Melanie MacLaren returns with her new single Tourist. Already enjoying several features on our site, our adoration is well deserved. We find her voice intoxicating. We love her more arranged works, but we do delight in this minimalist vocal to the front bare acoustic approach. She has a trademark strong yet soothing delivery.
It’s fair to find similarities with Phoebe Bridgers but MacLaren has her own trademark small town girl in the big city feel. It’s a feeling that emotes depth and complexity. One that suggests the impasse of innocence, one that carries the grace of youth beneath an invasion of deflected perversion and harsh reality. “Lost treasures that you’ve outrgrown…” She holds on to them like she’s constantly shaking out the rust as she pushes through, barreling through the perils of adulthood like a child in a grown persons body. A sad woman’s song for the sad girl inside.
Hear Tourist now on our Emerging Folk Playlist.
Tommy Ashby carefully injects a sensible banjo into a serene indie folk scene on his new single My Old Man. The abrasive instrument is caressed into the soft design, blended beneath the calculated picking and trademark brushed shuffle arrangement.
Ashby pens a sentimental abstract masterpiece self described as “a joyful, pastoral jaunt that serves as both a tribute to loving parents and an exploration of living up to high expectations.” The songs honors that spirit of exploration, slightly unconventional in its compositional presentation, but accessible and with catchy melodic color. The compositional surprise is part of its intrigue, one that should connect with an indie audience eager to embrace the unfamiliar. My Old Man is a sure thing for fans of pretty folk projects like Darlingside and Novo Amor.
Hear My Old Man now on our Emerging Folk Playlist.
Elisapie delivers again with Taimangalimaaq (Time After Time). The Arctic indie folk princess updates contemporary pop works within her own native tongue and metaphysical musical spirit. The language alterations are exotic and thrilling. They give the song and collective vibe new meaning.
Her song choices are part of the genius that surrounds this project. And the execution adds intellect beyond the confides of schtick. Her voice is a haunting seductive detail, enough to pull you in with siren allure. Paired with the imaginative rhythmic designs and presented with native percussion, you hear undeniable similarities to the innovative intrigue known to indie music. Elisapie bears its instinctual roots, showing musics ancient natural ascension, one hidden on the classic Western music that purveyed, but clear as day in the canon of tribal rhythm and song.
Elisapie is featured on our Emerging Folk Playlist.
We were pulled into the troubadour shuffle of Second Guess, the new single from Dan Croll. The chugging tempo design emulates the roll of a steady train. It has cinematic reverence, one that signifies some revelation or discovery.
It connects with the romantic bliss that’s lost on you in the heat of the journey but clear and concise when you reflect on that experience. Croll treats the vibe with this tale of self doubt and wavering conviction. Stylistically it connects with the immersive folk of Jose Gonzalez and the polished vintage feel of Andrew Bird.
Hear Second Guess now on our Emerging Folk Playlist.
The Wild Is Calling 