Each week, we feature some fresh new releases from emerging and established talent from around the world, these are highlighted on our New Music Spotlight playlist on Spotify, but we also share a handful of artists in our round-up who are making waves.
You can read more features in our Music + Culture section.
flowerovlove – Get With You
flowerovlove shares the video accompaniment for her recently released single Get With You, premiered by PAPER here. Following the infectious psych-pop bliss of Hannah Montana, Get With You showcases a captivating new direction in flowerovlove’s sound, a yearning and atmospheric track driven by sunlit bass guitar, playful hand claps and fast-paced drums. flowerovlove says “Get With You is a mindset of going after something you want. Needing, wanting, and urging to ‘get with it’.”
The accompanying visual directed by her brother Wilfred Cisse is a U.K to L.A adventure, viewers shadow flowerovlove through poolside excursions and twilight wanderings, all whilst being followed by a mirror-image of herself.
Speaking on the release, flowerovlove says “The Get With You visual is a metaphor for chasing after your higher self, chasing after the person you want to be, your dreams and your goals. Joyce is going after flowerovlove from London to LA to pursue her dreams!”
Pixies – Vault of Heaven
The return of Pixies has been rapturously received, the alt-rock trailblazers reconnecting with long-term fans and introducing themselves to a fresh new audience. In recent weeks, they’ve headlined large outdoor venues across the UK, performed as special guests to Pearl Jam in Hyde Park, and played one of their most intimate shows in years at Manchester’s Band On The Wall. The shows come ahead of the release of their new album Doggerel on September 30th, which was previewed by its lead single There’s A Moon On, which was instantly A-listed at BBC Radio 6Music.
Pixies’ momentum continues as they today share the follow-up single Vault of Heaven. The track has just premiered on Steve Lamacq’s 6 Music show, and was given its live debut at the Band On The Wall show.
Mixing dusky, Morricone-style desert noir atmospherics with a chiming, melodic guitar motif, Vault of Heaven also takes a leftfield turn as flourishes of female backing vocals provide an almost hymnal touch. Black Francis’s lyrics combine elements that are both abstract and everyday in a surrealist narrative, in which the protagonist aims for salvation but only ends up falling flat on his face.
Vault of Heaven is released alongside an official video which brings its absurdist tale to life. It begins with a semi-clothed Zorro-esque figure who is heading into Los Angeles on the back of a toy horse. He arrives at a 7-Eleven, where things get stranger still with the help of bizarre Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe lookalikes. The visual was directed by the filmmaker and musician Charles Derenne.
REPLICAH – Zeitgeist
Posthuman artist REPLICAH has released her new EP, Zeitgeist and we can’t get enough. Speaking on the intention of her message, the rising artist from Switzerland says, “We are all eternal beings, we have chosen to participate in this specific physical life experience for many wonderful reasons. And this time-space-reality on planet earth serves as a platform in which you are able to focus your perspective on specific creation. You are the creator of your own experience.”
We appreciate the dimensionality of the production and how intricate the production of each track is. REPLICAH‘s vocals are nuanced and atmospheric, and we love the purpose behind each of the four songs.
Tricia Lo – Tell Me Your Secret
Setting the tone with a glistening note and static bass frequency, expanding into an industrial, dark, alternative pop energy, Tricia Lo opens her new single, Tell Me Your Secret, with intrigue and drama.
The opus expands with poetic nuance and a passionate performance from the Latvian rising artist, as she delivers a thought provoking track inspired by the story of Anna Sorokin, who scammed her way across New York as a fake German heiress named Anna Delvey. Tell Me Your Secret touches up relationships between her and the people who surrounded her at that time.
Tricia Lo asks introspectively and with wisdom, “Have you ever met somebody who seemed just perfect? There is that type of persona that we humans have a tendency to idolize and blindly follow without realizing that we have no clue who these people truly are. Narcissists and skillful liars that we fall for thinking we want to be friends or in a relationship with them…. OR EVEN WORSE, WE WANT TO BE THEM as they get everything in life!”
We learn that the production of the cinematic track was influenced by artists like Bishop Griggs, UNSECRET and Ruelle, although it is clear that Tricia Lo is creating a sound of her own!
We love the authenticity with which Tricia Lo communicates – in her message and her sonic landscape and have added Tell Me Your Secret to our New Music Spotlight playlist.
The Forever Now – Lover’s City (feat. Trine Lyngvig)
Establishing the mood with textured synths, intricate, panning, metallic detailing and reverbed vocal add libs, The Forever Now open Lover’s City with dimensionality and atmospheric vocals.
The narrative of the song evolves into a tale of “parting ways with someone too soon”. We appreciate the production design of the opus and the cosmic detailing which really adds a dynamic energy to the piece.
Emotive lyrics carry us through, and we appreciate the authenticity that The Forever Now‘s Montgomery de Luna shares, along with additional vocals from Danish singer-songwriter, Trine Lyngvig.
The harmonies are transcendental, and the repetitive break down of the hook leaves us with deep thoughts and has us reaching for the repeat button. The Forever Now use analog instruments in a digital way to create their soundscape. We learn that an organ is hooked up to an arpeggiator, a Moog synth mirrors the bass guitar, and a tape machine increasing in RPM acts as a riser–creating a unique sonic pallette of indie rock that recalls the band’s previous synthpop singles in a novel and subtle way.
We have added Lover’s City to our New Music Spotlight playlist, whilst we explore The Forever Now‘s wider discography including Reciprocals.