Nat Vazer is catching some buzz. Armed with her new single Born and coming off a fresh breakout performance at SXSW, the Australian songwriter has her own trademark emotive smoky hush delivery. She wavers between a huskier croon and a serene smooth upper register. In that way it reflects the works of Phoebe Bridgers or Lizzie McAlpine, but with some of the raw appeal and innovate compositional touch of Big Thief.
The melancholy dissident melody in the songs verse is one of its more infectious characteristics, one that suggests a scope of influences as diverse as Radiohead. Where she goes from here, we can’t wait to see.
Hear BORN now on our Emerging Folk Playlist.
Michael James Tapscott is a storyteller. There’s a genuine charm and unique insight to his narratives. His new single Bobby’s Army Jacket honors the sentiment. It reflects the way San Francisco bred songwriters saw the world in the vintage 60s. They were able to write about what was happening in the moment. They pulled music out of our real experience, as opposed to our romanticized one.
“I used to sit around in my underwear, with a crossword puzzle and a permanent vacant stare. Now my heart goes pitter patter, nothing seems to matter, but Bobby, she doesn’t seem to care.”
The analog boutique feel enhances its classic lofi appeal. We hear evidence of Neil Young and early Grateful Dead. Hear Bobby’s Army Jacket now on our Emerging Folk Playlist.
We dig the groovy American jive of Live Wires, the new single from Tom Lark. The tight compressed punch of the presentation has a tickling affect. It’s warm but never bright, and begging to be turned loud. The calculated picking blended into an effective backbeat, mixed with his cool dude vocal recalls the work of Kurt Vile. The similarities are there, but Lark adds his own trademark influential trails, evidence of Nashville backroads and classic folk intellect.
There’s a modern indie sonic elegance blended in, with fuzzy guitars played carelessly and sprayed over the mix like Pollack’s paintings. That sparke adds to its cinematic hue, one that reflects a psychedelic cowboy sunset known to peyote chrome riders.
Hear Live Wires now on our Emerging Folk Playlist.
Colorado & Company have something special with their new single Still. They pen a hopeful sentimental gem, ripe with passion and worship appeal, that retains a semblance of underground charm. It feels bred from the annals of emo and 80s alternative, with compositional evidence of The Cure and Gaslight Anthem mixed with the indie folk stylings of Damien Rice.
The singer has a raw visceral croon, one that breaks with the emotion of someone finding meaning in every lyric. The fiddle adds a traditional folk element to the arrangement, while the pumping piano recalls classic acoustic jam vibes from icons like The Band. That combination lends to so much possibly, but the apex might be their new single Still. For this instrumentation and the style of the players, everything feels in its right place.
Hear Still now on our Emerging Folk Playlist.
The Wild Is Calling 