family voices pair best, and Say Lou Lou features a seamless vocal performance that’s silky smooth and natural.
They’re able to texturize their delivery by stacking their voices and trailing into lush harmonies. Their voices have a hypnotic appeal, entrancing you with slight seduction like exotic Swedish Sirens.
The music’s dreamy airy arrangement recalls the legacy of the Cranberries with an updated indie songwriter appeal akin to Clairo. The sisters have charted a versatile career that has drifted into acting and modeling, landing roles on Apple TV+’s new hit Shantaram and elite model gigs with the industry’s heavy hitters. With strong songwriting and a chill seductive vibe, they are anything but novelty.
Get lost in Waiting for a Boy now on our Best New Indie Playlist.
Alic Ward updates a classic vibe with his recent Changes. His voice is his primary striking feature, a soft thunder that receives smooth while presenting passionate and yearning. Changes is a strong composition to showcase his vocal dynamics. It borders between indie folk and indie rock, featuring an acoustic first design with an upbeat rhythm to pull it out of the singer songwriter doldrums.
At its core Changes features abundant foundational movements to the chord construct, adding drama and variation to grab an unfamiliar listener. Changes is a fair name, as this song embraces a lot of them. The groove remains consistent and the tight performance keeps the flow glued. Somewhere between Ray LaMontagne and City and Colour with the classic sensibility of Neil Young, Ward covers a lot of ground on this dynamic standout.
Dig into Changes now on our Best New Indie Playlist.
The Wild Is Calling 