weekly spotlight
Marta Per
Favourite Way of Existing
Londoner-by-way-of-Lisbon Marta Per has put together one of the most spectacular releases of the year to date in this 5 track gem.
Marta is one of the most talented composers in the indie world right now, bringing a universe of influences to bear, and tying all of them together with a soft-but-powerful vocal delivery and a classic melodic sensibility that alternately sounds like it would be at home in a 70’s TV soundtrack, onstage at Carnegie Hall, or in Montreux during Jazz Fest.
Every element of these arrangements is damn near flawless. This is professional grade work on par with anything you’ll find. The subtle dynamic shifts as “Surprise” dives into the sultry, hypnotic chorus - and the fake-out lift at the end of the second chorus before we get yanked back off the shore into the guitar solo - are masterstrokes.
We were constantly thinking of various pop-star breakthroughs that teased the possibility of mainstream culture embracing something a bit more sophisticated, more jazz-adjacent - the emergence of Norah Jones, the early days of Alicia Keys… not that this music is comparable to either stylistically (Marta Per, for lack of a better descriptor, fucking rocks in a way neither of those acts really tried to).
But that’s the cultural tier Marta Per belongs in. This is a truly exceptional piece of work.
Twelve Days In June
Stone Tape Theory
Stone Tape Theory, the sixth TDIJ album, is one of the biggest records I’ve heard in a long time, an absolutely pummeling train ride through Hulegaard’s mind, and the world we all find ourselves trapped in at the moment.
It’s all there. The scope, the delicious riffs, a wall of sound where nothing sounds muddy and everything has a place, the melody, the solos.
“Bereft” might have been the best song on at least one album of each of Dave’s heroes. I never know where to even focus when this song comes on. The astonishing drum performance? The way the multiple guitar tracks continually change the depth of focus and lead you through the track? Putting a song like this in 10th position on an album of 12 songs means you have more gold than you know what to do with.
Despite its regularly morose, melancholy, and pensive subject matter, I found Stone Tape Theory to be, at root, a deeply joyful experience. This is a human being - a team of them, in fact - creating something that can only come from incredibly sharp minds dedicated to something beautiful, years of experience and dedication and skill in service of a vision, emotional honesty, and love.
I love Twelve Days in June, and I fucking love this record.
Thousand Gardens
Coastlines
Thousand Gardens, a “down-tempo, melodic electronica” project and yet another Canadian musical gem, has released their third album. Among its many notable attributes, it wins the award for best cover art we’ve seen this year. Really sets the mood for the music within.
There are 14 tracks here, but with 6 of them coming in under 3 minutes (2 of those under 2 minutes!) it’s a digestible and extremely accessible entrée into instrumental electronic music for a casual listener.
Since release, this has become one of my go-tos for any task that requires a bit of concentration and a bit of emotional leveling. It’s also a phenomenal mood regulator on a morning when you’re not sure you want to get out of bed. By the time I get to “Saskatchewan”, I’m usually in the best headspace I can ever hope for on an average day.
Each of these songs teases out a single melodic idea or groove, develops it a bit, and lets it float away like the wisps of a dandelion. The effect is undeniably beautiful, and spurs no small amount of reflection, often taking your mind to places it wasn’t expecting to go.
Highly recommend picking this up for your library, even if you’re not typically drawn to this genre. It will find its way into the fabric of your life.
Doe Denim
Fake guitars
Doe Denim describes himself as a “MIDI singer-songwriter from Denver” and that pretty much tracks with the level of self-awareness and humorous detachment that Denim’s music reflects, but you’d be making a huge mistake if you didn’t take him seriously.
From the first 10 seconds of the single “Sweden” a couple months ago, I was convinced Doe Denim would be one of my favorite songwriters and the new album Fake guitars has got me feeling like my instincts are pretty solid.
This album has pretty much everything you could stuff into a record.
A capella opener? Check.
Bloodhound Gang style electro pop bangers? Check “Sweden”.
Sludgy grunge rock anthems complete with a total, if fleeting, vocal homage to Kurt Cobain? Check “Lint”.
A rap song with a beat and a hook so good they would pass in any pro label pitch room? Check “Mama Said”.
Melodramatic modern emo-tronic anthem? Check “Time Won’t Stand”.
Stadium sized indie rock mashup with hints of Brit pop and Cake and … you know what? Just listen to “I’m Expanding My Mind”. I can’t describe this anymore.
Throughout the record there are ridiculously good hooks, hilarious lyrics, and just a general vibe that I want more and more of.
Somebody get Tom-Tom Club to make an album with Doe Denim. ASAP.
Red Cavalry
Bower Meadow
Red Cavalry has released a handful of singles since the last time we checked in with them, continuing their run of infectious, classic sounding indie rock that blends elements of early punk and punk rock with socially conscious texts and an accessible vocal style.
“Bower Meadow” features one of the grittiest musical backdrops of the entire catalog, with a big crunchy riff at the top that gives way to a jangly verse reminiscent of something one might find on a record by The Church.
Red Cavalry has explored a variety of approaches, sometimes light and dance-able, sometimes a bit more grim. Always with a signature sound that remains their own. “Bower Meadow” may be the high water mark thus far.
On this track it feels like they’re finding a real groove as songwriters, and getting into some territory that’s relentlessly tantalizing for fans of a certain kind of goth-adjacent indie rock.
Well worth checking out.
Novelley
I Made Tea
This lovely little folk tune from one of our favorites, German singer-songwriter Novelley, has been hitting just right the last week or so.
Sparsely but tastefully arranged with ukelele and just a few light touches from the bass and piano sprinkled throughout, this track puts us fully inside the story of a narrator at the hospice bedside of someone they love.
“Not because I understood, but because love somehow still comes through, I made tea and I stayed with you” Novelley croons in her preternaturally soothing way, painting a delicate and familiar vignette from real life.
The best music is both hyper-personal and also entirely universal, and this is something Novelley does tremendously well, and perhaps never more so than on “I Made Tea”.
“Watched the sugar melt like we were making peace by accident” is a great line, and representative of a really touching and beautiful piece of work.